Downsides of Bitcoin?

[BTCfan97]

In another thread I meantioned some of the advantages Bitcoin has over cash (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1113484.0)

Truth is not many people I know personally use Bitcoin. None of my friends or direct family members do and here are some reasons why I think that is.

I have provided some workarounds to most of these "downsides". Like everything in life, Bitcoin isn't really perfect.

1) While Bitcoins are not controlled by an actual Government, etc, that also means that there is no official "customer service" for Bitcoin, especially when it comes to reimbursement; If you lose your private keys you are screwed, the coins are gone and therefore your money. Doesn't matter who you buy Bitcoins from, they can't help you at that point. Some companies have made this pretty avoidable though, by just allowing a username and password to sign into your Bitcoin wallet.

2) Not enough businesses directly accept Bitcoin. While some big name companies do accept them, overall they aren't accepted at most online and local businesses at this point of writing. There are a lot of ways around this though just because of what Bitcoins CAN buy, which can be used to trade for the item you desire. For example if a local or online business accepts PayPal but not Bitcoin, it's easy to convert it.

3) Bitcoin can be stolen through malware, social engineering, being robbed at gunpoint, etc. Malware can certainly be avoided, you can store your Bitcoins offline, encrypted, etc. on a malware free machine/device. Social engineering is unlikely, if you are familiar with Bitcoins, you are probably familiar with social engineering. Being robbed at gunpoint can hopefully be prevented by meeting in a busy coffee shop, etc.

4) Bitcoin is not "user friendly". With terms like "Blockchain", "mBTC", "Private Key", "Hashing", "QR Code", etc. I can see where a lot of not tech-savvy people would be discouraged. It's clear that Satoshi didn't design Bitcoin to be used by everyone.

5) You can't pay your Government's taxes, fees, etc. in Bitcoin (at least I know in my country you can't).

Feel free to contribute to this, I would love to hear some opinions.

[Amph]

on 4 and 5

4)bitcoin life span is very long, probably satoshi taked into account the fact that bitcoin will be used by future generations and not today's ones

5)there are services online that can pay taxes for you and you send them bitcoin, like cashila.com

also another problem is that not only those that don't know about bitcoin don't use it, but also those that know about it are only holding to cash out at some point in the future

so among those 3M estimated users of bitcoin, the number that are really using bitcoin is probably much less than many think..

[hayabusa911]

There is no downside to bitcoin. Do your research before you buy BTC and always keep them safe!!!
There is many different ways to protect your btc! Do a search and follow directions about to stay safe from "hackers".

[LiteCoinGuy]

1) While Bitcoins are not controlled by an actual Government, etc, that also means that there is no official "customer service" for Bitcoin, especially when it comes to reimbursement; If you lose your private keys you are screwed, the coins are gone and therefore your money. Doesn't matter who you buy Bitcoins from, they can't help you at that point. Some companies have made this pretty avoidable though, by just allowing a username and password to sign into your Bitcoin wallet.

That is a feature.<



2) Not enough businesses directly accept Bitcoin. While some big name companies do accept them, overall they aren't accepted at most online and local businesses at this point of writing. There are a lot of ways around this though just because of what Bitcoins CAN buy, which can be used to trade for the item you desire. For example if a local or online business accepts PayPal but not Bitcoin, it's easy to convert it.

More and more people accept BTC. Pretty solid growth.<


3) Bitcoin can be stolen through malware, social engineering, being robbed at gunpoint, etc. Malware can certainly be avoided, you can store your Bitcoins offline, encrypted, etc. on a malware free machine/device. Social engineering is unlikely, if you are familiar with Bitcoins, you are probably familiar with social engineering. Being robbed at gunpoint can hopefully be prevented by meeting in a busy coffee shop, etc.

Like money in your bankaccount too. <


4) Bitcoin is not "user friendly". With terms like "Blockchain", "mBTC", "Private Key", "Hashing", "QR Code", etc. I can see where a lot of not tech-savvy people would be discouraged. It's clear that Satoshi didn't design Bitcoin to be used by everyone.

@ - website - email - www - these words were also not common in 1995. people will learn.



5) You can't pay your Government's taxes, fees, etc. in Bitcoin (at least I know in my country you can't).

True, not yet. But what is the problem with that?<

[n2004al]

I think that the main problem of bitcoins (and that must be ranked as the number one of downsides) it is that he is not physical money. This make bitcoin usable only in internet and the ways that the money can be used in internet are limited. Then not to many people use internet and are even fewer those who make purchases there.

[LiteCoinGuy]

problem solved:

https://www.google.co.jp/search?q=physical+bitcoin&biw=1280&bih=864&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&sqi=2&ved=0CAYQ_AUoAWoVChMIpf_8x7HkxgIVylYUCh3-5w4S

[acquafredda]

I will never pay taxes in BTC to a government: that is simply paradoxical!

[Meuh6879]

1) While Bitcoins are not controlled by an actual Government, etc, that also means that there is no official "customer service" for Bitcoin, especially when it comes to reimbursement; If you lose your private keys you are screwed, the coins are gone and therefore your money. Doesn't matter who you buy Bitcoins from, they can't help you at that point. Some companies have made this pretty avoidable though, by just allowing a username and password to sign into your Bitcoin wallet.

