What Bitcoin services do we need for mass adoption?

[Flexystar]

What sort of Bitcoin services would you like to see get built out? And what do you think is required for mass adoption, let's say onboarding the first billion people?

We never stop and we never learn about it. Why do we need billions of people to be onboarded and possess bitcoins? Has it got any first thoughts associated with the increased prices and stuff like that? Then let us drop the idea right there. Bitcoin is designed in such a way that, it will deplete the reserves slowly and increase the demand with the timeline. This will automatically create hype and raise the "value" for bitcoin and every satoshi unit that you can buy.

The problem started when some brainiac used the entire idea of bitcoin to make millions of dollars. They brought in centralized exchanges and got the money from Crypto Investors who still think they are in the crypto sphere. However, they left the Cryptonian space the movement they handed over their coins to an exchanger.

We can't expect billions of people to use decentralized exchanges, the way we have taken our first steps through bitcoin's journey as I mentioned above.

..& let us not bring in alternate network into this mess, because it is same thing all over again with more centralisation out of decentralization claims. Funny.

[m2017]

Good question in the title of this topic.

I don't think we should wait for someone else to do everything for us. That is, it is naive to expect that there will be a big online service with the slogan "you want to buy things with Bitcoin just go here!" or Amazon will start accepting bitcoin as payment. You need to start small. Himself. P2P (or small business) selling and buying is the key to this. Little by little it will grow into something big and massive.

Individual adoption may be a good move to expect more adoption in services or large businesses. I believe one government adoption decision can affect the percentage of adoption somewhere, so I agree if the government declares bitcoin legal as a means of payment then adoption will really increase there.

The problem: how can we expect governments to adopt bitcoin legally when they have always been on the side against the decentralized nature of bitcoin?

It is quite possible that this problem has no solution in principle because of the unfavorable attitude towards bitcoin of the government. While the community hopes for their favor. Maybe stop expecting a miracle from them?

[wxa7115]

Today, it's easy to create services or apply bitcoin to existing services, but what keeps it from gaining mass adoption is the government. They are the leading cause hindering the popularity of bitcoin, even though bitcoin is accepted on every service but without government approval, it will never be popular and gain everyone's trust. Bitcoin can work and exist without government permission or support, but if it wants to be mass adoption, it needs a lot of government help.

There is another scenario in which this may happen and this if people finally begin to think by themselves and not let the governments t ohave such control over them.

Right now governments have a very high level of control, but if their control begins to weaken, due to the economic conditions being unfavorable and people finally wake up and ask questions, then they will soon realize that everything that governments do is to put themselves in a better position even if this means hindering their citizens, and once this realization is made some of those people will begin to use bitcoin and reduce their usage of fiat.

[S A KHAIR]

People are afraid of bitcoin because the government prevents it, fearful of its volatility, many people do not like to use it for investment but use it as a currency. So, I think for bitcoin to be widely accepted, firstly, it needs the help of the government, secondly, bitcoin will become more stable for people to use with peace of mind.

[yazher]

I think what we need to have right now is to have fair news concerning bitcoins in mainstream media because until now they haven't given up on confusing people with their misleading news, especially in their news.

But I think if we have more big stores and big companies will adopt bitcoin this year, it will be the best thing to have and it will surely increase the price of bitcoins in the crypto market.

[Plaguedeath]

Bitcoin DEXs

Bitcoin-first online merchants

Decentralized Bitcoin lending

Decentralized exchange doesn't increase mass adoption because most people aren't privacy oriented and as long as they can buy Bitcoin through centralized exchange, what's the problem?

As you said above there are a lot of online merchants accepting Bitcoin, the reason why there's no big online merchant is not many people tend to use Bitcoin as a currency, they prefer to hold it as a commodity.

Decentralized Bitcoin lending is impossible to happen, lending is really need escrow or third party who act as a mediator.

[QueenVera]

For mass adoption I don’t think it’s necessarily more services that need to be created as much as it is the basic acceptance of crypto for existing services. El Salvador being a good example. The government could kick off mass adoption by just announcing that Bitcoin is legal currency. When you can use it to purchase everything that a dollar could buy, then we’ll see mass adoption.

