Even now in 2017, why is bitcoin *still* not accepted as a major currency?

[Arksun]

In the real world, no seller wait a confirmation with things bellow 200 USD ...

Is this the #alternativefacts real world you're on about?  Because in the actual real world I live in, buying things like drinks at a cafe using Bitcoin the checkout person DOES wait for at least 1 confirmation, and the process isn't anywhere near as fast as you'd like people to believe.

Lets get a bit of realism in here, Bitcoin has a long long LOOOOONG way to go to challenge the likes of VISA as an everyday purchasing tool.
Would I like to see Bitcoin be as good as VISA? hell yes that would be amazing! Because I like Bitcoin, but does it currently?  hell no.   Should it?  Well, maybe or maybe not, maybe Bitcoin should never try to be like VISA at all, maybe thats not its calling.

[1714928731]

1714928731

[Silberman]

Doesn't make any sense TBH. We should've seen it starting to replace conventional currencies by now.

Revolutions happen not at the speed we like but at the speed they can, bitcoin is gaining ground slowly, I think almost everyone in the forum would like this to be faster but it is what it is and we don't have too much of a choice but to wait for it.

[franky1]

Doesn't make any sense TBH. We should've seen it starting to replace conventional currencies by now.

Revolutions happen not at the speed we like but at the speed they can, bitcoin is gaining ground slowly, I think almost everyone in the forum would like this to be faster but it is what it is and we don't have too much of a choice but to wait for it.

wait for who/what

oh for bitcoin to grow legs and a voicebox and walk into your local store and have a word with the manager..

remember YOU being here having bitcoin makes YOU part of bitcoin. if YOU want YOUR local store to accept bitcoin YOU and people near YOU and YOUR local store need to be the arms and legs and voicebox for bitcoin.

bitcoin protocol is just code. not a sentient being.

i done my part i can buy food pay bills etc and helped a few businesses and individuals with bitcoin. i havnt needed to look at my fiat bank balance since 2012-2013

if everyone done something in their area the butterfly effect would see faster results.
if everyone sat on their hand waiting for bitcoin sentient protocol to do it all....... well.. you can wait as long as you like

[ASHLIUSZ]

Doesn't make any sense TBH. We should've seen it starting to replace conventional currencies by now.

Revolutions happen not at the speed we like but at the speed they can, bitcoin is gaining ground slowly, I think almost everyone in the forum would like this to be faster but it is what it is and we don't have too much of a choice but to wait for it.

wait for who/what

oh for bitcoin to grow legs and a voicebox and walk into your local store and have a word with the manager..

remember YOU being here having bitcoin makes YOU part of bitcoin. if YOU want YOUR local store to accept bitcoin YOU and people near YOU and YOUR local store need to be the arms and legs and voicebox for bitcoin.

bitcoin protocol is just code. not a sentient being.

i done my part i can buy food pay bills etc and helped a few businesses and individuals with bitcoin. i havnt needed to look at my fiat bank balance since 2012-2013

if everyone done something in their area the butterfly effect would see faster results.
if everyone sat on their hand waiting for bitcoin sentient protocol to do it all....... well.. you can wait as long as you like

What's been quoted is the true and clearly portrayed how bitcoin can be moved towards the list of major currency. In reality very few in specific location of few countries get such an accessibility to get everything with bitcoin. For other there is no other go, they need to depend on fiat. So the history of surviving along with adoption is the only hope to make it a major currency.

[kidoseagle0312]

Doesn't make any sense TBH. We should've seen it starting to replace conventional currencies by now.

Because there are lot of people still don't know the real catch of bitcoin. Especially, the volatility of bitcoin is the reason sometimes why some of the business company don't like to absorb and accept bitcoin, due to maybe they are afraid of the fluctuation that they might gonna lose in the end.

[poplolnman]

Doesn't make any sense TBH. We should've seen it starting to replace conventional currencies by now.

Because there are lot of people still don't know the real catch of bitcoin. Especially, the volatility of bitcoin is the reason sometimes why some of the business company don't like to absorb and accept bitcoin, due to maybe they are afraid of the fluctuation that they might gonna lose in the end.

people especially common people who have a lot of fear about how bitcoin price at the highest price among any other currency make them worry and have to think more than once to start adopt bitcoin technology as their new financial system. to make a mass adoption we can't expect it in the near future , it cost long time . so far so good but the time is not coming and right yet for now.

[Schuyler]

We have to admit that bitcoin is primarily an investment for many of the bitcoin holders and only use it as a currency for certain transactions. The stability of a currency plays a big role in determining how it can be considered a major currency, which bitcoin doesn't have at the moment because of its volatile nature.

[btcjoin14]

Doesn't make any sense TBH. We should've seen it starting to replace conventional currencies by now.

It makes a whole lot of sense that Bitcoin isn't accepted a a major Currency because the people inside the world don't really know about it yet.
Most of the People think that the next digital currency will be backed by gold or something that the Chinese will integrate in their Currency and people will lose their money because USD isn't "Valuable" anymore.

If Bitcoin was well known then the people who decide a what is Currency will be have to list it as a Currency whether it's underground or not.

