[2017-11-30] Bitcoin is not mainstream

[tropyc]

Many have stated that Bitcoin reaching an all-time high above $10,000 is the sign of a new transitional period for the cryptocurrency market.
Have cryptocurrencies become mainstream?

Short answer: No

• Half a percent of global population owns a cryptocurrency
• Market capitalisation is peanuts
• Experience is still unpleasant
• Today’s crypto is the 90s of internet

To summarise, a price tag should not define the level of market adoption.

full article: https://www.tropyc.co/news/cryptocurrency-is-not-mainstream

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[jaenglee]

if it does not become mainstream then when? Even you can hear it in Big Bang Theory, and all of Bank start to give warning about, is it not mainstream enough?

[TianaStam]

if it does not become mainstream then when? Even you can hear it in Big Bang Theory, and all of Bank start to give warning about, is it not mainstream enough?

I love the BBT, but I didn't notice they speak about crypto currencies there. Maybe in some new episodes that I didn't watch yet.
I think bitcoin is only becoming a main stream. I was reading that only 2% of people know and use it and it is actually really few. But there is no doubt that such huge price like today will attract much more users in sooner time

[Xavofat]

Maybe in some new episodes that I didn't watch yet.

They recently had an episode specifically about BTC.  One of them had lost crypto that they mined a long time ago, or something along those lines.

I was reading that only 2% of people know and use it

It's impossible to measure how many people use it unless you manage to compromise the pseudonymity of every single BTC user in existence.

As for how many people know about it, that statistic is incorrect.
Still, the general point that the price shouldn't affect BTC's perceived adoption is pretty sound.  Merchant adoption has stagnated while people use BTC hugely for speculative purposes.

[DooMAD]

• Market capitalisation is peanuts

The article has a peculiar definition of "peanuts" given some of the recent articles about market capitalisation.  Are Disney, McDonald's and Mastercard peanuts?  Is Pound Sterling (although, granted, that's the 3% of physical money in circulation, not the other 97% of digital IOUs we like to pretend we can withdraw) peanuts?  Of course it isn't bigger than Apple yet, that's a job for next year.  

[Carlton Banks]

"Market capitalisation" makes zero sense applied to Bitcoin. So it makes zero sense comparing the Bitcoin network in terms of business market caps.


Bitcoin as a system cannot be bought, it is not a company. Bitcoin is it's own currency, monetary system and electronic payment network, and because anyone can play any role in the Bitcoin network without getting approval to do so, it is impossible to buy the whole network. To further explode these old metrics seeking to categorise or value the Bitcoin system, Bitcoin is also a networking protocol, and a carefully defined programming/scripting environment. The way the software was designed is a deliberate measure to prevent any single entity from gaining overall control of the network.

The most suitable way to describe the figure for BTC supply multiplied by $ exchange rate is "monetary base", but even that is complicated by pre-existing definitions of monetary base (Bitcoin can only ever represent what monetarist economists refer to as the "M1" money supply, as money in the Bitcoin system can only be created as assets, not as liabilities)

[regulated]

After reaching that 10k mark its being talked about in the news, and articles are being created about it. It definitely opened up topics and attracted new people I say. Just typing on Google "how to" ... "what is" shows bitcoin as search results. For instance, people searching up "what is net neutrality?" can find out what it is.

[Qartersa]

Yes, I see your point. But I still think it is not mainstream. Although its popularity is very well taken by public, it has still not reached a certain level of acceptance and legality in the market. We should not confuse popularity with being mainstream. To be exaggerated about it, let us take on drugs as an example. We all know drugs know no race, and is popular worldwide. Its popularity NEVER made it mainstream to the point that it is being widely accepted nor has it passed a certain level of legality. Just my two cents.

Do you get my point?

[freakcoin]

Mainstream is just beginning and when the price reaches to $ 50,000 each dog will invest in bitcoin? There is a category of people who are far to the cryptocurrency and they really don't care about the cost.

[Darklinkz]

Fair enough. Maybe people always worried about when will bitcoin go mainstream because for me, it is not important on how long will it take as long as it is going to happen. I know it will be sooner so stop spreading nonsense that will cause FUD.

[Benezim]

Let’s be honest. It can only be labeled mainstream if my uncle, auntie etc can get into crypto easily. User experience, GUI, etc is still under development in the main crypto assets. Also, something people do not feel comfortable with is responsibility. If you lose your private keys, there is no customer service you can call to get your funds back.

Hardware wallets are the first step into user friendliness and mass adoption. Clear GUIs for non digital natives have to be addressed as well. And acceptance in retail.

Only then we can start to think about mainstream.

[J. Cooper]

I agree that bitcoin and cryptocurrncy aren't anywhere near mainstream adoption yet. However, due to the recent all time highs bitcoin has gotten some coverage on the news and radio. I actually heard people in the gym talk about bitcoin a week ago. But I'm still convinced, considering the latter, that bitcoin isn't mainstream yet.

[Spaffin]

Undoubtedly, when it comes to crypto-currency, most people perceive it as a talk about bitkoyne, which indicates that while bitkoyn was and is the main one among the crypto currency. However, such a situation will exist until people start to become more interested in crypto currency and find that the crypto currency is not only bitkoyn, but also more than a thousand different altcoins, many of which are interesting in their own way.