what currently stands between bitcoin and it achieving greatness?

[European Central Bank]

what would be the hurdles you'd like to see fall before bitcoin can move forward and make some bigger waves?

obviously the satisfactory resolution of the 2x thing, which i think is gonna be a real fudfest and may screw things completely.

what else?

personally i think the death of bitfinex is a necessity for the health of the crypto market. this whole rise began at pretty much the exact same time they lost their banking. at the same time they've been churning out usdt like fun tokens while their site is telling us they're not redeemable for anything if they feel like it.

despite not having any banking, regulation, clarity or accountability they're still twice as large as any other usd market. i find it incredible that they're still a thing and they won't go away either.

[Torque]

personally i think the death of bitfinex is a necessity for the health of the crypto market. this whole rise began at pretty much the exact same time they lost their banking.

If you noticed too, BTC-e was shut down by the Feds right before this recent price rise as well.

I think some very well connected and very deep pocketed individuals and institutions want to see Bitcoin become a more 'legitimate' marketplace (read: no criminals, no shady/dark markets, no leaks, proper AML/KYC, etc.) before they are ready and willing to dump big money into it. And it could mean really BIG money, the kind we haven't seen yet.

[European Central Bank]

If you noticed too, BTC-e was shut down by the Feds right before this recent price rise as well.

good point. all of that slipped my mind. the timing was pretty carefully coordinated.

i'd still say bitfinex has a potentially much more insidious effect on the actual market. i guess it stays where it is because people like its functionality so much. since it's that way i don't get why its competitors can't get their shit together to match it.

[fabiorem]

Its users.

As long as people regards fiat as the main coin, they will not hodl bitcoin for long, and will sell it when the price spikes. This brings more coins to exchanges, which result in more offers and consequently lower prices.

Now, if they hodl it for a long time and take it off exchanges, this results in scarcity and the prices will go up when those who sold earlier will need it again, or those who are new are needing to buy some.

But users will hodl more if bitcoin starts being accepted by merchants, and ATMs installed all over the world. Fiat is still more practical, credit cards still offer faster payments. This need to change so more people hodl bitcoins and the price go higher.