3) Bitcoin can be stolen through malware, social engineering, being robbed at gunpoint, etc. Malware can certainly be avoided, you can store your Bitcoins offline, encrypted, etc. on a malware free machine/device. Social engineering is unlikely, if you are familiar with Bitcoins, you are probably familiar with social engineering. Being robbed at gunpoint can hopefully be prevented by meeting in a busy coffee shop, etc.

1) You don't have "customer service" for loosing CASH paper ... right ?
well ... 

3) Usually, dumb people use the same password on facebook, yahoo ... and exchange wallet.
don't follow the white rabbit of malware, hackers and others exotic explanation. 

[Lauda]

OP this is all pretty wrong, and not a downside of Bitcoin itself.
1) One of the purposes of Bitcoin is being your own bank. This means that you are supposed to be able to handle your own money if you want to use it, thus making this point invalid.
2) That's not a downside of Bitcoin, but rather the current acceptance level.
3) Anything can be stolen through illicit means online. Are you trying to tell me that nobody has ever experienced CC fraud? You are responsible for your own money.
4) It is user friendly. For the average user "private key" and "hashing" aren't important, sometimes not even 'blockchain'. People should already know what a QR Code is since it was first released in 1997; this is not a new term created by Bitcoin. "mBTC" is also very simple, since the term 'mili' is well known
5) I thought we were going to use it to avoid taxes?

I'm pretty sure that Bitcoin has almost no real downsides (by their very definition). We could argue that confirmations take too long or that we can't process enough transactions but that is a story for another day.
What you're describing seem to be downsides of the current ecosystem/infrastructure around Bitcoin.

[NorrisK]

In another thread I meantioned some of the advantages Bitcoin has over cash (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1113484.0)

Truth is not many people I know personally use Bitcoin. None of my friends or direct family members do and here are some reasons why I think that is.

I have provided some workarounds to most of these "downsides". Like everything in life, Bitcoin isn't really perfect.

1) While Bitcoins are not controlled by an actual Government, etc, that also means that there is no official "customer service" for Bitcoin, especially when it comes to reimbursement; If you lose your private keys you are screwed, the coins are gone and therefore your money. Doesn't matter who you buy Bitcoins from, they can't help you at that point. Some companies have made this pretty avoidable though, by just allowing a username and password to sign into your Bitcoin wallet.

2) Not enough businesses directly accept Bitcoin. While some big name companies do accept them, overall they aren't accepted at most online and local businesses at this point of writing. There are a lot of ways around this though just because of what Bitcoins CAN buy, which can be used to trade for the item you desire. For example if a local or online business accepts PayPal but not Bitcoin, it's easy to convert it.

3) Bitcoin can be stolen through malware, social engineering, being robbed at gunpoint, etc. Malware can certainly be avoided, you can store your Bitcoins offline, encrypted, etc. on a malware free machine/device. Social engineering is unlikely, if you are familiar with Bitcoins, you are probably familiar with social engineering. Being robbed at gunpoint can hopefully be prevented by meeting in a busy coffee shop, etc.

4) Bitcoin is not "user friendly". With terms like "Blockchain", "mBTC", "Private Key", "Hashing", "QR Code", etc. I can see where a lot of not tech-savvy people would be discouraged. It's clear that Satoshi didn't design Bitcoin to be used by everyone.

5) You can't pay your Government's taxes, fees, etc. in Bitcoin (at least I know in my country you can't).

Feel free to contribute to this, I would love to hear some opinions.

2 is not a downside of bitcoin, a downside would be that businesses are not capable of accepting bitcoin, and that is not the case. It is currently a limitation, because only a handfull of businesses accept bitcoin.

3) fiat can also be stolen through social engineering. Atleast in the Netherlands you dont have to buy bitcoin face to face. We have the easiest way ever, it is just like ordering food or clothes online. (bitonic.nl)

4) Totally agree, although future wallets will likely take care of this. You probably dont even need to know those terms. Although QR Code are allready out there everywhere, no problem right?

[NeuroticFish]

The only disadvantages I can see are:

1. It's not as anonymous / private as some would think.
2. It is evolving too slow now (this is also somehow good - for acceptance for example, but on long term it's bad imho).
3. Since my mother still has troubles using a dumbphone (not mentioning smartphones or computers), she cannot use Bitcoin (she don't even understand what bitcoin is). Meaning that bitcoin still has a huge disadvantage in the "fight" with fiat.

[MF Doom]

1. Still too many hacks going on. Need to be very security savvy to really feel safe storing btc online.

2. No consumer protection. Luckily there are some legit escrow providers on here, but beyond that its buyer beware.

3. Difficulty for your average person to wrap their head around btc, let alone jump through all the hoops and figure out how to buy some

[okae]

The disadvantages i can see are:

4. i really think bitcoin is not really friendly right now, there is lot of knowledge that ppl need to have in order to use it property, this is a wall that we should remove if we want that moreppl use it.

