What's preventing bitcoin from worldwide adoption?

[bangjoe]

There is no doubt that what the op says is true, the dislike of interested parties who don't want bitcoin adoption is the biggest problem for realizing bitcoin adoption worldwide. Let's not talk about the full adoption of bitcoin just yet, in just one country there are still many who oppose its existence, so that will be a big obstacle for bitcoin itself.

[D ltr]

I think the third point is the reason why btc can't be adopted in every country, because the unstable bitcoin value is what makes the government don't want to know about bitcoin, but if btc has a flat value like fiat I think btc can be accepted, it's just that there's too much drama in it. government

[Fortify]

Bitcoin remains to be adopted by every country in the world for various reasons. Here are my thoughts on why..

1. Government policies: Most government and financial institutions round the world seem not to want bitcoin cause of the financial freedom it gives to its users. They would want to control and tax the flow of finances of individuals and they probably fear the anonymous nature of its transactions. Some policies even go as far as criminalizing its use.

2. Scammers and fraudulent practices: Scammers have found bitcoin as a safe haven cause of its transactions being anonymous. Also, terrorist groups among other sources get funded by bitcoin also cause of its anonymous nature. Fraudulent practices and transactions are made with ease wth the use of bitcoin.

3. Fluctuating value: The value of bitcoin isn't steady as it rises and falls. The uncertainty in the price and value greatly hinders the general adoption worldwide.

4. Awareness: Nearly not enough effort on creating and spreading positive awareness on it as some government and individuals alike is hell bent on spreading negativity around and poisoning the minds of prospective users. People need to be aware and understand what bitcoin is really about and be awake to its uses.

5. Information hoarding: You could get lots of information about anything on the internet including bitcoin. But the internet can be misleading to newbies cause you could get right and wrong and also misleading information on the internet. It puzzles me that people with an in depth knowledge of bitcoin would purposefully hoard and keep information to themselves. You may think people don't hoard information but in reality, people do. It irksome just thinking about it. If people could share information, newbies won't readily fall prey to scammers.

These are my thoughts on what's preventing bitcoin from being adapted worldwide.

You miss one thing - there are already existing currencies and payment networks that do the role that cryptocurrencies are trying to fill. Like anything, for a new improvement to come along and dislodge an incumbent, it requires a big benefit over whatever already exists. Now Bitcoin can fit that bill, but it seems like the amount of power required to run the overall system, the ability to expand to cope with the huge amount of transactions that are taking place and the ability to complete transactions instantly are all hurdles that still need to be overcome. I think Bitcoin has a little niche to fill - moving larger amounts of money across borders, but for day to day activity it seems far off the mark.

[evichi]

In consideration of the purpose of creating Bitcoin, "Be your own bank" Government of some countries are actually making efforts to discourage the use of Bitcoin. As you have rightly said, government want to be in control and play the role of the 3rd party to have a cut from hard earned income of its citizens. But as governments discover ways of making money from the use of Bitcoin, like taxes, etc. the may allow the use, but they have indirectly contributed in increasing the transaction costs. Secondly, appreciable percentage of the world population are not yet aware of how cryptocurrency functions, while some that have heard of Bitcoin, consider it highly technical to understand. Thirdly, the characteristics of Bitcoin, for example, its volatility, is considered as a high investment risk for some people, especially when they hear news of Bitcoin crashing from high to low value. Most times, negative news makes most impact.

The energy consumption required in Bitcoin mining (Bitcoin uses Proof-of-Work algorithm) makes crypto experts opt for other alternatives  that require less energy. The technical savvy/experts invent their own coins thereby drawing people from Bitcoin to other altcoins (Some altcoins use Proof-of-Stake algorithm). In consideration of some countries that are poor, we find that lack of access to internet, smartphone, etc. are all factors militating the adoption of Bitcoin as they require some level of income to afford these facilities.