That's very true, we have to be able to use Bitcoin in buying our everyday needs. We have to be able to walk into any supermarket and make use of Bitcoin as a means of payment. These are the things that'll bring about adoption from the high demand of the currency. More services who only increase bitcoin to be used more as a store of value.
Accepting Bitcoin isn't that hard anymore, the Marchant must not hold the Bitcoin been accepted, there are service that can convert that Bitcoin immediately to the traditional currency when the transactions had been successful. When more people begin seeing Bitcoin as another means of payment, it'll encourage them to research more on bitcoin.
From this research, we'll get more users joining the market and also when people begin seeing the advantages of using Bitcoin as a payment method, they'll begin joining the market.

[pgbit]

Those are all great suggestions for Bitcoin services that would certainly help with mass adoption. Here are a few additional ideas:
Bitcoin education and user-friendly wallets to make it easier for new users to understand and use Bitcoin.

Bitcoin remittances to reduce the cost and increase the speed of cross-border remittances.

Bitcoin debit cards to allow people to spend their Bitcoin at any merchant that accepts debit cards.

Bitcoin-based micropayments to enable low-fee, near-instant transactions of less than a cent for digital content monetization and microtransactions.

[Outhue]

Don't stress it, if Bitcoin can be used for online payment this will work positively, not just any online payments, I am talking about the big players in online businesses like Amazon, Alibaba, and co, if they can implement Bitcoin it will mean a lot, many will finally accept Bitcoin as a legal online currency for making payment.

[Ziskinberg]

I think what we need to have right now is to have fair news concerning bitcoins in mainstream media because until now they haven't given up on confusing people with their misleading news, especially in their news.

Until they are not regulated, we can never expect a change, and these media influencers will keep spreading fake news and wrong information for the sake of money. In fact, they have been paid to do that...

But I think if we have more big stores and big companies will adopt bitcoin this year, it will be the best thing to have and it will surely increase the price of bitcoins in the crypto market.

Bitcoin adoption will certainly come naturally but if we expect mass adoption, that seems impossible if the government won't give its support and lead the community to do it. Well, I don't think we need to such thing Mass adoption because what we need is the trusr for the people to use and accept Bitcoin as a mode of payment like fiat as this will also encourage others to try as well.

[vv181]

Bitcoin DEXs~

The reason it's lacking is that the ecosystem of bitcoin doesn't build that way. ETH ecosystems are built around smart contracts where many "tokens" could exist, which favour the adoption of dexes. You also need to distinguish between Fiat on-off ramp dexes and token dexes, since it seems you mixed the two.

Bitcoin-first online merchants~

Seriously, it is likely not going to work. Why bother having a business plan that needs a specific bitcoin payment option, that is absurd. Enforcement of bitcoin-only payment options isn't going to help adoption. Building a new business and specifically made bitcoin only payment will surely have slow and lack of growth.

[thecodebear]

For mass adoption I don’t think it’s necessarily more services that need to be created as much as it is the basic acceptance of crypto for existing services. El Salvador being a good example. The government could kick off mass adoption by just announcing that Bitcoin is legal currency. When you can use it to purchase everything that a dollar could buy, then we’ll see mass adoption.

However, in El Salvador the government did declare bitcoin as legal tender but mass adoption has not occurred. I reckon that from this observation there should be something more in bitcoin that people think they need to use it. I speculate that if Defi and NFTs come to bitcoin, this might bring more adoption and acceptance in 5 years than it has for the last 10 years.

Well mass adoption can't occur until people actually get educated on Bitcoin. Bitcoin is doing fine in El Salvador but like everywhere else in the world most people aren't educated on Bitcoin so they don't want to use it.

And no DeFi and NFTs are not what is needed. NFTs are a small niche fad, the opposite of what is needed to gain more adoption. DeFi as it has so far existed is basically just a bunch of gambling schemes. We need real services on Bitcoin not collections of crappy NFT images selling to a few thousand people or gambling schemes.

