What is holding Bitcoin back?

[ransomer]

Now Bitcoin is far from perfect as a currency but when I tell people about Bitcoin I sense three things that might hold people back from really embrasing bitcoins:

1. Not wide enough adaptation, and even when bitcoins can be used it might be too technical (this of course is far from always the case anymore).

2. The security issues - hacking, Mt Gox etc. People feel uncertain in their own capability to keep their bitcoins safe, and they are troubled more when they are told about the no recourse of bitcoins that are stolen...

But let's say that some people think they could handle the security issue.. and they are optimistic that in the future with higher adoption rate it will have higher utility... then the next issue seems to really be a troublesome issue..:

3. So the blockchain idea is great? You are convinced it could be a very important development? Does that assure the success of Bitcoin? No... because there are many altcoins.. Sure, Bitcoin is the original.. first, but others on the other hand are able to pick and chose the best features of Bitcoin. Just like Motorola and Myspace might have been first movers... but Samsung/Apple and Facebook just came along and did it better..

While the two first issues are commonly discussed, I haven't really seen to many discuss how the other altcoins are holding bitcoins back. What do you think? Can and should anything be done to avoid a muddled situation where all the altcoins (including bitcoin) mess it up for each other?

 

[Netnox]

They need to be forced to use it through banks or other influential channels, oe else i think right now they are perfectly fine with being plugged in and using the scam fiat system.

[fancy_pants]

If there comes along an altcoin that is truly better than bitcoin (specifically, offers a better way to do proof of work) then it will promptly and properly replace bitcoin.  

If bitcoin is better than fiat, then it will promptly and properly replace fiat.  

If you look at month over month performance and usage metrics as a whole it's clearly not being held back. Rather, it's consistently growing at an astonishing pace.

[franky1]

Now Bitcoin is far from perfect as a currency but when I tell people about Bitcoin I sense three things that might hold people back from really embrasing bitcoins:

1. Not wide enough adaptation, and even when bitcoins can be used it might be too technical (this of course is far from always the case anymore).

2. The security issues - hacking, Mt Gox etc. People feel uncertain in their own capability to keep their bitcoins safe, and they are troubled more when they are told about the no recourse of bitcoins that are stolen...

But let's say that some people think they could handle the security issue.. and they are optimistic that in the future with higher adoption rate it will have higher utility... then the next issue seems to really be a troublesome issue..:

3. So the blockchain idea is great? You are convinced it could be a very important development? Does that assure the success of Bitcoin? No... because there are many altcoins.. Sure, Bitcoin is the original.. first, but others on the other hand are able to pick and chose the best features of Bitcoin. Just like Motorola and Myspace might have been first movers... but Samsung/Apple and Facebook just came along and did it better..

While the two first issues are commonly discussed, I haven't really seen to many discuss how the other altcoins are holding bitcoins back. What do you think? Can and should anything be done to avoid a muddled situation where all the altcoins (including bitcoin) mess it up for each other?

  

1. the problem with adoption is that all the geeks that want to tell their friends about it, fail.
this is because their friends dont need to know what sha256 is, they dont need to know what  petahash is. they dont care about mining or exchanges.. all they want to know is that there is a better system than fiat, which works and is easy to get hold of by handing cash to the friend.
geeks however are endlessly ignoring the face to face swapping of currency, and forget about the usefulness of buying things with it. and get obsessed about mining..
if only the geeks would realise that talking about pickaxes and dynamite in a very technical way, is not what gold purchasers want. then the style of describing bitcoin will change for the better.

2. if you are talking about security issues then your not talking about bitcoin. your instead talking about scammers who own a $10 domain name.. so try to talk to bitcoin, not from a point of websites and online services.. but about bitcoin core making a tx to another person sitting at the same starbucks cafe who presenting them with a qr code.. meaning talk about bitcoin.. nothing else

3. many people talk about the dollar.. its all they ever seen or used.. yet it is only used by under 400mill people.. yet the indian rupee is used by over a billion people.. yet no one really talks about it in international news..
to me a currency is a currency, even the chinese yuanR is not really a big deal in regards to international news. yet a billion people use it. so a currency is just a currency..
did you know that china and india have been around far longer than america.. have far higher usage than america. yet america think they are the topdogs of world economy..
in my eyes bitcoin will be the highest used currency in the crypto community. but that does not mean there is no room for 2nd or 3rd place

[Gronthaing]

Another problem is the unstable price. Maybe that wasn't much of a problem these last few months. And not a problem for everyone. Like for those who just buy bitcoins and use them immediately. But I imagine many people may have been scared by the drop from the ath to where it is now.

2. if you are talking about security issues then your not talking about bitcoin. your instead talking about scammers who own a $10 domain name.. so try to talk to bitcoin, not from a point of websites and online services.. but about bitcoin core making a tx to another person sitting at the same starbucks cafe who presenting them with a qr code.. meaning talk about bitcoin.. nothing else

You can try talking only about that. But a lot of attention bitcoin got was from those hacks and scammers. A lot of people who have heard about bitcoin have heard about it in that context first. And most people can't pay for everything directly with bitcoin and will have to use exchanges or something. So you need to talk about security issues at some point right? Not something to start the conversation with but something you have to address soon after.

