On merchants not willing to accept crypto

[deisik]

-snip- On the other hand, any law reflects the social fabric objectively...

This would be my exact issue here. I have a first hand experience with unreal expectations from my irs.
Last year they wanted us to submit taxes for every transaction crypto -> crypto. Somebody completely detached from reality interpreted the law and requested the impossible. There was a little storm in the community, irs gave up this crazy idea.
However few subjects, like the biggest crypto-exchange had to run away of borders, because taxes would eat them whole up.
As you can see, law matters a lot

Yes, just as I said earlier, laws carved in stone are rewritten in blood

And it should be taken literally. If some law is kinda set in stone, i.e. it is assumed to be something sacrosanct and inviolate, no matter what, it will get rewritten in blood sooner or later. Events leading to this are called a revolutionary situation when "the rulers are unable and the ruled ones are unwilling", according to Lenin. I don't think it is particularly different with money as we have an example of Zimbabwe where the population completely abandoned the local currency after the government devalued it. And no law could change this outcome

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[tenakha]

[...]

bitcoin is very volatile, such high volatility becomes a major barrier for merchants to accept bitcoin as a means of payments

I don't particularly disagree with your points

However, if you are a big merchant with thousands of clients paying or willing to pay with Bitcoin, you can either mass-hedge directly against price volatility (this will cost you around 1% yearly at max) or use third party services that specifically deal with this issue. Besides, we should keep in mind that with expansion of Bitcoin adoption volatility is set to taper off eventually as real value, which comes through such use, takes away from volatility just like speculative value adds to it

I do not think any technique can easily stand against price volatility. If it was easy, none of us would lose.
Anyway, I still think humanity is not ready for it. Although average circulation of paper money we use today is 4 trillion in the Forex market, the crypto market has a circulation of 16-17($16.830.552.454 according to CMC) billion. And IMO crypto market can be accepted when the cryptocurrency is in the current position of paper money. Also this means a decrease of volatility.

[pixie85]

There are many reasons why people aren't spending Bitcoin. Like why would someone who is at a loss spend his coins in a bear market?
Why would someone who is using this accumulation phase to increase his holdings spend those newly acquired coins?

If you got cheap Bitcoin and they are worth 10 times more now it's very difficult to find something you want to spend them on. If I had a million dollars in cryptocurrency now I wouldn't spend because I don't need anything expensive right now. What am I gonna buy? A thousand pizzas or 5 thousand coffees?

[fumblingperch]

I agree with every word you say. People who have earned their bitcoins by toil can be very difficult to part with them and I understand them. We all wish for bitcoin the best, we love it and believe in it. But sometimes you really do not want to part with their funds. So I don't think we should judge these people.

[miropp]

Yes, there are really a lot of places where cryptocurrency is accepted. But the fact that bitcoin does not develop as a means of payment is not only the fault of the holders. It is influenced by many factors and therefore we do not know the true reason.

[BitBustah]

I agree with every word you say. People who have earned their bitcoins by toil can be very difficult to part with them and I understand them. We all wish for bitcoin the best, we love it and believe in it. But sometimes you really do not want to part with their funds. So I don't think we should judge these people.

People do not want to spend something that will go up in value, it is why fiat money has a high inflation rate that is stable overtime.  Bitcoin may fail as an everyday currency but it will be the new store of rival being a digital version of gold.  PArt of the reason merchants don't want to accept it right now is because of the volatility.  It's not uncommon for bitcoin to lose 10-20 percent in a few days which makes them scared to accept it without converting instantly to fiat.

[allthingsluxury]

Some are just completely either uninformed and misinformed. The disinformation campaign has been vicious and real.

[JRoa]

I agree with every word you say. People who have earned their bitcoins by toil can be very difficult to part with them and I understand them. We all wish for bitcoin the best, we love it and believe in it. But sometimes you really do not want to part with their funds. So I don't think we should judge these people.

People do not want to spend something that will go up in value, it is why fiat money has a high inflation rate that is stable overtime.  Bitcoin may fail as an everyday currency but it will be the new store of rival being a digital version of gold.  PArt of the reason merchants don't want to accept it right now is because of the volatility.  It's not uncommon for bitcoin to lose 10-20 percent in a few days which makes them scared to accept it without converting instantly to fiat.

The volatility of the bitcoin is the main reason why merchants are still not accepting bitcoin as payment. There are only few businesses and stores that are accepting bitcoins in this current year. The adoption will occur if the business will first accept cryptocurrencies for the customers to become interested to use it.

[Bosx1ne]

The adoption will have a hard time because there are merchants who are not willing to accept cryptocurrencies. It will take time because they should be aware to what it is and they should have plan if they will accept cryptocurrencies even it has characteristics of being volatile.

[Koadharber]

The adoption will have a hard time because there are merchants who are not willing to accept cryptocurrencies. It will take time because they should be aware to what it is and they should have plan if they will accept cryptocurrencies even it has characteristics of being volatile.

It takes a lot of time before the merchants accept Cryptocurrency as a payment because they are aware that Bitcoin is not a stable currency,hopefully in the nearest future they will accept it but for now they need to research it well to find out what is the good benefits they can get if they will adopt it.

[pooya87]

i have not seen anybody making a claim that bitcoin's adoption is "limited" by merchants so i am a bit surprised to read it for the first time here. sure, the merchant adoption is one of many factors in bitcoin adoption journey but it is not the limiting factor. and i wouldn't call it "cause and effect". it is more like a chicken and egg problem because they both can be cause and effect at the same time.
- if we get more merchants to accept bitcoin as payment the adoption will grow
- if the adoption grows then merchants will see it and accept bitcoin as payment.

[Kakmakr]

Absolutely spot on.  

