BitFuturist: what are 10 things true in 10 years pertaining to BTC?

[qiwoman2]

I think what really makes the difference is when you have bitcoin becoming the standard currency for cross border transaction. Imagine a foreign worker in a country sending home the money without having to pay excessive fee and it is almost instantaneous. Similarly, if you are a frequent traveler, you can also forget about exchanging and holding different foreign currencies and that is when you have bitcoin.

Well it's so much cheaper than western union that's for sure, so if more and more merchants and bitcoin atms appear in many of the countries peeps send money back home to, then Bitcoin will really take off in this way big time.

[romneymoney]

I'm really conflicted.  I've always thought that as the currency of the internet that it will stick around and eventually some killer app will find it and it will become firmly entrenched.  That can still happen, but I'm having a harder time believing strongly that it will.

My gut feeling right now is it fades away more from the spotlight, but continues to be strong in the gambling and illicit markets. 
My friends used to pick my brains about it pretty frequently, now I never hear a thing anymore.  This indicates to me that public interest is waning.  Google and Apple are helping the legacy companies penetrate further while solving some of the most egregious security problems associated with CC's.  This indicates that the fundamental advantage of Bitcoin has lessened.

[evenlydistributingfuture]

It may be then that Bitcoin is in a similar sort of public relations slump to what startup companies often go through, what's called the "valley of death" or something along those lines. Maybe Bitcoin will have or does have a growth curve not unlike that, to take that position for a moment.

I don't really agree with that though. There's a lot of potential for more than gambling or something online with BTC. I don't really agree that it will be largely illicit uses. At the very least, micropayments for a journalist's article, a blogger's article, a video, maybe even a well-written email--given how bad someone's spelling or punctuation can be, I can picture some grammar-minded folks giving a quick tip for someone who can spell--will be integrated into the Internet of the next few years. That's one of my predictions.


http://avc.com/2012/03/the-startup-curve/


I think the popular press is only now really starting to pick up steam in talking about BTC; the momentum is with the crpytocurrency community, I think. There will be more and more growth and awareness.

[techgeek]

I'm really conflicted.  I've always thought that as the currency of the internet that it will stick around and eventually some killer app will find it and it will become firmly entrenched.  That can still happen, but I'm having a harder time believing strongly that it will.

My gut feeling right now is it fades away more from the spotlight, but continues to be strong in the gambling and illicit markets. 
My friends used to pick my brains about it pretty frequently, now I never hear a thing anymore.  This indicates to me that public interest is waning.  Google and Apple are helping the legacy companies penetrate further while solving some of the most egregious security problems associated with CC's.  This indicates that the fundamental advantage of Bitcoin has lessened.

Why stay feeling conflicted.

At least you can say, you own a piece of history, if it ever shoots the roof then not being in it at all right? 

[johnyj]

For private person, government has no real good way and enough resource to trace everyone's wallet, so most likely it will be regulated like cash, limiting maximum daily withdraw and deposit to exchanges, and many people will use it as a medium of saving like gold

However, businesses need to do large transactions, they will be regulated differently, their wallet address must be registered at financial regulators and periodically audited. Accenture has described such a prerequisite for bitcoin to go mainstream

After this, bitcoin will be more formalized and have more government support. But the usage would still be limited at IT people, long term saving and international commerce. Anyway, people will spend inflative fiat money instead of deflative bitcoin, they will not use it at large scale domestically, but they might use it to place international orders online

And every 4 years, following the reward halving, there will be a wave of speculation bubble raise coin's value by many folds. Early adopters start to cash out some coins, and others will be attracted and join the journey to the next reward halving

[Pro_Crypto_Marty]

There's always the hopeful possibility that Bitcoin becomes entrenched in developing countries, even though it doesn't get widely adopted in the more developed ones. The Age of Cryptocurrency (http://theageofcryptocurrency.com/) talks a bit about people without access to banks. I think it was 5 billion people including kids. Many of these people already use alternative monetary systems. The difficulty in moving money in those regions and the high costs and risks associated to it provides the necessity for them... and for the Bitcoin system.

It'll be tough to reach all those people and install the infrastructure but since many of them are used to alternative systems it's not such a stretch. Plus, they have the incentive.

It'd be cool to have Bitcoin quietly helping the less fortunate while the rest of the world worries and debates about ponzi schemes and drug money.

[mrhelpful]

There's always the hopeful possibility that Bitcoin becomes entrenched in developing countries, even though it doesn't get widely adopted in the more developed ones. The Age of Cryptocurrency (http://theageofcryptocurrency.com/) talks a bit about people without access to banks. I think it was 5 billion people including kids. Many of these people already use alternative monetary systems. The difficulty in moving money in those regions and the high costs and risks associated to it provides the necessity for them... and for the Bitcoin system.

It'll be tough to reach all those people and install the infrastructure but since many of them are used to alternative systems it's not such a stretch. Plus, they have the incentive.

It'd be cool to have Bitcoin quietly helping the less fortunate while the rest of the world worries and debates about ponzi schemes and drug money.

That sounds all great right.

But, most average joe have the difficulty of getting or purchasing a solid bitcoin, and some just find it a hassle. The hard part is the education of purchase and the beneficial side to having it. If people dont see theres no point, they just end up using their credit card.

[evenlydistributingfuture]

If BTC starts to open up mobile banking for those billions of people without the Western world's financial institutions, then Kenya's M-PESA can show that those people will grow their economies and create value. If billions of people start accessing a globalized system of money transfer, I think big rises in standards of living will be possible. The process of actually getting bitcoins has got to be much easier and much simpler; that's definitely true. It's hard even in developed countries.