[Xampeuu]

There is no doubt that what the op says is true, the dislike of interested parties who don't want bitcoin adoption is the biggest problem for realizing bitcoin adoption worldwide. Let's not talk about the full adoption of bitcoin just yet, in just one country there are still many who oppose its existence, so that will be a big obstacle for bitcoin itself.

moreover, those who oppose it are people who are influential in government or the world, so they have the power to make clear rules to corner bitcoin, and this kind of thing of course later nature will answer, where when fiat is no longer relevant to the civilization of that era, there will be a cultural shift. but also no one knows what will happen in the future, and I think it really takes time to meet our expectations as bitcoiners

[Smartvirus]

Talking about the scams and government, you know people can really go past that should they just be determine to. The issue is, most prospective users and investors aren't willing to research on informations about the cryptocurrency development or initiative. Little wonder why the system gains more investors an use cases keeps arising even in crypto ban or restricted areas. Its just the way it is on how, the projects are self sufficient and need no government interference.
Government haven't been able to leverage the system to there advantage and so, they continue to spread fud of it being a scam and try to come up with CBDC to serve in the crypto capacity.

[Mahanton]

Talking about the scams and government, you know people can really go past that should they just be determine to. The issue is, most prospective users and investors aren't willing to research on informations about the cryptocurrency development or initiative. Little wonder why the system gains more investors an use cases keeps arising even in crypto ban or restricted areas. Its just the way it is on how, the projects are self sufficient and need no government interference.
Government haven't been able to leverage the system to there advantage and so, they continue to spread fud of it being a scam and try to come up with CBDC to serve in the crypto capacity.

No surprising that they would really be tending to lure it to stick with those centralized things rather than citizens would be dealing mainly on decentralized ones which they arent able to control
and we know that government doesnt really like that thats why its not surprising that they would really be emphasizing about its cons and would make people believe specially to those
who do have zero knowledge about the cons of dealing with bitcoin or crypto thats surely somehow slows down overall adoption and recognition but well we should not worry
too much because the truth would always prevail and the community will surely even gets bigger as the years passing by.

[sklopan]

I'm sure many governments are now puzzled that bitcoin allows many people to work without paying taxes, in fact. And I'm sure a lot of people don't like it.

[AmoreJaz]

I'm sure many governments are now puzzled that bitcoin allows many people to work without paying taxes, in fact. And I'm sure a lot of people don't like it.

definitely, that's one of the advantages of receiving crypto if the country you are in doesn't have tax protocols in terms of income coming from crypto. better take advantage while they are not implementing how to file a tax from your crypto income. actually, it is hard to impose tax if the government itself has vague idea or has no clue where to start on how to formulate those tax protocols.

There is no doubt that what the op says is true, the dislike of interested parties who don't want bitcoin adoption is the biggest problem for realizing bitcoin adoption worldwide. Let's not talk about the full adoption of bitcoin just yet, in just one country there are still many who oppose its existence, so that will be a big obstacle for bitcoin itself.

moreover, those who oppose it are people who are influential in government or the world, so they have the power to make clear rules to corner bitcoin, and this kind of thing of course later nature will answer, where when fiat is no longer relevant to the civilization of that era, there will be a cultural shift. but also no one knows what will happen in the future, and I think it really takes time to meet our expectations as bitcoiners

this is a new currency that a lot of people are still not familiar of. those who strongly oppose more then likely have no idea how to transact with btc or any other alts. they haven't touched anything in terms of crypto. so they are opposing blindly without actual experience in the market. because if they have, they may change their mind. but i guess, the major factor that they are hesitant on this market is because it is decentralized. no government can have full control of this market. and that's what crypto users like about this tech

[Oilacris]

I'm sure many governments are now puzzled that bitcoin allows many people to work without paying taxes, in fact. And I'm sure a lot of people don't like it.

Paying tax isnt bad but there are places or countries in the world which are too corrupt thats why people doesnt really like on voluntarily paying up taxes due for that reason.
We know on what TAX is and whats the role of it for economic progress of the place you are living.It is really just depending on the leaders or the government who do
really handle out those funds.

