How can we get cryptocurrency into the hands of more people?

[exknoxeric]

I think we all agree that Bitcoin and other cryptos are revolutionary. It's the difference between an analog phone and a smartphone. It's money versus smartmoney. So my question is what is everyone's best idea or plan to get crypto into the hands of the average individual? I asked this in the beginners board to hopefully get fresh perspective.

[AdolfinWolf]

I think we all agree that Bitcoin and other cryptos are revolutionary. It's the difference between an analog phone and a smartphone. It's money versus smartmoney. So my question is what is everyone's best idea or plan to get crypto into the hands of the average individual? I asked this in the beginners board to hopefully get fresh perspective.

You'll need to make crypto just as user friendly as your average bank account, or paypal, which is a pretty hard thing to do without centralising.
( See all the big exchanges for example. Extremely user-friendly, but completely neglecting why bitcoin was made in the first place..)

Also, people will need to have a real incentive to step over from something that they're currently comfortable with ( fiat money), which is probably, and i hate to say it, another global crisis where the dollar won't survive.

You can push people to use bitcoin/cryptocurrencies as much as you want, but they're really not going to use it unless they really want to do so themselves.

[pbitmallx]

I think we all agree that Bitcoin and other cryptos are revolutionary. It's the difference between an analog phone and a smartphone. It's money versus smartmoney. So my question is what is everyone's best idea or plan to get crypto into the hands of the average individual? I asked this in the beginners board to hopefully get fresh perspective.

Everything is constantly evolving. When it develops to a certain degree, all people know it naturely. As long as he is valuable, BTC is like this. years ago, most of people did not know it, but it was valuable. then people started to understand it slowly, and then slowly everyone started to hold and use it.

[wandino]

Many people see cryptos as a gamble rather than freedom from financial institutions, this need to change. People need to understand what the blockchain is and how it works, only then will people start adopting more.

[Subedai]

Aside from the obvious issues of greater awareness and understanding, I think that simpler FIAT gateways will go a long way to helping with this, as a lot of people find the current options too confusing/intimidating or complicated (e.g. - to minimise fees currently I bank transfer to Revolut, exchange to Eur, send to Coinbase, send to GDAX, buy ETH & send to wallet/other exchange to buy a different altcoin).
As I've said in my previous (few) posts, I'm excited for what Ethos will bring, with the FIAT gateway rolling out in Q2, for example, but I know there's other ICOs out there looking to address this in other ways, such as Localcoinswap, which seems to be an extension of localbitcoin.

As a currency, the more retailers that can accept crypto, the greater awareness there will be, but the volatility at present makes adoption difficult. Projects like Open Platform are looking to tackle this.

[mk4]

Don't really expect bitcoin to be used by everyone unless using your own wallet(whereas you have total control over your private keys) is as easy to use as using the Coinbase app. Sure people could use the Coinbase app instead, but it's pretty much opposite to what bitcoin's goal is if people are just gonna use a centralized service. It needs to be idiot-friendly as much as possible.

[jseverson]

Lol if you just want them at the hands of more people, then give some away. I'm kidding, of course.

In all seriousness, the best thing you can probably do to promote it is to use it. Support businesses that accept it, and prove to them that they stand to make money by keeping it as a payment option. If a business you're dealing with doesn't accept it, ask if they do anyway. If enough people ask, they may look into it seriously. More merchants accepting it means more publicity, which could likely translate into more adoption and usage.

I agree with the others about Bitcoin's user experience, but I don't think it's a problem with ease of use (or lack thereof) as much as it is simply being not very innovative. Bitcoin is fairly simple; you only need to click copy + paste + send in most cases, so if people find that difficult, then humanity has a problem. The issue lies in the fact that people would rather simply press buttons because it's faster and there are less opportunities to mess up. The way Bitcoin works under the hood is also fairly complicated, and the fact that people can lose money by being stupid, with no banks to clean up after them makes it a rather daunting prospect. I honestly don't know how those issues could be addressed without massive contentious changes on Bitcoin itself.

[danielkruchin]

In my opinion the only real way is time. The benefits of cryptocurrencies are paving the way for widespread adoption slowly but surely. Soon the younger generation will grow up with enough trust in technology to have no preconceived mistrust for the digital money. Right now there really isn't any good way to convince people like my dad for example. Nothing short of amazing guaranteed wealth gains will convince him to invest.

[aidinx]

It is still too early for cryptocurrencies. And the user base is developed by two main groups: 1. techies who are enthusiasts and early adopters; 2. People who has some knowledge of asset trading and want to make some quick money. So, I think it is incredibly difficult at this point to involve common people into it. The price volatility of the crypto currencies is not for the faint of heart. But there will be a time when the dust will settle. Also, some crypto based real projects will be around at some point. So, I think for the time being there is not much to do other than spreading the word and building trust.