[txbtc]

Bitcoin is a fiat replacement, It facilitates transactions, especially long distance ones.  It's also handy in that you can be your own bank

[neurotypical]

There's always the hopeful possibility that Bitcoin becomes entrenched in developing countries, even though it doesn't get widely adopted in the more developed ones. The Age of Cryptocurrency (http://theageofcryptocurrency.com/) talks a bit about people without access to banks. I think it was 5 billion people including kids. Many of these people already use alternative monetary systems. The difficulty in moving money in those regions and the high costs and risks associated to it provides the necessity for them... and for the Bitcoin system.

It'll be tough to reach all those people and install the infrastructure but since many of them are used to alternative systems it's not such a stretch. Plus, they have the incentive.

It'd be cool to have Bitcoin quietly helping the less fortunate while the rest of the world worries and debates about ponzi schemes and drug money.

That sounds all great right.

But, most average joe have the difficulty of getting or purchasing a solid bitcoin, and some just find it a hassle. The hard part is the education of purchase and the beneficial side to having it. If people dont see theres no point, they just end up using their credit card.

I think in developed countries, IRL usage will not be specially high until the goverment fucks people up big time after the remove physical cash and whatnot, but I see a massive usage on those that get paid by doing stuff on the internet. If the kid that's uploading GTA5 videos and making 50 bucks a month of Youtube advertisement finds out he doesn't need to wait for the annoying 70 dollar Ad-sense trehshold to be able to cash out, and instead he can get paid in BTC directly and use it anytime he wants, he will switch to BTC.
At this level alone, BTC usage will go off the roof, since getting paid in BTC is always superior vs what we have now.

[wearepoor]

I think what really makes the difference is when you have bitcoin becoming the standard currency for cross border transaction. Imagine a foreign worker in a country sending home the money without having to pay excessive fee and it is almost instantaneous. Similarly, if you are a frequent traveler, you can also forget about exchanging and holding different foreign currencies and that is when you have bitcoin.

Well it's so much cheaper than western union that's for sure, so if more and more merchants and bitcoin atms appear in many of the countries peeps send money back home to, then Bitcoin will really take off in this way big time.

You cannot neglect the fact that it is much more cheaper then western union or any other currency exchanges and that is the reason why people are more attracted towards bitcoin and it also reduces the paper work like submitting documents, filling a form etc. and money is transferred with just an blink of eye.

[brendanjhwu]

I can bet my life savings, google is going to join the fray.

[evenlydistributingfuture]

The kind of thing that Coinbase is now doing with its Instant Exchange is very important. As a Coinbase user, you'd be able to send in one fiat currency and receive in another fiat currency, while using BTC as the means of transfer.

This kind of transferring is potentially paving the way for a global system resembling M-PESA. People in the developed world might get more interested once this is more common.

[SFR10]

one thing im sure is going to happen and is starting to happen in few countries , is the usage of US dollars are getting lesser and in exchange people are using BTC to send money to their love one's abroad

[dblink]

Let's put on our futurist hats!  Will there be mainstreaming of BTC usage?
Maybe a completely secure wallet application?
The Internet essentailly powered by micropayments paid for blog posts or videos users like?
What will be the tipping point for people to really want to use BTC?
BTC used for remittances more than Western Union?
Will sidechains be prominent?
Will Bitcoin go bust?

Bitcoin have many advantages that physical currencies do not provide its users, however, it also has its disadvantages. This is mostly due to the fact that Bitcoin is still a relatively young and new currency. People are just beginning to become more aware of it. In order for Bitcoin to succeed, more people need to understand what it is and not let their preconceived notions distort the concept of digital currencies.

[gentlemand]

I think becoming a parallel to gold will become one of its bigger uses. If you look into the process of actually investing in gold it's littered with uncertainty, third party risk and it's not necessarily the most liquid thing either especially if you have physical gold.

Instead of buying a completely fictional ETF, slice of a bar that I'll never see or coin that might be fake, I can buy BTC and have it in my hands within a few minutes. There's no question of it not being the real thing, I can transfer it anywhere in the world, carry it wherever I go and spend it if necessary.

There's plenty of emotional attachment to gold but if you just want the role done without any possible risk then it no longer makes that much sense to me at least. It all depends on whether more people agree.  

[evenlydistributingfuture]

Right, the Internet makes perception into reality. That extends to money as well. This sharing economy/reputation economy we're moving into is going to make many other things subject to swings in monetary value the way BTC does; it's just more overt and obvious with BTC price volatility. Somebody could lose tons of value overnight if they get a bad rap in public. 

If lots and lots of people, maybe the majority of online users, believe in BTC, then it carries on and gains in value. Bitcoin is like reputation monetized. 

[bitnanigans]

Well, one thing's for sure.
The value of 1 BTC will still be 1 BTC in 10 years.

Personally, I think bitcoin will be widely adopted in the future. It's very fast for transferring funds, so that's a good thing.

[azguard]

Well, one thing's for sure.
The value of 1 BTC will still be 1 BTC in 10 years.

Personally, I think bitcoin will be widely adopted in the future. It's very fast for transferring funds, so that's a good thing.

Sure i watched some TV show that is canceled i think almost human BTC was mentioned in one ransom demand ass untraceable. Maybe it will be in future to do more with black market buying or something else i will take lot more to be adopt in commercial life.

[ThEmporium]

Bitcoin can most easily be transferred online, yes, but it can be sent in many other ways. Your feature phone, not even a smartphone, can send it by SMS text message. You can send it from your paper wallet. It can be sent in Morse Code in "Burst". And soon, you can send it via satellite to nodes in outer space. As long as you have two nodes with the block chain, Bitcoin survives.