Can Bitcoin Succeed Without Mass Adoption?

[d5000]

Bitcoin can’t compete with fiat for everyday transactions yet. So how do we bridge that gap?

It has already been mentioned that not "every coffee" has to be paid with Bitcoin. But there are definitely areas where Bitcoin can compete:

- international transactions, as a competing system to SWIFT
- transactions for and to groups which are excluded from the financial system. Not only the typical "unbanked", but for example also people excluded by authoritarian regimes.
- private transactions you don't want to appear in the next personal data hack

There can be different types of success though. I would rephrase the original question into "Can Bitcoin achieve sustainable long term success without mass adoption"? And then my answer is no.

But even as a speculative asset I think it can succeed for several years more. Eventually, the hype will however die down, and we'll see "the mother of all bear markets" in this case, or a Super Bear Cycle. This will be the case when nearly all those who would buy speculative assets also own Bitcoin, and there's no "bigger fool" who would buy it.

Such a "Super Bear Cycle" could however work also like a healthy reset. People which are into Bitcoin for the tech and the censorship resistance maybe won't leave it and create slowly the base for "true" mass adoption.

[DPHOR]

Honestly, the dream to have mass adoption for bitcoin may take a lot of processes, and there’s even no guarantee if it will gain global adoption in the long run. But here’s my point of view, if we’ll still see bitcoin 5–10 years from now and continue to reach its peak price, that is already a big success for bitcoin. No other digital currency has ever do that.

Success for bitcoin isn’t tied to its price nor its mass adoption, but its more on the demand and its utility case. If people continue to store and hold bitcoin, and people still use it as an investment and currency, hence success has already been achieved.

You are correct and if bitcoin could rally up to this extent then there is a great progress unlike talking about the global adoption and might take a bigger time due to its volatility nature people wouldn't want to entrust everything they have into bitcoin, and like the person above me said "Not all coffee that worth paying with bitcoin" and course this is absolutely correct so the possibilities of taking out fiat or replacing fiat could be a major tussle in between different currencies across the world. I think the level bitcoin is now is actually what celebrating because nobody even had this believed that bitcoin still stand till date even after all the fight and attack yet bitcoin didn't fold or short down the government benefits but today they are enjoy and celebrating themselves for having acquired bitcoin in their portfolio. 

[mirakal]

Mass adaptations will take too long to proceed. Uncertainties are still in the minds of the people around as they continue hearing negative stories and speculations. That scares them, actually, especially if they are not risk-takers.

But this doesn't mean that bitcoin is far from its success because it was not just the adaptations that made it sustainable, but also the repeated trades. We can't expect everyone to use bitcoin as payment, but at least they can do this for an investment. In the end, that still has a huge impact on its progress.

[ThemePen]

If someone questions Bitcoin's future even after looking at its history, then there is nothing you can do. do to make them believe in it because Bitcoin's history speaks for itself, despite the things you are talking about, such as adoption, less usability when it comes to daily transactions, or long-term volatility due to adoption stalling, Bitcoin has managed to grow above $100k within a decade and a half. Besides, adoption won't stall unless something more trustworthy and useful comes into the market other than Bitcoin, but for now, it's the king.

If you ask whether Bitcoin can grow without mass adoption or not, then I would say it depends on how the current adopters treat it. The demand won't go to zero, so there will at least be some demand no matter what, and on top of that, those who are already using it will keep trading it, so the demand will always stay above its supply and that's going to make it grow even if the pace becomes slow over time.

That is good point people who have really seen how Bitcoin has done over time know that it is strong and has grown a lot. You are right if someone still does not believe in it even after seeing all that there is probably no way to change their mind. Numbers and how quickly it has grown to be worth so much money show how well it has done.
Right now even though you can not easily use it for buying everyday things and its price changes more Bitcoin is still seen as most important one.
I also agree with what you think about its future even if most people do not start using it. People who already own and trade Bitcoin will probably keep wanting it so its price can not go to zero. Because people will keep trading it and there is not huge amount of it available its price will likely keep going up even if it happens more slowly over time.

[davis196]

When we see Bitcoin’s price surge, it begs the questio... Will it remain just a speculative asset? If so, that makes it a risky long-term hold, especially if adoption stalls. Worse, if whales and corporations dominate supply, they could manipulate the market, turning Bitcoin into a game for the wealthy rather than the many. That would defeat its purpose entirely.

