Slow adoption and decentralized nature of bitcoin

[witcher_sense]

This post was inspired by tweetstorm https://twitter.com/Beautyon_/status/1179057801706065920

The author of the tweet argues that in order to use bitcoin, people should not be required to know or comprehend theories and technologies on which bitcoin is standing. He claims that for bitcoin to be successfully adopted, it needs to be simplified to such extent when people don't bother to know how it works, why it works, what purposes it was created for, etc.

At first glance, it seems reasonable to make bitcoin more simple, user interfaces more convenient, the cost of onboarding onto bitcoin a bit lower. Undoubtedly, it all will lead to a faster adoption of bitcoin. But.

Bitcoin is digital money. Unlike iPhone or SmartTV (examples from the tweet), it needs to have certain characteristics to be considered so. More importantly, not only does it need to have certain characteristics, these characteristics should be continuously sustained by participants of the network. The more decentralized the network, the easier to keep it robust and valuable. If it were centralized, it woudn't be robust and valuable, it would be shut down already. Decentralization is the key factor.

Now imagine the situation in which bitcoin is being adopted only by uneducated who have no idea how bitcoin works, who don't think too much about decentralization and necessity of sustainability of characteristics, they don't even know why they are using bitcoin instead of fiat! If they don't know what full node is, they will not bother to run one. Decentralization is gone. Bitcoin is gone or less valuable due to decrease of decentralization. Faster adoption is bitcoin's demise.

What should we do?

Should we learn bitcoin or not?
Should we promote simplicity and avoid complexity?
Can bitcoin continue to exist if majority of people don't want to be taught about importance of bitcoin and ideas behind it?

[davis196]

People must know how Bitcoin works in order to trust Bitcoin enough to start using it in their daily lives.
Would you ever invest your hard earned money into a project that has a vague and obscure business model and goals?I don't think so.With more transparency comes more trust.The "average Joe" isn't obligated to know absolutely everything about blockchain technology,cryptography,etc.He should be familiar with the basic fundamentals of Bitcoin.I truly believe that the fundamentals of Bitcoin are simple enough to be easily explained to uneducated people.

[tbct_mt2]

As a start before investment decision, people must know basics of asset they want to invest.

- Total supply
- Percent of coins that are premined and hold by owners, creators of the coin.
- Inflation or deflation scheme: period, rate of inflation/ deflation.
- Volume on the market
- How many exchanges are available to trade globally and in their nations.
- Legality in their nations.
- How transaction works: to avoid panic when their transactions are not yet confirmed by miners longer than usual.
- Security and privacy methods for their crypto.
- Other knowledge.

There is no easy thing to start and no easy thing to earn money. Easy comes, easy goes. We don't need lazy people in the market because they will be cleared out of the market soon. The adoption can not be increased sustainably by such people.

[jademaxsuy]

We should do nothing and wait for the community to see the good side of being decentralized. As a consumer to cryptocurrency if I will be ask with my opinion it is better to have another choice like haviny cryptocurrency. None should be force to join but all are welcome try. This should be the essense of being decentralized where when chosing it means accepting also the risk that has in cryptocurrency. But if all will be educated then I guess there is no problem when it comes to utilization of cryptocurrency.

[ChiBitCTy]

I think it's a load of bullshit that this is bitcoins biggest "problem" or "issue", and that it's going to lead to the demise of bitcoin.  I think this is silly nonsense.  There are still enough people "in bitcoin" that understand all of these important technological aspects of bitcoin and it's blockchain, the importance of running nodes, decentralization etc. 

I do think that bitcoin does need to become easier, but I do not think that by making it so, that it will hurt it's potential.  Andreas Antonopoulos has always said bitcoin needs a "killer app" , which will change everything.  I think part of this app is making bitcoin easier to use.  If Andreas doesn't see a problem with that I sure don't.

[Yogee]

Should we learn bitcoin or not?

Ideally, we should but I don't expect everyone to understand or try to learn how bitcoin transaction works.
It's the same situation with banks, I seriously don't think the masses even know how their money is being transferred or used. They just give their money then wait.

Should we promote simplicity and avoid complexity?

Promote simplicity and give them the option to learn about the complexity if they so desire. We can teach them the basic features such as borderless payment and censorship resistant.

Many of today's wallets are trying to provide convenience to the masses. A lot of them works similarly with other mobile apps that offers financial services like banks. Sending and receiving was made simple too with the integration of QR codes. Default fees are set and advance users can customize it in some wallets.

Can bitcoin continue to exist if majority of people don't want to be taught about importance of bitcoin and ideas behind it?

Unless we have AI who can learn to operate mining rigs and nodes, no.