This is where government do really put up their attention the most since people could actually hid themselves on not to pay up tax despite of the good
income or profits that they do get out from crypto investments thats why they dont really have any choice but to deal with those centralized platforms and services
which they could only able to potentially touch up.

[ololajulo]

I'm sure many governments are now puzzled that bitcoin allows many people to work without paying taxes, in fact. And I'm sure a lot of people don't like it.

Paying of tax is limited to some countries, If you try to avoid tax in USA on cryptocurrecny trade then you are look for trouble, although their are some escape route. People dont just like bitcoin, I think they are just ignorant or scared of the news they heard. Like some top country, it is smart not to enforce bitcoin use to citizens now but stable coin see more adoption. I believe the cycle with bitcoin one day will have a turn around and wont be this volatile.

[Penelope Wheeler]

The stringent government regulation, unaffordability, and the lack of knowledge are the main reasons why bitcoins aren’t adopted worldwide.

[blatchcorn]

I think the third point is the reason why btc can't be adopted in every country, because the unstable bitcoin value is what makes the government don't want to know about bitcoin, but if btc has a flat value like fiat I think btc can be accepted, it's just that there's too much drama in it. government

Government don't want to listen about bitcoin whether it has stable value or not. The prime reason is governments are against anything that is not under there control whether its currency, News channel, journalist or anyother thing. Have you every wonder why governments are not against centralized exchanges like binance? since its very easy to monitor or control them.

[bryant.coleman]

In the end, for 90% of the population it is the acceptance, ease of usage and stability that matters. Theoretically they may support a currency that can't be controlled by the governments. But most of them may not be comfortable with the idea of converting crypto to fiat for most of the purposes such as shopping and making payments. And then there is the issue with stability. Fiat currencies are going down constantly as a result of inflation. But very few people realize it, because everyone uses fiat and it affects everyone equally.

[amishmanish]

Each day more and more businesses, institutions and countries are accepting bitcoin. I felt really good when David M. Solomon CEO of  Goldman Sanchs mentioned about bitcoin investments when he is on his maiden visit to india. This gives a clear signal where crypto and bitcoin economy is headed to.
SO saying that mass adoption of bitcoin is not happening. Yes there are reservations and reluctance in some quaters, but each day bitcoin is going from strength to strength

[Abiky]

You miss one thing - there are already existing currencies and payment networks that do the role that cryptocurrencies are trying to fill. Like anything, for a new improvement to come along and dislodge an incumbent, it requires a big benefit over whatever already exists. Now Bitcoin can fit that bill, but it seems like the amount of power required to run the overall system, the ability to expand to cope with the huge amount of transactions that are taking place and the ability to complete transactions instantly are all hurdles that still need to be overcome. I think Bitcoin has a little niche to fill - moving larger amounts of money across borders, but for day to day activity it seems far off the mark.

Bitcoin can already compete with existing payment networks, thanks to the off-chain scaling solution known as The Lightning Network. With this, Bitcoin will be able to scale to millions of users without issues. Transactions performed on the LN are dirt-cheap and near-instant, making BTC as good as PayPal (but even better). What's really preventing Bitcoin from worldwide adoption is the unstable prices on the market. That, and also the fact that some governments are spreading misinformation and false propaganda in order to scare away as much people from it as possible.

If it wasn't because of this, Bitcoin would've reached the whole wide world by now. At least, the cryptocurrency is working as intended. As long as decentralization prevails, nothing else matters. Just my opinion

[n0ne]

The adoption of bitcoin is happening in a consistent manner. In the past we used to see opposition from the governments whenever cryptocurrency usage is promoted. Now the countries that are against cryptocurrency too have begun to use cryptocurrency and regulate it understanding the need and the increasing usage among the common people.

One the other side many ways of promotion and awareness are happening around. One of the region where the adoption is experiencing massive growth is the African countries. Binance have announced its awareness tour BCAT - BlockChain and Crypto Awareness Tour. This will go through certain regions and particularly concentrated on Southeast Nigeria, Uganda, Cameroon and Ghana. Already Binance through similar program have reached over 60000 Nigerians through different institutions. These kind of activities too will increase the adoption of bitcoin around the world.

