What can we do to speed up Bitcoin mass adoption?

[m2017]

Reading this forum, I periodically come across posts that glorious times will come when bitcoin will be used everywhere to buy and sell any services and goods around the world. I am amazed and surprised by the optimism of some people. There is an aphorism that goes something like this: optimists are people who are ill-informed. I'm trying to look at the situation from a realistic point of view and this is what I see.

Residents of any country in the world can officially use only the national currency as a means of payment (if somewhere this is not the case, then correct me). Of course, you can pay in any other currency in a dark alley, if you agree, but the only legal means is always the national currency of the country of your residence. If you look at the situation from this point of view, then why would the governments of any country allow the use of bitcoin as a means of payment? Other currencies are not allowed, but bitcoin will be allowed. Why would governments suddenly be given such privileges for bitcoin? For me personally, this is obvious and my forecasts are pessimistic in this regard. The maximum, in my opinion, that they will allow is to officially invest in bitcoin and generously allow you to share % of the profits with them.

It's funny (or not so) true, once you make a profit, they demand a share of your profits, but they don't minimize your risks in any way and don't compensate for losses. This is a small digression.

Now we come to the point that I would like to discuss.
As you know, bitcoin can be easily used as a currency in p2p transactions and no government has any influence here. But what about legal entities? For example, small shops, bars, etc., where now you can pay with BTC (By the way, there are not so many such places). It must be legally difficult to get it right. And what about those in whose countries it is difficult to overcome bureaucratic obstacles and calmly accept bitcoin in their shop?

Can use the "accept as a donation" option instead of paying? In this case, will it be possible to hold you legally liable in your country? Will government agencies be able to punish this method? I understand that each country has its own legislation, but I know examples of countries where under the guise of "donations" religious organizations enrich themselves without paying a penny of taxes (officially and legally exempt from taxes). For example, this organization rents out rooms to pilgrims (and not only) in its "hotels" and the price list indicates "donation" and not payment for services. With this example, I wanted to show that the model of paying for services / goods under the guise of "donations" is quite real and feasible, and if use bitcoi for this, it can be even easier.

The community is waiting for the world to accept bitcoin to be used everywhere. Maybe it's worth trying actions that will speed this up? For example, encouraging buyers of your store's products or providing car repair services. You can offer a discount if pay in bitcoin. This will be beneficial for the buyer, and you get BTC for your purchases from other people, too, at a discount, or in a pinch, leave it as an investment.

Donation + discount when paying in BTC can be combined. Discounts could encourage people to use bitcoin and bring mass adoption closer through more users. In the end, BTCitcoin should circulate in society / economy, like blood in a living organism, and not stagnate and stale.

What can you say about this option? Will it be legal to use it?

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[Tytanowy Janusz]

Residents of any country in the world can officially use only the national currency as a means of payment (if somewhere this is not the case, then correct me). Of course, you can pay in any other currency in a dark alley, if you agree, but the only legal means is always the national currency of the country of your residence. If you look at the situation from this point of view, then why would the governments of any country allow the use of bitcoin as a means of payment? Other currencies are not allowed, but bitcoin will be allowed. Why would governments suddenly be given such privileges for bitcoin? For me personally, this is obvious and my forecasts are pessimistic in this regard. The maximum, in my opinion, that they will allow is to officially invest in bitcoin and generously allow you to share % of the profits with them.

I think you are wrong here.

Legal tender (national currency) - "is a form of money that courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment" (wiki). So it does not mean that you are forced to use it to pay for something. It means that you are forced to accept it if someone is trying to use it to pay for something. So you can legally pay for TV using your PC (barter exchange - Is bartering legal in the US?) if someone else is accepting such payment.

Many shops in my country (especially those close to borders) have 2 prices on each product (national currency and euro) so that tourists could easily pay using both currencies.

[Lucius]

What can we do to speed up Bitcoin mass adoption?

If there is a physical or online store where you would like to pay with Bitcoin, then you should ask them if they can add that payment option. If more people were interested, the store would certainly consider this option. Sometimes it’s better to act than to wait for something to happen on its own. I see that we agree on that, and I think that is the best way towards that kind of adaptation.

Residents of any country in the world can officially use only the national currency as a means of payment (if somewhere this is not the case, then correct me).

