Is Bitcoin entering the mainstream FINALLY?

[b!z]

http://sites.psu.edu/abarneybtc/2013/11/05/is-bitcoin-entering-the-mainstream/

Does anybody think that there will be a day when Bitcoin completely replaces credit cards, and the banking system? It would completely change the way we use digital payments.

Please post your opinion below.

[beetcoin]

no. it's too confusing for the lowest common denominator. even with the emerging support, it would probably still require a significant amount of knowledge on how to use and store them.

[theonewhowaskazu]

no. it's too confusing for the lowest common denominator. even with the emerging support, it would probably still require a significant amount of knowledge on how to use and store them.

Its slowly coming. I visit a random nerdy / "rebellious" / "make money quick" site, and I'm seeing increased mentions of Bitcoin everywhere. Not mainstream, but at least "hey theres this word that keeps on popping up everywhere, wtf does it mean" type thing.

[User705]

Lets look at some numbers. 
Bitcoin total valuation a few billion.  BTC = 350 each
Total Global Black Market a few trillion 1000 times more BTC = 350,000 each
Total Gold valuation 10 trillion 2500 times more  BTC = 875,000 each
Total NYSE market cap 16 trillion 4000 times more  BTC = 1.4 million each
Total NASDAQ cap 6 trillion 1500 times more BTC = 525,000 each
Total Fed Bond Market 40 trillion 10000 times more BTC = 8,750,000 each
Total Global Bond & Stock Market 250 trillion 62,500 times more BTC = 21,875,000 each
So mainstream = NO.  The good news if it gets to 1% mainstream ...   

[knight22]

There are still not enough infrastructure supporting bitcoin for mainstream usage so no.

[Ecurb123]

I think they are, and I think it's a little bit dangerous still. At this point in time you still need to really know what you're doing if you plan on handling a decent amount of btc money.

[philip2000uk]

good vid http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A2Cjo7CHh6w

[LiteCoinGuy]

Nobody knows bitcoin yet so its far FAR away from mainstream.

[Lauda]

Whoever thinks that we are entering mainstream right now, is ignorant and has limited to no understanding of pretty much anything.

[b!z]

Here are some things to think about:
We recently hit a new ATH (over $350)
Bitcoin is all over the news
There is a lot more Bitcoin adoption happening

It is possible that Bitcoin is becoming more well-known by regular people.

[Mike Christ]

Bitcoin's always becoming more popular, but mainstream is a specific point of popularity which we haven't reached.

[Liquid]

Yes and No give it a few years 

[Gabi]

Definitely not. There isn't even a hardware wallet, someone not exactly good with computer will have tons of troubles and will lose its bitcoins.
edit: after reading this thread https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=328757.0 i totally confirm my definitely not. They are unable to avoid an idiot virus like that and are also unable to properly backup their data and we expect them to adopt bitcoin? 

[TheBorg]

No it will never happen, its unrealiable, price isn't stable, confirmations takes 2 long, no "real" value + there has to be few 1000s more bitcoins out there to cover the market needs..

[kokojie]

I think Bitcoin is not meant to replace creditcards, but complement. It'll probably replace western union, and also large cash transactions (especially those that want to be anonymous).

[sushi]

At least in the USA, thank you to BitPay, it seems that Bitcoin is at the front door of the mainstream talking to the household people.

Question would be that household people at the doorstep would let the Bitpay into the living room to discuss further business or have a cup of tea/coffee

If they can pass the front door, Bitcoin will be in the main stream!!!  YAY!!!

Right now, many people in the US who got wind of Bitcoin invested lots of $$$ into the pre-order mining machines and others are spending crazy amount of money on Ebay not realizing they are buying expensive space heaters.  (in the next few weeks, when the news hits the newsoutlet regarding how large the financial loss related to the mining machines, it could hurt/scare the people at the front door...

People may slam the door on Bitcoin all of a sudden, or they may politely take the info, end the conversation, then close the door on Bitcoin

that could be an extra hurdle for the Bitcoin's success

[mprep]

I don't really think Bitcoin will enter mainstream any time soon. People are usually afraid of unknown things, especially the ones that are hard to understand. Bitcoin is based on cryptography, which isn't something you can easily explain to your grandma. Computer science is still a mystery to many people and most of us, who are in Bitcoin, are the ones who actually understand at least the core principles of crypto-currency.

The anonymity might scare some people away as well: they might think it's shady or illegal. And let's not forget the current events: constant hacking, stealing of BTC, scams all around and NSA trying to pull Bitcoin into a controllable space. After all that, some people will just decide not to bother and stick to banks and cash.

[Kenshin]

I think it is, because Bitcoin make the same daily transaction as PayPal already.

[beetcoin]

I think Bitcoin is not meant to replace creditcards, but complement. It'll probably replace western union, and also large cash transactions (especially those that want to be anonymous).

i agree. and BTC is starting to enter the mainstream chatter, but not necessarily adoption. everyone knows about it, but most don't own or know how to use BTC. i think we are years from that kind of development.

[crazy_rabbit]

No, PayPal is mainstream. Bitcoin is still just talk for most people, still will be a while until it's mainstream. Not to mention, at 400 dollars I would be a bit disappointed if it were already mainstream.