[achow101]

3. So the blockchain idea is great? You are convinced it could be a very important development? Does that assure the success of Bitcoin? No... because there are many altcoins.. Sure, Bitcoin is the original.. first, but others on the other hand are able to pick and chose the best features of Bitcoin. Just like Motorola and Myspace might have been first movers... but Samsung/Apple and Facebook just came along and did it better..

And, with your analogy, Motorola is picking up a lot of the great features of Apple and Samsung and is coming back strong. Bitcoin likewise is looking at some of the developments and strengths of other altcoins. There have been a few BIPs and proposals that pick up some good features of altcoins. The altcoins are like a testing ground for these features, to see how well they work and whether it is a good idea or not. One such is the ring signatures from Monero, which one of the Core devs has proposed to include in Bitcoin. Bitcoin implements these features more slowly because it has the highest market share and transaction volume.

While the two first issues are commonly discussed, I haven't really seen to many discuss how the other altcoins are holding bitcoins back. What do you think? Can and should anything be done to avoid a muddled situation where all the altcoins (including bitcoin) mess it up for each other?

Altcoins could hold Bitcoin back, but I think it happens more the opposite; Bitcoin holds back Cryptocurrencies in general. The most popular cryptocurrency is Bitcoin. However, Bitcoin gets a lot of bad press, such as its use in illegal dealings. This bad press reflects poorly on cryptocoins in general and actually could hold back altcoins too.

I don't really see altcoins actually holding back Bitcoin though.

[darkangel11]

Altcoins could hold Bitcoin back, but I think it happens more the opposite; Bitcoin holds back Cryptocurrencies in general. The most popular cryptocurrency is Bitcoin. However, Bitcoin gets a lot of bad press, such as its use in illegal dealings. This bad press reflects poorly on cryptocoins in general and actually could hold back altcoins too.

I don't really see altcoins actually holding back Bitcoin though.

Every currency in the world is being used for illegal things and I've never heard of anyone who turned away from money just because it's being used for illegal transactions. Let's not forget that the majority of transactions performed in all these currencies including bitcoin is completely legal.

[randy8777]

volatility is i think one of the most important things. especially when people plan to use it to store value. once that changes, it will give bitcoin a much higher market cap.

[BusyBeaverHP]

What is holding Bitcoin back? The blocksize limit,  and more specifically: Blockstream.

[ransomer]

3. So the blockchain idea is great? You are convinced it could be a very important development? Does that assure the success of Bitcoin? No... because there are many altcoins.. Sure, Bitcoin is the original.. first, but others on the other hand are able to pick and chose the best features of Bitcoin. Just like Motorola and Myspace might have been first movers... but Samsung/Apple and Facebook just came along and did it better..

And, with your analogy, Motorola is picking up a lot of the great features of Apple and Samsung and is coming back strong. Bitcoin likewise is looking at some of the developments and strengths of other altcoins. There have been a few BIPs and proposals that pick up some good features of altcoins. The altcoins are like a testing ground for these features, to see how well they work and whether it is a good idea or not. One such is the ring signatures from Monero, which one of the Core devs has proposed to include in Bitcoin. Bitcoin implements these features more slowly because it has the highest market share and transaction volume.

While the two first issues are commonly discussed, I haven't really seen to many discuss how the other altcoins are holding bitcoins back. What do you think? Can and should anything be done to avoid a muddled situation where all the altcoins (including bitcoin) mess it up for each other?

Altcoins could hold Bitcoin back, but I think it happens more the opposite; Bitcoin holds back Cryptocurrencies in general. The most popular cryptocurrency is Bitcoin. However, Bitcoin gets a lot of bad press, such as its use in illegal dealings. This bad press reflects poorly on cryptocoins in general and actually could hold back altcoins too.

I don't really see altcoins actually holding back Bitcoin though.

Logic seems to suggest altcoins all else equal will be holding bitcoins back. Many see bitcoin as an investment, or at the very least hope to not lose money when being in bitcoin over FIAT.

Now, think of it as odds - what are the odds that their investment in bitcoin will be successful? Between Bitcoin and FIAT it might, for argument's sake) be 20%. So apparently some there is some 20% chance that a shared ledger is such a cool idea that it will succeed (however we want to measure this). So 80% that FIAT will somehow never allow Bitcoin to become anything worth talking about.

But if altcoins enter the scene, the odds change. Suddenly some percentages have to be given to these cruptocurrencies, and the investment in bitcoin obviously looks less good.

So - I can certainly understand if the man on the street would have an easier time swallowing bitcoin if there was not the added confusion and issue of all these other currencies.

[pooya87]

While the two first issues are commonly discussed, I haven't really seen to many discuss how the other altcoins are holding bitcoins back. What do you think? Can and should anything be done to avoid a muddled situation where all the altcoins (including bitcoin) mess it up for each other?

what are you talking about altcoin holding bitcoin back!!!
if anything, altcoins are a way to push bitcoin forward, they are not by any means holding it back. all the altcoins that we can see in the market everyday (created old or new) they are all serving one purpose and that is to make investors more bitcoin.
there are just a handful of altcoins that try to do something new and interesting, but they too can not affect bitcoin market.