Bitcoin DEXs~

The reason it's lacking is that the ecosystem of bitcoin doesn't build that way. ETH ecosystems are built around smart contracts where many "tokens" could exist, which favour the adoption of dexes. You also need to distinguish between Fiat on-off ramp dexes and token dexes, since it seems you mixed the two.

Bitcoin-first online merchants~

Seriously, it is likely not going to work. Why bother having a business plan that needs a specific bitcoin payment option, that is absurd. Enforcement of bitcoin-only payment options isn't going to help adoption. Building a new business and specifically made bitcoin only payment will surely have slow and lack of growth.

There's is nothing about Bitcoin's design that prevents DEXes. DEXes do exist for Bitcoin there just aren't many and they have very low liquidity so the prices suck. I think over time with more and more people realizing the when you buy Bitcoin on CEXes all your future money movements get tracked by the govt that could lead to more desire for DEXes. Anyway, I didn't mix fiat and stablecoin DEXes, I would assume DEXes only use stablecoins because using fiat would complicate the process. Of course this means an extra step for people to get onto the DEX until/unless owning stablecoins becomes a standard thing for people to do. I could end up being like at first people just use CEXes but then they once they are in the ecosystem they learn about the privacy issues of using CEXes so then they do future buying on DEXes since it'll be easy enough for them to get stablecoins and send them to DEXes because they'll already be involved in crypto.

By Bitcoin-first merchants I didn't mean forcing bitcoin-only payments. But it could start as Bitcoin-only to get the bitcoin crowd onboard, and then expand to fiat shopping, while still promoting itself as Bitcoin-first.

[Falconer]

Well mass adoption can't occur until people actually get educated on Bitcoin. Bitcoin is doing fine in El Salvador but like everywhere else in the world most people aren't educated on Bitcoin so they don't want to use it.

Meanwhile, when most people are educated but the government and regulations do not legalize bitcoin as a means of payment, then what should I say?

Adoption still fails and is hard to expect when the government doesn't legalize it as currency, this is a problem that is still always expected to be fixed in the future. Many bitcoin users in my country expect many online and physical businesses to adopt bitcoin, but we just have to comply with the regulations because bitcoin is not a legal currency to use. I don't expect truly global adoption to happen in the next 5 to 10 years, but I do expect many countries to consider adoption in the same timeframe.

[mendace]

Meanwhile, when most people are educated but the government and regulations do not legalize bitcoin as a means of payment, then what should I say?

Adoption still fails and is hard to expect when the government doesn't legalize it as currency, this is a problem that is still always expected to be fixed in the future. Many bitcoin users in my country expect many online and physical businesses to adopt bitcoin, but we just have to comply with the regulations because bitcoin is not a legal currency to use. I don't expect truly global adoption to happen in the next 5 to 10 years, but I do expect many countries to consider adoption in the same timeframe.

You have raised an important point regarding the legality of Bitcoin as a means of payment.  It is true that many governments have not yet adopted a clear position on how to regulate and legalize Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as currency.  This can make it difficult for people and businesses to use them as a means of payment, as they may not be legally recognized or regulated.

 However, there are some exceptions to this situation.  For example, in some countries such as Japan, Bitcoin has been legally recognized as a means of payment. Anyway I think it takes education about Bitcoin to reach the people.

[GreatArkansas]

(....)
What do you think? What other basic services do you think are needed in the Bitcoin ecosystem to make it better, more usable, and more ready to enable mass adoption?

For me, lightning networks and technologies will able to accept payments in no hassle and convenient way. For example, when you are paying using your fiat currencies, then I am hoping we can do that in Bitcoin which for me, it is possible with the help of the lightning network. So besides the lightning network, we need some other platform that will help to achieve it for mass adoption, like wallets that can easily to used for paying via a lightning network.

[bbc.reporter]

For mass adoption I don’t think it’s necessarily more services that need to be created as much as it is the basic acceptance of crypto for existing services. El Salvador being a good example. The government could kick off mass adoption by just announcing that Bitcoin is legal currency. When you can use it to purchase everything that a dollar could buy, then we’ll see mass adoption.

