What Is Missing From Bitcoin In Order For It To Be More Adoptable For The Masses

[OmegaStarScream]

"Bitcoin needs mass adoption." This is a phrase you see very often on Reddit and in BitcoinCT r:  8 conversations all over the world.

There are lots of discussions on the internet and a lot of thinking on the part of basic internet users as to whether they should adopt Bitcoin or not. Many companies have built themselves a future in the economic sector with Bitcoin’s technology, raising millions of dollars, having followed the age-old saying, “If you don't try it, how could you know it?”.

Continue here : http://cointelegraph.com/news/what-is-missing-from-bitcoin

[SFR10]

I think whats holding it back in order to be adopted by most, is lack of knowledge by most merchants , lack of ease of transaction approval as it's not instant, need of internet since many stores still lack internets (physical stores) ,  sudden inflation and deflation. I agree with some of those viewpoints in the article and perhaps if some sort of paper money could be printed by governmenfs all through out most countries,  could help but prices should be fixed for that to work.

[Jet Cash]

Why does Bitcoin need mass adoption now? It's already having growth problems as it hits puberty. How would it cope if an extra 100 million people suddenly started to use it?

[zeaderza]

I would be necessary for a transaction to be confirmed quickly.
Bitcoin to appear on TV and everywhere to be known by all.

[NorrisK]

I still believe bitcoin is too overwhelming to get into. In order to get your first bitcoin, you need to study some basic fundamentals of bitcoin, which can be challenging.

Mass adaptation can only happen if people don't realize that they are using bitcoin or blockchain anymore. It needs to work seamlessly with various applications and services.

[ikydesu]

The mass adoption phrase will not over until people in the world use bitcoin LoL.
Anyway, recently there are many companies or even merchant which accept bitcoin, it's good step for introduce to other people if there are have some technology which ease to use for the transaction.

I think whats holding it back in order to be adopted by most, is lack of knowledge by most merchants , lack of ease of transaction approval as it's not instant, need of internet since many stores still lack internets (physical stores) ,  sudden inflation and deflation. I agree with some of those viewpoints in the article and perhaps if some sort of paper money could be printed by governmenfs all through out most countries,  could help but prices should be fixed for that to work.

Everyone now hold the internet connection in their hands.

[Herbert2020]

stability.

in order for bitcoin to be used by everybody it needs to become stable.
- stable price, so people can have confidence in their ability to purchase the same stuff they can this day and the next.
- stability in the technology, nowadays with all this drama surrounding bitcoin block size/classic/..... it creates fear in the consumer so natural response is to simply stay away.

[erikalui]

Bitcoins aren't accepted by many websites online and the debit cards also have a very high fee due to which users don't feel like investing in bitcoins. My friends who use PayPal and other payment methods don't believe in it due to the price fluctuations and hence the masses need something that they can use in their day-to-day life and not a crypto currency whose price isn't stable or fluctuates a lot. BTC is mainly for investors who can take risks.

[klm bitcoin]

I don't think there's anything missing from the coin itself. The problem is many people are still not familiar with crypto technology and do not understand the concept. Without this knowledge it is hard for the average citizen to invest time or money on bitcoin, because he or she would not be seeing any value in it.

[ikydesu]

stability.

in order for bitcoin to be used by everybody it needs to become stable.
- stable price, so people can have confidence in their ability to purchase the same stuff they can this day and the next.
- stability in the technology, nowadays with all this drama surrounding bitcoin block size/classic/..... it creates fear in the consumer so natural response is to simply stay away.

It will not stable as everyone likes, the price will volatile. The stable range is more than fiat which everyone assume if the price move significantly.
And the technology always be more update and following the trend.

[Aamir1]

I think bitcoin is too much complicated for the new people, it is quite tough to understand its worth as a new person to it. That could be the reason.

[BitcoinNewsMagazine]

Bitcoin is not ready for adoption by the masses, it is not yet capable of handling the transaction volume of VISA. May never be able to or need to either. Since there are hoops to jump through to buy bitcoin and convert back to fiat, it is also missing the killer app that would make bitcoin a household word and greatly desired by the average consumer.