Your view of the situation is based solely on where you live, but I live in a relatively small EU country where Bitcoin is not regulated as a currency, but at the same time it can be used on various online sites but also in physical stores. The fact is that the state cares exclusively about collecting taxes, and all those who operate legally are liable to pay taxes. In addition, sellers use a local payment processor that allows them to get a fiat directly to their bank account, in the end, it is a win-win situation for everyone.

However, one thing we must not forget is that most people do not see Bitcoin as a currency, but as a speculative asset - which leads us to the fact that the volume of such payments would probably not increase significantly even if Bitcoin becomes a legal tender in most countries.

[mk4]

I still mostly hold the opinion that bitcoin won't be used by the mass majority for payments any time soon. First, they need to know the importance of BTC as a decentralized and scarce asset that you can park a certain percentage of your net worth in. We're nowhere near having most people knowing that just yet, it's mostly still that BTC is a get-rich-quick scheme.

[Vaskiy]

Recently I read about some physical bitcoin store located in a country that helps people with the guidance on buying, selling and using bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. The same technique has been mentioned in the above quote.

Physical Bitcoin Store

Think of a physical bank. In my country it is possible to see people without knowledge about banking having their bank accounts and transactions made with the help of the help desk in the banks. Though the support is done through a third person, it makes people know about banking and get used to it. Same as this bitcoin stores can help people know about it and the same will lead to widening of the market.

[fiulpro]

I really doubt that you might be able to get a discount while using bitcoins in any shop, there is a lot of volatility involved and at the same time people generally don't have enough profit margins to integrate the discounts in there. It's certainly legal to pay for anything with bitcoins as long as the currency is not really illegal in your area and also there are also bitcoin machines everywhere now, even in small towns therefore I think we can use those things to create a better environment making it more normal for people to buy/sell/trade easily anywhere.
There are also bitcoin banks which might be working soon enough and at the same time there are also countries like Ukraine who are accepting bitcoins on a broader basis. Using NFT's and donations as well, they will also issue bank cards for people using cryptocurrencies like bitcoins for trading etc.

[Natalim]

Donation + discount when paying in BTC can be combined. Discounts could encourage people to use bitcoin and bring mass adoption closer through more users. In the end, BTCitcoin should circulate in society / economy, like blood in a living organism, and not stagnate and stale.

Why would a company or a business owner give a discount to people? What for? I mean they are doing business, it's their purpose is to be profitable, and giving discounts would mean they'll lower their income. If we look at the volatility side, that alone is a risk that business owners will take, of course on the positive note, they can also enjoy high profitability when the price is bullish, but as I said, that volatility is a major problem for most businesses which the main purpose is to use bitcoin as a payment system.

IMO, an increase of adoption is only possible when governments fully regulate crypto.

[hd49728]

Education for the people is key. It helps them to know lies from governments, central banks about Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. It helps them to realize value of Bitcoin and its role in the world for people freedom and prosperity in finance.

Without knowledge, understanding on Bitcoin and experience in the market, with Bitcoin wallet, address, transactions, people will never actually understand what Bitcoin is by themselves.

More education, better support, more adoption, brighter future, higher price.

[OgNasty]

Seems to me like we've already hit some pretty insane adoption levels.  Even high school kids nowadays own crypto.  Granted it's usually ethereum, but they are very familiar with the whole ecosystem.  The thing that seems to need acceleration is actual use of Bitcoin.  Wall Street is scooping it up, billionaires are promoting it, businesses are adding it to their balance sheets, more and more people are accepting it for payments...  Actual usage appears lower than it was 5 years ago.  Maybe this is due to the popularity of altcoins, but it makes me sad to think that Bitcoin's main use case is buying altcoins.  We need to see more people using Bitcoin.  Back in 2011 there were people on these forums using it to bet on Monopoly games or anything else you can think of.  Now it seems everyone wants to HODL but also wants adoption to spread.  It's an interesting scenario that has so far played out in price appreciation.  I don't think that will last forever.

[amishmanish]

The thought that Bitcoin would be used for payments mostly evolved during the initial 6-7 years of this forum and Bitcoin. People loved giving example of Bitcoin's ease and speed versus a wire transfer or a cheque payment.

Things changed a lot as Bitcoin became common in developing countries like India, Indo-China etc which surprisingly, have far better banking practices than lot of Europe and America. The availability of a "scan-to-pay" fucntionality in these countries has been far more pervasive way before Bitcoin became a thing.