I have dealt with a lot of merchants before and the general sentiment from these merchants are that the coins being spend are not sufficient to heighten their interest to support it. They have to make changes to their payment system to accommodate for Bitcoin payments and they have to train their staff and this is costing them time and money.

A week ago I visited a local tyre fitment centre and I noticed that they removed the "Bitcoin accepted" sign from their display window. I queried this decision and the manager told me that they simply did not get enough Bitcoin business to justify the effort to support it.    

We should still support Bitcoin merchants, even if the Bitcoin price is low or more of this will happen.  

[deisik]

[...]

bitcoin is very volatile, such high volatility becomes a major barrier for merchants to accept bitcoin as a means of payments

I don't particularly disagree with your points

However, if you are a big merchant with thousands of clients paying or willing to pay with Bitcoin, you can either mass-hedge directly against price volatility (this will cost you around 1% yearly at max) or use third party services that specifically deal with this issue. Besides, we should keep in mind that with expansion of Bitcoin adoption volatility is set to taper off eventually as real value, which comes through such use, takes away from volatility just like speculative value adds to it

I do not think any technique can easily stand against price volatility. If it was easy, none of us would lose

It is in fact quite easy

Most of us are not doing this because a) we simply don't know how b) hedging against volatility means we are sacrificing future profits via "buying low selling high". But for merchants and producers (who are not interested in speculation), it is a working strategy which is widely used everywhere in the world (I'm not talking about crypto specifically here). If you want to hedge against future price change, you can hedge with futures or options. With crypto, you just open a short position equal to the amount held. In that case, you are 100% protected from any price move, though, as I said, you can also kiss goodbye to your profits as well

[Bttzed03]

There is also that instance that merchants have no idea what bitcoin or cryptocurrency is and that's another reason why they're unwilling to accept. Being persistent in asking these merchants is actually a good step to make them aware and eventually accept crypto

[deisik]

There are many reasons why people aren't spending Bitcoin. Like why would someone who is at a loss spend his coins in a bear market?

Actually, this is a good reason

As you can either sell them and book losses or spend them and then not have that feeling of being a complete loser having to close a losing position. Well, ultimately it is still six of one and half a dozen of the other, but in the latter case you won't feel yourself that low. And you can always buy back when the price goes lower and feel like a winner

If you got cheap Bitcoin and they are worth 10 times more now it's very difficult to find something you want to spend them on. If I had a million dollars in cryptocurrency now I wouldn't spend because I don't need anything expensive right now. What am I gonna buy? A thousand pizzas or 5 thousand coffees?

That's because you don't have a million dollars in cryptocurrency. Or, maybe, it is the exact reason why you don't have so much in the first place

[daarul50]

There is also that instance that merchants have no idea what bitcoin or cryptocurrency is and that's another reason why they're unwilling to accept. Being persistent in asking these merchants is actually a good step to make them aware and eventually accept crypto

However, there are also traders who already know bitcoin but still don't want to accept bitcoin. Why? because they do not yet trust transactions using bitcoin so that knowledge of bitcoin is not enough, it requires trust from both parties to bitcoin to make a transaction.

[incomefromcoins]

some merchants aren't willing to accept crypto the main reason is that of the uncertainty of prices in the crypto market keep fluctuations so merchants are afraid to accept crypto currencies

[poptok1]

-snip- On the other hand, any law reflects the social fabric objectively...

-snip-

-snip-...according to Lenin

Godwin's law should be also applied to situations similar to that above and where I do agree with you, reality shows us that vast majority of people are unwilling to spill blood, especially their own. They will rather flee the country, avoiding taxation and deprive the system of their money.

-snip-
not get enough Bitcoin business to justify the effort to support it.   

Out of curiosity, what would those hidden costs be?
Staff trained once, retains the knowledge. Wallets are free so as participation in the network. Legal help also is paid once.
What is that that I'm missing? 

[deisik]

i have not seen anybody making a claim that bitcoin's adoption is "limited" by merchants so i am a bit surprised to read it for the first time here. sure, the merchant adoption is one of many factors in bitcoin adoption journey but it is not the limiting factor. and i wouldn't call it "cause and effect". it is more like a chicken and egg problem because they both can be cause and effect at the same time.
- if we get more merchants to accept bitcoin as payment the adoption will grow
- if the adoption grows then merchants will see it and accept bitcoin as payment.

I don't actually think it is more like a chicken and egg problem. As you can see from reports posted here, it is along the way I see it. And I've given examples in the opening post which factually prove my point, i.e. whenever there is real interest from consumers to pay in Bitcoin which involves serious money (like in real estate business), there is no lack of merchants ready to accept crypto as long as it is not prohibited by the law. To repeat, when money talks bullshit walks

Regarding no one making such claims, you can start here

[Xising]

You are absolutely right.

If you are willing to spend money in exchange for a good or service, be it fiat or bitcoin, there is someone out there who will accept it. Now, while millionaires can buy anything they like in bitcoin by throwing enough money at it, the average person here isn't going to be able to convince some big supermarket or chain to start accepting bitcoin, but they could certainly have success in smaller independent retailers or tradespeople. After me asking every week for a month or so, one of the sellers at my local farmers' market started to accept bitcoin, and now he isn't the only one accepting it and I'm not the only one spending it.

Stop waiting for retailers to accept crypto and start asking them to accept crypto. Holding won't get us anywhere if no one is spending.

Although cryptocurrency has a lot of potential to consider so to speak, you can't really blame those merchants or shops that are adamant and hesitant to accept cryptocurrencies as payment mostly for their goods and services. I mean, as a merchant or marketer, you have to shed off a good amount of capital to do business, and more capital to sustain it, and if you would rely at something that is actually unreliable and has changing values more often than not, it might affect your business big time. There's nothing better than having cold hard cash that everyone knows and accepts.