[mk4]

I agree, but only to a certain extent. Some things are necessary for people to know, like how Bitcoin has no customer support to reverse transactions and such, giving away your wallet's keys is pretty much giving away access to your funds, and the like. While some things like "your wallet holds keys, not coins" are a bit too unnecessary in my opinion unless the person was actually interested in learning the technical stuff.

In the end, a lot will disagree with these as this topic is hugely subjective in the first place.

[NVZNtoken]

This post was inspired by tweetstorm https://twitter.com/Beautyon_/status/1179057801706065920

The author of the tweet argues that in order to use bitcoin, people should not be required to know or comprehend theories and technologies on which bitcoin is standing. He claims that for bitcoin to be successfully adopted, it needs to be simplified to such extent when people don't bother to know how it works, why it works, what purposes it was created for, etc.

This seem to be something that's impossible to argue against. Billions of people use cars without knowing anything about combustion physics. How many people who travel by planes know anything about aerodynamics? How many people could explain how electricity works? How many people who use computers and smartphones every day know how to code? And even from those who know how to code, how many know assembly languages and machine code?

People don't need to know how a technology works to effectively use a technology and enjoy its benefits. Successful bitcoin adoption shouldn't require everyone who wants to use bitcoin to become a computer expert.

[Latviand]

We should do nothing and wait for the community to see the good side of being decentralized. As a consumer to cryptocurrency if I will be ask with my opinion it is better to have another choice like haviny cryptocurrency. None should be force to join but all are welcome try. This should be the essense of being decentralized where when chosing it means accepting also the risk that has in cryptocurrency. But if all will be educated then I guess there is no problem when it comes to utilization of cryptocurrency.

How long we will for people to realize it? We should act now before its too late.

Cryptocurrency is a must to invest because there's a lot of opportunity in it. Being decentralized is really good if people understands the meaning of it in the society. We are not forcing them, but we need to act and help the crypto to become known by other people even in the simplest way. Cryptocurrency is risky but it is worth it once you make it grow with your own. Being educated and enlightened in its complexity will make you grow your asset and deal with those risks.

[dunfida]

I agree, but only to a certain extent. Some things are necessary for people to know, like how Bitcoin has no customer support to reverse transactions and such, giving away your wallet's keys is pretty much giving away access to your funds, and the like. While some things like "your wallet holds keys, not coins" are a bit too unnecessary in my opinion unless the person was actually interested in learning the technical stuff.

In the end, a lot will disagree with these as this topic is hugely subjective in the first place.

You would really need to know even on the slightest or the most simplest technicalities about it.You cant just learn up the basics or key points without knowing it as a whole.
You are definitely right that this topic is hugely subjective yet not all would really have the same mindset and perception into things that do exist.Some may welcome it or
some will just simply ignore and would stick on what they have been using eversince without tending to adopt new changes or innovation in todays tech.

[BrewMaster]

using bitcoin isn't really hard and the clients (aka the wallets) are also moderately easy to use and they are already available on all platforms. the fact that some people find it hard to understand is also normal and the same people will also find a lot of other things they are currently using very hard to understand too but the difference is that they accept those other things without understanding their internals but don't do the same with bitcoin!
for example how many people know how their phones, computers or even their paypal account work but they are all using it.

in order for bitcoin to reach mass adoption we should ask people why do they insist on knowing how bitcoin works while they ignore everything else?

[20kevin20]

You need some level of education and knowledge in order to use Bitcoin specifically because it is not centralized and lets you have the freedom you're looking for.

While having a very convenient and easy to use interface & system sounds amazing and better than what we have, it is only that way to some extent. For example, there currently are wallets out there that do not even require you to back up your seed. All you have to do to take and spend BTC is literally just install it and open it up. I think Bread wallet is one of them.

But you cannot have 100% simplicity specifically because Bitcoin is not centralized. With banks, you have people that do all that work for you: verifying txs, checking out your accounts, confirming txs, giving you the cards/IBANs, helping you out with account creation etc. Exchanges do the same thing. They have people that help you out in case something goes wrong. But with Bitcoin, you have to help yourself out. This is also why Windows is much easier to use than Linux is: it does not give you as much freedom as Linux does. Not even close to it.

Smart TVs and iPhones are the two worst examples they could've given. Both are a privacy nightmare, so don't even get me started.

I personally think slow adoption is the healthiest way Bitcoin can grow. Just let it be adopted and used by those truly interested in it. The evolution from 2010 to 2020 has been healthy enough imo and it seems to work out in the end. Let it grow on its own.

[achach]

Decentralization is probably not possible in full. And the slow adoption was due to the influence of external forces.