[RustyNomad]

Simply put..... the lack of incentive to use it......

Consumers in most countries are living from the one payday to the next. They are, in general, heavily indebted and have very limited, if any, spare money each month. I think many see the benefits that bitcoin could offer but there is no incentive for them to make use of it. Why should I spend money on fees and go to the effort to exchange my hard earned money for bitcoin just so I can buy my daily groceries with it? Far easier and cheaper to just use fiat and or my debit/credit card.

If however I was offered an incentive like for example a discount on my purchases then bitcoin will be something to consider. If the conversion process in regards to cost and effort is effortless and cheap then it will definitely be something to take into consideration. At this stage however, this is not the case, so as said, there is no incentive for me to use it.

Most people who currently hold bitcoin do so for several reason but I personally think a large number of them are in a similar situation as above. They see bitcoin as a possible outcome and thus the reason for trying to accumulate as many bitcoins as they can and hoping that bitcoin actually does go to the moon.

IMHO there is a very small percentage of bitcoin users who actually makes use of bitcoin as a currency.

[Notanon]

I imagine the whole Silk Road situation has had people looking in from the outside being hesitant to use it, along with high profile dodgy stuff like Mt.Gox. Steps need to be taken to allay their fears and more people would jump on board.

On the whole altcoins angle, it was talked about at one point about Litecoin being the silver to Bitcoin and others being the equivalent of copper etc in that high value, low frequency purchases would be limited to Bitcoin, medium-value, medium-frequency purchases to Litecoin, and low-value, high-frequency purchases to something like Dogecoin or other similar low-value high-volume currencies. That would probably require things like fixed exchange rates, though, which could be problematic. Or unless certain cryptocurrencies were intentionally designed to fill specific roles like I described above, by following a standard of designation such as gold-standard, silver-standard and bronze-standard.

For example, a bronze-standard cryptocurrency would have confirmation times between 5-15 seconds, such that everyday use wouldn't take much longer than the equivalent Visa/Mastercard/etc processing times in checkouts. Silver-standard ones would be more like for use with purchasing more expensive products such as TVs, appliances, etc with 15 second to 2 minute confirmation times, and then gold-standard ones would be for large-scale value transfer and bank transaction reconciliation with longer confirmation times.

[Amph]

no, what i believe is that only one thing is still holding bitcoin back, and it was the infamous 1200 ath, that shit will not be forgotten until we can surpass it at least one time, and be stable above it forever

people are still worried that something like this will happen again and that they will lose all their money another time

many are not good traders, they buy when the bubble is near to burst , and as a result they will end up losing a good portion of their investments

basically bitcoin is not trusted anymore like it could have been before the 1200 wave

[readysalted89]

Satoshi holding a million Bitcoins isn't doing Bitcoin any favors. Newcomers finding that out will be hesitant to invest money because they will question what will happen if he dumps. That million Bitcoins is holding Bitcoin back in all sorts of ways even if Satoshi never dumps a single coin.

[WhatTheGox]

volatility is i think one of the most important things. especially when people plan to use it to store value. once that changes, it will give bitcoin a much higher market cap.

This will sort itself out in a couple years, the only thing we can do meantime is instantly convert to something more "stable".   Its a good store of value now long term its just high risk .

[Herbert2020]

there is a similar topic on this matter going on right now: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1101336.0

volatility is i think one of the most important things. especially when people plan to use it to store value. once that changes, it will give bitcoin a much higher market cap.

i agree, one of the biggest problems that keeps bitcoin from being mass adopted and be used as a payment method is volatile bitcoin price IMO. and until it is not solved, i don't think we can see a mass adoption anywhere.

[twister]

Well where I am most of the people still don't know what it is, I think vast awareness campaigns need to be executed to make people aware of the good sides of it before media corrupts their mind by giving false information and associating Bitcoin with all of it's illegal use.

Other reasons are some people do not feel that they are technically apt to keep bitcoins secure and which is why they rely on Banks other centralized institutions to keep their funds safe. And with all the scams happening and companies who were considered trusted running away with people's funds doesn't really give a good outlook of it.

[RappelzReborn]

Media for example , instead of helping bitcoin and say good things about it , they only bring shits like Hacked exchanges & Silk Road and Darknet stuff so yeah .. who would use that .
Also there is exchange , how someone would use them if they gets hacked all the time and most of people trust them to store their coins

[TinEye]

i think you can agree that trust is the real reason that its holding bitcoin back, if it was more regulated in some country and exchange weren't so easily to rob, you can be assured that many more people will join this awesome crypto, another thing might be the ease with which you can use bitcoin, i know that many average joe think that bitcoin isn't easy to use and to do a strong backup, they lose themselves easily between passphrase, right wallet to choose and all these think there should be a core light version, better than multibit(maybe it is multibit 3d?) that could help newbies to spend bitcoin and keep them safe in the easiest way possible