However, in El Salvador the government did declare bitcoin as legal tender but mass adoption has not occurred. I reckon that from this observation there should be something more in bitcoin that people think they need to use it. I speculate that if Defi and NFTs come to bitcoin, this might bring more adoption and acceptance in 5 years than it has for the last 10 years.

Well mass adoption can't occur until people actually get educated on Bitcoin. Bitcoin is doing fine in El Salvador but like everywhere else in the world most people aren't educated on Bitcoin so they don't want to use it.

And no DeFi and NFTs are not what is needed. NFTs are a small niche fad, the opposite of what is needed to gain more adoption. DeFi as it has so far existed is basically just a bunch of gambling schemes. We need real services on Bitcoin not collections of crappy NFT images selling to a few thousand people or gambling schemes.

No education is not the problem for why people do not like using bitcoin in El Salvador, I reckon. Price volatility is what is discouraging people in adopting it as a currency. I shake my head why we cannot admit this.

Also, I cannot say what is needed for mass adoption, I can only speculate based on what might occur. It appears that many people in the bitcoin community are underestimating the growth of NFTs and the adoption it might bring for the whole cryptospace. Everyone should not forget that NFTs have cultural value because it is art and art has existed before money was invented. People have been collecting and trading art since ancient history. This development should never be underestimated.

[John Abraham]

We already have most features. Bitcoin transactions take some extra time to get confirmed compared to Card sweep. Card payments are instant but Bitcoin transactions need time to get network confirmation. I wish Bitcoin transactions take less time. It is already possible with the lightning network but a lot of people argue that it's not real Bitcoin because it's not on the main chain. I saw school kids buying fruits from shops using lightning wallets. It's nice to watch but I never tried it. Another issue could be fees when the mempool is congested, people have to pay more fees to get their transaction confirmed.

[avikz]

What do you think? What other basic services do you think are needed in the Bitcoin ecosystem to make it better, more usable, and more ready to enable mass adoption?

It entirely depends on where you stay and what legislation is available for bitcoin. In my country, we have an imposition of 30% tax. So as per my country, I would need a debit card service which can be loaded with bitcoin and can be used in all POS terminals.

I think that will become a turning point for bitcoin ecosystem in my country. Instead of converting bitcoin into fiat and pay taxes on it, people will get to spend bitcoin directly into the local economy.

[Plaguedeath]

We already have most features. Bitcoin transactions take some extra time to get confirmed compared to Card sweep. Card payments are instant but Bitcoin transactions need time to get network confirmation. I wish Bitcoin transactions take less time. It is already possible with the lightning network but a lot of people argue that it's not real Bitcoin because it's not on the main chain. I saw school kids buying fruits from shops using lightning wallets. It's nice to watch but I never tried it. Another issue could be fees when the mempool is congested, people have to pay more fees to get their transaction confirmed.

It's still a real Bitcoin, the currency doesn't change like WBTC, but the problem is just the network where there's no one can know what will happen in the future. But currently lightning is still trusted and there's no flaws, for the better option just hold Bitcoin on chain network and use lightning network when you want to pay something with Bitcoin. Similar like how you use an exchange, it's not for long term holding.

[davis196]

Bitcoin DEXs

Bitcoin-first online merchants


Decentralized Bitcoin lending

1.I agree that we need Bitcoin DEXs. Centralized crypto exchanges must stay in the past. The problem is that the governments want to stick with centralized crypto services, because they are easier to control.

2.Bitcoin would never be popular for daily purchases because of the price volatility and the constant expectation that the BTC price will skyrocket. Most of the Bitcoiners would just keep HODLing their BTC rather than spending it on an "Bitcoin Amazon" or "Bitcoin eBay".

3.BTC lending won't work because of the price volatility. If the BTC price crashes severely, all the borrowers will have to default and the lenders will simply collect the collateral. Usually the collaterals will in a stable currency or stablecoin.

The only way to speed up mass BTC adoption is to make the process of buying BTC as easy and convenient as possible. I don't know how that will happen, with all the KYC procedures and high fees.