[mk4]

You would really need to know even on the slightest or the most simplest technicalities about it.You cant just learn up the basics or key points without knowing it as a whole.

I don't agree that every simple technicalities needs to be learned by the laypeople, like the "your wallet holds keys, not coins" thing I've mentioned. They may need to understand most of Bitcoin's characteristics, but definitely not the technicalities.

[palle11]

You would really need to know even on the slightest or the most simplest technicalities about it.You cant just learn up the basics or key points without knowing it as a whole.

Not always the matter. Technicalitie are left for the experts. Remember in investment of bitcoin, you don't need to be a master on everything about bitcoin, all you need to do is to rely on someone you trust to invest through them. I know of novice who are hodling bitcoin in a wallet they have control of. They ask questions about what they don't understand and they are gradually learning as adoption is increasing too.

[DdmrDdmr]

<…>

There’s always that duality taking place, whereby Bitcoin can be seen as an investment (for the most) or a means of payment (the least nowadays I’d say).

The former calls for one to understand what’s under the hood, the technicalities to a certain degree, at least enough to know what one is getting into. You can always invest in stuff without knowing the ropes, but Bitcoin is pretty transparent in terms of information, and one can grasp it at different levels with a bit of will. What’s more, unlike other types of investments, you tend to manage the assets yourself here (at least, until financial institutions step in heavily with all their array of derivate products), which leaves no wiggle room to escape from acquiring a certain technological degree of knowledge related to Bitcoin.

The latter, the usability, and core intent of Bitcoin, is really not that simple for the average common person (I’m thinking of people outside the forum, those that you encounter at the marker or a retail store, who struggle with a smartphone in their hands). There is a big difference between younger generations and older generations due to technological proximity, and clearly the younger generations will have a more gentle landing and assimilation process. The mid-to-older generations, for the most, will not be able to manage Bitcoin, unless it’s something really simple, risk-exempt, regulation hassle free, and directly beneficial to them versus using the fiat traditional payment methods.

Youngsters may find Bitcoin appealing and technologically sexy, as opposed to mid-to-older generations that need and easy experience.

[Ucy]

There is nothing you can't simplify to people, no matter how low in the head we think those people are. I think it's a matter of who is doing the simplification. If you are a patient person and someone who genuinely want people to succeed, there is nothing you can't simplify to them...no matter how technical or complicated the things you teach them are.

[Ucy]

There is nothing you can't simplify to people, no matter how low in the head we think those people are. I think it's a matter of who is doing the simplification. If you are a patient person and someone who genuinely want people to succeed, there is nothing you can't simplify to them...no matter how technical or complicated the things you teach them are.

Can we get animals like dog, cat etc to understand and use Bitcoin? I believe it is very possible.   If you can get animals to understand Bitcoin, why not humans?
We really need to start thinking about others first, otherwise life is not worth living, I think.

[bayu7adi]

I think a little knowledge about bitcoin is enough as described by this good man, and they will also have no trouble memorizing some new terms which will also become their new habit when they get to know bitcoin further. They will be familiar with the wallet, txid, they will also be familiar with the latest news about bitcoin prices. And all about bitcoin and blockchain they will explore along with the ease of using bitcoin. If you cannot use bitcoin, other cryptocurrencies with technological developments that can facilitate use in transactions, can also be used as an alternative as an introduction strategy to ordinary people.

- Total supply
- Percent of coins that are premined and hold by owners, creators of the coin.
- Inflation or deflation scheme: period, rate of inflation/ deflation.
- Volume on the market
- How many exchanges are available to trade globally and in their nations.
- Legality in their nations.
- How transaction works: to avoid panic when their transactions are not yet confirmed by miners longer than usual.
- Security and privacy methods for their crypto.

[wxa7115]

I agree, but only to a certain extent. Some things are necessary for people to know, like how Bitcoin has no customer support to reverse transactions and such, giving away your wallet's keys is pretty much giving away access to your funds, and the like. While some things like "your wallet holds keys, not coins" are a bit too unnecessary in my opinion unless the person was actually interested in learning the technical stuff.

In the end, a lot will disagree with these as this topic is hugely subjective in the first place.

I share this opinion as well, while it is not necessary the average user of cryptocurrencies to understand every single aspect of bitcoin and the market in general they must still know several pieces of information that are key.

Most of the time I compare bitcoin to cars, people do not have even the most remote idea how their cars work but that does not stop people from driving safely every day, so what is happening? Nothing really extraordinary to be honest, we have a whole system to determine if people have the necessary skills to take the road, and something similar can happen with bitcoin, we just need to teach people the basics of how to protect their coins from hackers and scammers and then the majority will be able to use bitcoin safely just as the majority use cars safely as well.