Arguably, Bitcoin is still better than wire transfers for international settlements. This use-case has been overshadowed by evolution of hundreds of new alts and the question that needs to be resolved is regulatory in nature. How will Bitcoin be regulated? If it can't be, then what about the Alts? The question is no longer of adoption. It won't matter to the governments that everybody is using it. It doesn't matter when or how mass adoption happens.

[mk4]

Seems to me like we've already hit some pretty insane adoption levels.  Even high school kids nowadays own crypto.  Granted it's usually ethereum, but they are very familiar with the whole ecosystem.  The thing that seems to need acceleration is actual use of Bitcoin.  Wall Street is scooping it up, billionaires are promoting it, businesses are adding it to their balance sheets, more and more people are accepting it for payments...  Actual usage appears lower than it was 5 years ago.  Maybe this is due to the popularity of altcoins, but it makes me sad to think that Bitcoin's main use case is buying altcoins.  We need to see more people using Bitcoin.  Back in 2011 there were people on these forums using it to bet on Monopoly games or anything else you can think of.  Now it seems everyone wants to HODL but also wants adoption to spread.  It's an interesting scenario that has so far played out in price appreciation.  I don't think that will last forever.

Bitcoin's "main use case" isn't for buying altcoins for a while now, as the liquidity of x/ETH and x/USDC trading pairs have been a lot higher compared to the past now. And it's totally fine!

Unpopular opinion: holding bitcoin is using it. Each person will have different use-cases for bitcoin as each people's needs are different.

[hyudien]

It's actually not that easy to encourage merchants in stores by suggesting they accept payments via Bitcoin. Here unless the merchant in the shop is a bitcoin lover. Maybe once in a while, if you really want to try it won't be too risky. However, keep in mind that the rules of a country that only allow one legal currency to be used for transactions will definitely be bound by that law. Because generally in some countries Bitcoin is only considered as an investment alternative that is equated with gold, stocks, and other types of digital asset investments. So that the transaction process outside the stock exchange that has been prepared by the government is clearly not allowed.

[Welsh]

While we've come leaps, and bounds in terms of usability, I do still believe we aren't quite there yet. We need to try, and simplfy Bitcoin, so that everyone understands it. At the moment, especially on securing your Bitcoin there's a lot to learn. Hardware wallets have pretty much launched has ten fold in terms of allowing users that don't have much knowledge on the security side of things, being able to secure it at a decent level. However, there's still the complication of them being a little too hard to understand, and use. For example, ColdCard is brilliant in terms of the technical side, however its just too hard to understand, and setup for an average person with no cryptocurrency background.

Unpopular opinion: holding bitcoin is using it. Each person will have different use-cases for bitcoin as each people's needs are different.

Yeah, Bitcoin isn't being used as a daily currency by the masses. Instead, they're using it for a means of potentially escaping the rat race that fiat promotes i.e they're using it as a reserve currency, as a way of escaping inflation. I don't have a problem with that, and even if pretty much everyone used it like this, it would still be valuable. I've said this many times, but I think the original purpose of Bitcoin has been lost by the many, and now they just see it as a potential way to make money, rather than acknowledging the problems with banks, and how fiat fundamentally stripes their freedom.

[Maslate]

I guess bitcoin will only be limited on its adoption, it cannot compete with fiat as some countries are planning, or maybe some already issued their CBDC which is way faster compared to crypto transactions, and probably less fee or no fee at all.

Crypto's edge is only the decentralization, therefore its adoption will be pretty limited only as not everyone needs that, unlike fiat where we use it on a daily basis, whether you are an investor or not.

[mk4]

Yeah, Bitcoin isn't being used as a daily currency by the masses. Instead, they're using it for a means of potentially escaping the rat race that fiat promotes i.e they're using it as a reserve currency, as a way of escaping inflation. I don't have a problem with that, and even if pretty much everyone used it like this, it would still be valuable. I've said this many times, but I think the original purpose of Bitcoin has been lost by the many, and now they just see it as a potential way to make money, rather than acknowledging the problems with banks, and how fiat fundamentally stripes their freedom.