[BTCLND]

1. Complex to setup.

Lot of people here recommend up your own full node and "not your keys not your crypto" but a 60 year old probably wouldn't know how to set up a hardware wallet

https://venmo.com/ https://cash.app/ wallets make it really easy for example but there should really be more apps making it easy to set up a wallet

2. High Transaction Fees

If someone's selling a 1.25$ coke and BTC transaction fees are 1.75$, there's really no point in paying with Bitcoin. L2 like Lightning network would be a great solution but it's still complex for the average user.

On top of that you have transaction fees like Coinbase https://commerce.coinbase.com/. Some payment processors are free like Poof Payments https://www.poof.io/ but there's still network fees. 

3. Volatility

If Bitcoin is going up and down 5-8% every day from 18k to 22k back down to 18k, there's less incentive for customers to take the volatility risk accepting Bitcoin. Sure they can convert but exchanges like Coinbase have sketchy tactics where they charge 3% volatility fees. Might as well just do credit cards in this case.

[RussianEnglishTranslation]

Bitcoin remains to be adopted by every country in the world for various reasons. Here are my thoughts on why..

1. Government policies: Most government and financial institutions round the world seem not to want bitcoin cause of the financial freedom it gives to its users. They would want to control and tax the flow of finances of individuals and they probably fear the anonymous nature of its transactions. Some policies even go as far as criminalizing its use.

2. Scammers and fraudulent practices: Scammers have found bitcoin as a safe haven cause of its transactions being anonymous. Also, terrorist groups among other sources get funded by bitcoin also cause of its anonymous nature. Fraudulent practices and transactions are made with ease wth the use of bitcoin.

3. Fluctuating value: The value of bitcoin isn't steady as it rises and falls. The uncertainty in the price and value greatly hinders the general adoption worldwide.

4. Awareness: Nearly not enough effort on creating and spreading positive awareness on it as some government and individuals alike is hell bent on spreading negativity around and poisoning the minds of prospective users. People need to be aware and understand what bitcoin is really about and be awake to its uses.

5. Information hoarding: You could get lots of information about anything on the internet including bitcoin. But the internet can be misleading to newbies cause you could get right and wrong and also misleading information on the internet. It puzzles me that people with an in depth knowledge of bitcoin would purposefully hoard and keep information to themselves. You may think people don't hoard information but in reality, people do. It irksome just thinking about it. If people could share information, newbies won't readily fall prey to scammers.

These are my thoughts on what's preventing bitcoin from being adapted worldwide.

I think the issues holding bitcoin back are POW, lack of smart contracts, slow transactions, and higher fees. Fortunately, these things can be solved when BTC is integrated with the internet computer or pegged on Flare. At this point, we don't even need the lightning network.

[Abiky]

The adoption of bitcoin is happening in a consistent manner. In the past we used to see opposition from the governments whenever cryptocurrency usage is promoted. Now the countries that are against cryptocurrency too have begun to use cryptocurrency and regulate it understanding the need and the increasing usage among the common people.

One the other side many ways of promotion and awareness are happening around. One of the region where the adoption is experiencing massive growth is the African countries. Binance have announced its awareness tour BCAT - BlockChain and Crypto Awareness Tour. This will go through certain regions and particularly concentrated on Southeast Nigeria, Uganda, Cameroon and Ghana. Already Binance through similar program have reached over 60000 Nigerians through different institutions. These kind of activities too will increase the adoption of bitcoin around the world.

Compared to what it used to be in Bitcoin's early days, I'd say mainstream adoption has increased by a long shot. But for the pioneer cryptocurrency to be truly embraced by anyone worldwide, some changes need to be made. Scaling issues, high price volatility, and lack of merchant acceptance is what's limiting Bitcoin's ability to be used worldwide. Slowly but surely we're getting there as governments adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. It's only been 13 years since Bitcoin's inception, yet a lot has been achieved within such a short amount of time. If Bitcoin has gone this far, how do you think mainstream adoption will look like in the next decade? Just my thoughts