[bryant.coleman]

Bitcoin is still not accepted as a major currency due to a wide range of reasons. First and foremost is the lack of government recognition. This scares off the businesses, who want to accept payment in BTC. They don't know whether it is legal or not to do so. Second reason is the volatile exchange rates, which can be avoided only if a payment processor is used. And another reason is the elevated risk of funds getting stolen from the wallets.

[emezh10]

Bitcoin is still not accepted as a major currency due to a wide range of reasons. First and foremost is the lack of government recognition. This scares off the businesses, who want to accept payment in BTC. They don't know whether it is legal or not to do so. Second reason is the volatile exchange rates, which can be avoided only if a payment processor is used. And another reason is the elevated risk of funds getting stolen from the wallets.

I agree. Bitcoin for me nowadays are so very bad in terms of value because the value itself are changing again minute to minute. It doesn't stays. And especially many government officials doesn't accept it because of some reasons. Because bitcoin is not especially tested and we don't know what happen if it's value got lower than now. All I can say is our currency today is very good and I think bitcoin will not replace it. And one factor is the value of our currency now is still and do not change minute by minute.

[andrew24p]

Changing the word takes time, 8 years is no time at all. I dont think it will completely replace other currencies but it will add value to more people around the world. We need the time anyway to make it scale.

[spendabit]

Doesn't make any sense TBH. We should've seen it starting to replace conventional currencies by now.

We are getting there though, slowly.

Have you tried Spendabit yet? It's pretty much "Google for things you can buy with Bitcoin":
https://spendabit.co/go?q=4k+tv

Give it a try and let me know!

[mining1]

It's not accepted because it sucks. Lots of places, especially since 2015, started to accept bitcoin. But many don't accept bitcoin anymore because it can't fullfill it's sole purpose; currency. Several hour confirmation and high fees is keeping both potential users and vendors away from it.

This BU vs core fight is happening too late, bitcoin should have forked long ago. But it stagnated instead.

[btcwonder1]

It's because the currency is highly volatile and its value fluctuates at incredibly fast rates. if one day a BTC = $1000 and next day it drops to $800, it would surely kill the business. This is why a large portion of the business community is reluctant to accept it as a form of payment. Moreover, our financial system is not designed to work that way, it would require a large set of changes in order to gain compatibility with BTC. I think its better the way it is.

[Betwrong]

Because most people don't know about it or its benefits.

It's up to us to spread the word.

I agree with this. Hanging out here on bitcointalk we think that it's impossible that most people of the world still do not know about Bitcoin's existence, but that's a fact. People mind their own business and don't care about Bitcoin.

Take me for example. I don't play video games and thus I have no idea about existence of even very popular ones. Right now I've googled "most popular video game" and came across an extremely popular one called Overwatch.  25 million people play this game but I have never heard of it before now.

[Dorky]

1. Geographical facilities (like atm, etc) to facilitate ease of adoption globally must be fully in place.
2. Infrastructures (like smart contract, segwit, etc) to facilitate transition to a fully functional bitcoin network operation must be fully in place.
3. Entering year 2018.

I believe all the 3 points above must be fully in place for bitcoin to be accepted as a major world currency.

Never worry about governments adopting bitcoin as this is an ongoing process.
Never worry about stock market collapse as mechanism is already in place for an engineered collapse anytime once the 3 points above are all in place.

Japan is doing study on how to do corporate accounting with bitcoin and they say this will take 6 months, so bitcoin being a major currency won't take place within the next 6 months while the study is still in development.
Even then, further time is needed for everyone else to familiarize with the new accounting rules and this will probably take several more months into year 2018.

[Rishabh riyz]

[quote author=numismatist link=topic=1832763.msg18260472#msg18260472 date=149
Doesn't make any sense TBH. We should've seen it starting to replace conventional currencies by n
We are not seeing it as a currency for the same reason that we are not seeing gold coins or Apple shares as a currency.

Bitcoin isn't a currency. It is a highly mobile commodity. You can pay in bitcoins but the seller actually wants dollar , not bitcoins.


All three come close to a currency, bullion coins since millennia, Apple shares just since some decades and Bitcoin since years. People recognized their value! Just to "replace" a currency you would need to apply lethal force. Something "official" in the workings.

[LeGaulois]

Bitcoin is still somewhat new. Sometimes comparing Fiat VS Bitcoin make me think about Microsoft VS GNU/Linux. There are always a debate as to wich is better than the other. People thinking linux doesn't work with everything and others thinking Win is not so secure. There are evangelists and there are the one spreading X or Y is bad giving argument full of misconceptions or whatever.

[PeRo]

Because many people do not even know that it exists, and if someone does not tell them right about Bitcoin or they do bad research, they will think that Bitcoin is some kind of scam or dumb project, that is why everyone who is using Bitcoin should share it with the world. Another problem is Bitcoin price movement. It should not be a problem if a shop owner could cash it out immediately though.

[royalfestus]

I still dont understand what people expect with the acceptability. They should not expect a dollar kind of acceptability because of its volatility. We should not even expect acceptability at the same time by the world, if the populous and developed country can engage it actively it wont difficult for small ones.  Lets the governance issue be settled for now