[Goms]

Bitcoin is not ready for adoption by the masses, it is not yet capable of handling the transaction volume of VISA. May never be able to or need to either. Since there are hoops to jump through to buy bitcoin and convert back to fiat, it is also missing the killer app that would make bitcoin a household word and greatly desired by the average consumer.

Bitcoin still has to clean up its act if it's going to compete with the top players of online transactions.

[Zeke2345]

What I think needs to be done is making it more simple to use. Meaning we need to create programs that dumb it down for the new users so they do not get bogged down in how bitcoin works.
I know easier said than done but think that is the major issue at this point with gathering new users.

Bitcoin really only gets news for being used in scams and laundering stories,should create some postive stories that can run on a local level.

[Betwrong]

Everything which is new to most people should be introduced properly otherwise they won't accept it. When the potato was introduced to Europe in the early 17th century, it was damned as an evil food. Long time passed until it was fully accepted. We need more positive articles, TV shows and documentaries explaining to people how good Bitcoin is.

[alyssa85]

Bitcoin is not ready for adoption by the masses, it is not yet capable of handling the transaction volume of VISA. May never be able to or need to either. Since there are hoops to jump through to buy bitcoin and convert back to fiat, it is also missing the killer app that would make bitcoin a household word and greatly desired by the average consumer.

This. At the moment, to use BTC you need to plan ahead - send money in advance to gyft or purse.io. and then wait forever till the transaction appears and gets confirmed, and only then use it.

With hindsight, it was a mistake to make the blocks 10 minutes apart. If they were 30 seconds apart, all BTC's problems would be solved.

[onlinedragon]

It's way to difficult the way it is now for the majority of the people. Old people can't barely handle normal desktop computers to start talking about Bitcoin isn't something for that generation. Things have to be simple and understandable for all people.

[twister]

Bitcoins aren't accepted by many websites online and the debit cards also have a very high fee due to which users don't feel like investing in bitcoins. My friends who use PayPal and other payment methods don't believe in it due to the price fluctuations and hence the masses need something that they can use in their day-to-day life and not a crypto currency whose price isn't stable or fluctuates a lot. BTC is mainly for investors who can take risks.

There are services like Bitpay for that, they instantly convert the bitcoins  a business receives thereby reducing the risk of loss due to price fluctuations, so I don't think its that.

I think it is just lack of knowledge and bad reputation spread by the media which is stopping people from adopting it.

[ebliever]

For mass adoption it seems to me the following are needed:

1. Increased transaction capacity (while maintaining low transaction cost).
2. Robust wallets that are easy to learn and use, hard to compromise (anti-theft), and make it hard for newbies to screw up and lose their keys and/or password somehow (anti-loss).
3. Fast, efficient (low fee) transfers between fiat and bitcoin.
4. Discounts (offered by merchants) for using bitcoin in place of fiat (better than credit card rewards), in recognition of bitcoin's lack of forgeries, bounced checks, stolen CC info, credit card fees, counterfeiting and so forth.
5. Widespread zero-confirmation techniques so that transactions can be recognized as valid much faster than the traditional "wait 3-6 blocks" approach.

So long as bitcoin is throttled on point 1, bitcoin is more a "digital gold" - an asset held for investment/high value, but without much day-to-day use. This will be a successful niche, but as the flagship of cryptocurrency I would like bitcoin to see more mass appeal and leave the "digital gold" niche to something else.

[gamebak]

-Stability
The price keeps swaying madly, makes it borderline impossible for mainstream businesses to switch and run solely on Bitcoin.

-Tech/Jargon
-Existing crowd of geeks within the ecosystem do a terrible job of ensuring the system is dumbed down to a point where the average man can use it without being hindered much leaving any potential user base extremely confused in regards to what is to be done with the technology


-Regulations
The lack of regulations on the space makes it increasingly worrying for new businesses to enter the space as most people are not even sure as to what they are doing being illegal or not.