5. "You can't pay your Government's taxes, fees, etc. in Bitcoin" thats the final barrier, not to pay to government, to pay everything needed with bitcoin, ppl will start to beleive on it when they can pay government, ot his daily shopping.

there are more than that ofc but related to join post that what i think

[ranochigo]

1) While Bitcoins are not controlled by an actual Government, etc, that also means that there is no official "customer service" for Bitcoin, especially when it comes to reimbursement; If you lose your private keys you are screwed, the coins are gone and therefore your money. Doesn't matter who you buy Bitcoins from, they can't help you at that point. Some companies have made this pretty avoidable though, by just allowing a username and password to sign into your Bitcoin wallet.

2) Not enough businesses directly accept Bitcoin. While some big name companies do accept them, overall they aren't accepted at most online and local businesses at this point of writing. There are a lot of ways around this though just because of what Bitcoins CAN buy, which can be used to trade for the item you desire. For example if a local or online business accepts PayPal but not Bitcoin, it's easy to convert it.

3) Bitcoin can be stolen through malware, social engineering, being robbed at gunpoint, etc. Malware can certainly be avoided, you can store your Bitcoins offline, encrypted, etc. on a malware free machine/device. Social engineering is unlikely, if you are familiar with Bitcoins, you are probably familiar with social engineering. Being robbed at gunpoint can hopefully be prevented by meeting in a busy coffee shop, etc.

4) Bitcoin is not "user friendly". With terms like "Blockchain", "mBTC", "Private Key", "Hashing", "QR Code", etc. I can see where a lot of not tech-savvy people would be discouraged. It's clear that Satoshi didn't design Bitcoin to be used by everyone.

5) You can't pay your Government's taxes, fees, etc. in Bitcoin (at least I know in my country you can't).

Feel free to contribute to this, I would love to hear some opinions.

1) If you lose your cash, they are gone. No one would care if you lose your cash too.
2) Bitcoin is considered a much better alternative than Bitcoin, businesses are reluctant to accept them due to waiting time, acceptance rate and price volatility. The last two can be solved by Bitpay while the first one can't be solved unless Bitcoin's max TPS can be increased. Some business like Bitcoin due to the un-reversibility and low cost.
3) Your cash can also be robbed at gunpoint. Bringing only a small amount of Bitcoin for meetups would largely prevent this.
4) Bitcoin apps are designed to be as user friendly as possible. An average joe would only need to know about confirmations, prices and addresses. It is quite easy to learn.
5) Government aren't that open towards Bitcoin due to the possible risk of money laundering and terrorist financing.

[AtheistAKASaneBrain]

Some of the concerns in this thread are legitimate but all of them are being addressed. Satoshi invented the protocol, he never intended to make it for geeks only, that's stupid. In the early days they focused on making it robust and working correctly, making it user friendly is a intermediate-final step. Of course Satoshi wanted to see Bitcoin all over the world, why wouldn't you want your creation to take over all over the place and defeat the current transaction methods?

[Velkro]

All your points topic author are only temporary. As we speak there are created workarounds for every single one of them.

[Hazir]

1) While Bitcoins are not controlled by an actual Government, etc, that also means that there is no official "customer service" for Bitcoin...

What about are you complaining about here? Money are issued by government, financial agencies but if you fuck something up and your money got stolen they won't refund you anything.
What do you need that Customer Service for?

2) Not enough businesses directly accept Bitcoin

It will change over time. If you don't want to wait you can always exchange your bitcoin to FIAT.

3) Bitcoin can be stolen through malware,

And you can lose your money in a 100 different ways too. No difference there. I can tell you it is a lot harder to LOSE bitcoins than to be robbed from your money.

4) Bitcoin is not "user friendly"

Oh It is user friendly as much as any internet service is. And do you have to know how your PC or phone works in details just to use them? Do you know how TV or Microwave Oven works to Cook or watch TV?
To be Bitcoin user you don't have to have any real knowledge. You need your wallet and you are free to start.
 

5) You can't pay your Government's taxes, fees, etc. in Bitcoin

Great, fine by me. I already pay a LOT taxes in FIAT alone.

[omahapoker]

Bitcoins are lost through missing backups when smartphones or notebooks are stolen, get broken or harddiscs crash. Holding bitcoins means being your own bank and not many realize that you have to protect it.

On top, when you die, nearly nobody dies knowing it before, the bitcoins will most probably vanish unrecoverably. With fiat on the bank account that won't happen and your relatives will not get the coins.

[--Encrypted--]

1) the first part is not a big problem, see Hazir's post above. the second part.. well, don't be dumb and lose the private key.

2) correct

3) malware can also steal your credit card information. you can get robbed anytime for just wearing an expensive watch. social engineering.. same as malware.

4) it's actually very user friendly if you ask me. it's just that some people get spooked when they hear all kind of things they don't understand.

5) da fack?

[dukeneptun]

6. Blockchain Size &  Synchronizing issues.
Yes we may use SPV clients but it'll make bitcoin more centralized. A few people will run full nodes etc.