Slightly agree, but I don't think it's necessarily "lost", it's just not ready yet due to the heavy heavy volatility. I think the best time for bitcoin to be actually used a currency is if it's already cemented itself as a great SoV with a good amount of adoption. Waiting for that time(whenever that is) would probably give us ample time for layer-2 solutions to mature as well.

[kryptqnick]

Using Bitcoin as a means of payment is an option in El Salvador, I'm surprised the op doesn't mention that. Also, some cities allow some usage of Bitcoin in the US and, I believe, Switzerland, and there are countries that are looking into allowing using Bitcoin as a means of payment along with the national currency. And I do believe that more and more will allow it, but perhaps set some requirements. Some countries also have tax regulations for cryptos, so that people can report income and can make it legal. So the situation doesn't seem too pessimistic to me, and while I don't think Bitcoin will replace fiat, I think its usage will continue to grow and there will be more options to use Bitcoin as payment in the future.

[qwertyup23]

Donation + discount when paying in BTC can be combined. Discounts could encourage people to use bitcoin and bring mass adoption closer through more users. In the end, BTCitcoin should circulate in society / economy, like blood in a living organism, and not stagnate and stale.

What can you say about this option? Will it be legal to use it?

Just to add to your constructive post, I think one factor is the overall legalization of the use of bitcoin around the world. With some countries releasing their stance on the use of BTCs, there are people who view it as something negative which adds to their ongoing biases towards cryptocurrencies.

If the government of some countries acknowledge and view BTCs as something that can be transacted for the purchase of products/services, more people would be inclined to use it. I guess another factor is by making it legal tender to their respective countries- like employees may have the option of receiving their salary in cryptocurrencies, etc.

[Kakmakr]

OP, yes..... if a government does not accept Bitcoin as a legal tender, people can choose if they want to accept that or if they want to change that government to reach their goal. I think people has not come to a point where they see the need to use Bitcoin and not Fiat currencies..so they are not forcing the issue to get governments to change their minds.

Let's not forget that most politicians rely on "voters" to keep them in power.... and a lot of money to fund their election campaigns. I think we (bitcoiners) should create powerful companies that can influence politicians with money to reach our goals. The current people like Warren Buffet and Bill Gates are Fiat supporters, but the new generation will replace them..and we know what the newer generation supports.  

This might not happen in our time.... but our kids might see that happen. (It might not even be Bitcoin)  

[Welsh]

Slightly agree, but I don't think it's necessarily "lost", it's just not ready yet due to the heavy heavy volatility. I think the best time for bitcoin to be actually used a currency is if it's already cemented itself as a great SoV with a good amount of adoption. Waiting for that time(whenever that is) would probably give us ample time for layer-2 solutions to mature as well.

Definitely isn't lost, its just currently with the volatility as you mention, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Holding it, makes much more sense. I basically, hold my Bitcoin, rarely ever spend it, and then do most of my spending in fiat. I think that's what most non traders are doing. In my eyes, and I know this is part of a problem here, Bitcoin at its current price is just too valuable to justify spending it. There's too much potential there if you get what I mean.

I don't think we're miles off using it as a currency though. I'm hoping within the next twenty years we'll be using it more as a currency, and not just a reserve fund. I'm just saying even if we didn't, it doesn't mean Bitcoin instantly becomes worthless.

[Mahanton]

Using Bitcoin as a means of payment is an option in El Salvador, I'm surprised the op doesn't mention that. Also, some cities allow some usage of Bitcoin in the US and, I believe, Switzerland, and there are countries that are looking into allowing using Bitcoin as a means of payment along with the national currency. And I do believe that more and more will allow it, but perhaps set some requirements. Some countries also have tax regulations for cryptos, so that people can report income and can make it legal. So the situation doesn't seem too pessimistic to me, and while I don't think Bitcoin will replace fiat, I think its usage will continue to grow and there will be more options to use Bitcoin as payment in the future.

Just remove out on someones mind on having that "Bitcoin could replace fiat in the future" yet this is something an impossible thing to happen no matter how Bitcoin would progress out on the future but still
wont be enough on kicking out Fiats ass in the waters because as long government do exist then there's no way that this thing would really be replaced out thats why its really a very wrong kind of mindset.
Speaking of speeding up mass adoption then let recognition and exposure do its job even though there are some bad publicity on which bitcoin could get but we know that the truth does prevail
and to those people who would seek out on whats its actual usage and utility.