Yes, Bitcoin will remain a speculative asset. There's no way for us to make Bitcoin the dominant currency for everyday purchases.
We can't have a high price without the whales and corporations buying BTC. Market manipulation is illegal and all corporations, banks and hedge funds that are manipulating any market should be punished by the law. The purpose of BTC was to be a censorship resistant currency, fully independent from central banks. Maybe the purpose of BTC was defeated several years ago, mostly because the BTC price growth is and was always dependent on central bank money printing and interest rates.

[FortuneFollower]

When we see Bitcoin’s price surge, it begs the questio... Will it remain just a speculative asset? If so, that makes it a risky long-term hold, especially if adoption stalls. Worse, if whales and corporations dominate supply, they could manipulate the market, turning Bitcoin into a game for the wealthy rather than the many. That would defeat its purpose entirely.

Yes, Bitcoin will remain a speculative asset. There's no way for us to make Bitcoin the dominant currency for everyday purchases.
We can't have a high price without the whales and corporations buying BTC. Market manipulation is illegal and all corporations, banks and hedge funds that are manipulating any market should be punished by the law. The purpose of BTC was to be a censorship resistant currency, fully independent from central banks. Maybe the purpose of BTC was defeated several years ago, mostly because the BTC price growth is and was always dependent on central bank money printing and interest rates.

Can't we imagine a scenario where BTC would change its ways and turn into something different from the store of value we see it now?

[Theupdude]

Bitcoin is still in its early years, acceptance takes time. See how the internet began slowly but is now all around. Though its rise with lightning networks and other scaling approaches will not replace fiat tomorrow. 
Any new technology functions in the usual speculative period.  Remember Amazon or Google from their early days? They were unpredictable too, but genuine use finally drove their worth. The scarcity and decentralization of bitcoin provide it lifespan. 
Every market includes whales, but since Bitcoin's open character leaves no one entity in command. It grows increasingly harder to govern the more people own and utilize it. Though not flawless, it is better than conventional systems. 
If someone questions Bitcoin remind them if they’d have doubted the internet in the 90s, Change doesnt happen quickly yet the trend is apparent Bitcoin is expanding and its here to stay.

[hero_the_bossman]

Bitcoin is still in its early years, acceptance takes time. See how the internet began slowly but is now all around. Though its rise with lightning networks and other scaling approaches will not replace fiat tomorrow. 
Any new technology functions in the usual speculative period.  Remember Amazon or Google from their early days? They were unpredictable too, but genuine use finally drove their worth. The scarcity and decentralization of bitcoin provide it lifespan. 
Every market includes whales, but since Bitcoin's open character leaves no one entity in command. It grows increasingly harder to govern the more people own and utilize it. Though not flawless, it is better than conventional systems. 
If someone questions Bitcoin remind them if they’d have doubted the internet in the 90s, Change doesnt happen quickly yet the trend is apparent Bitcoin is expanding and its here to stay.

Yeah, a good comparison indeed.

Many forget how young BTC is. And how much is to to be done in the future.

And that's fine, as long the faith remains and BTC upholds its core values.

[m2017]

Bitcoin’s price and adoption go hand in hand. without growing adoption, we shouldn’t expect sustained price increases.

Acceptance of bitcoin is possible without reference to price. We could use bitcoin even at a price of $1.

And why do you need growth? I repeat, to use bitcoin, you don't need BTC to cost $10k, $100k or $1000k. This growth is profitable and needed only for speculators.

After all, demand (and thus price) is a reflection of real-world usage.

Real reflection as what? As a means of payment? No. Right now, bitcoin costs $80k. Does that mean bitcoin is widely used? No (actually yes, but as a speculative instrument). This is a speculative price based on investor's faith in the future growth of this asset, and therefore, they convert money into bitcoin.

I still don't see coffee or anything else being sold for bitcoin (except for isolated cases).

But here’s the challenge: Bitcoin can’t compete with fiat for everyday transactions yet. So how do we bridge that gap?

You should understand what you mean by mass adoption: use as a means of payment or as a speculative investment tool. In other words, BTC-mass adoption can have a completely different nature.

[henry_of_skalitz]

Bitcoin’s price and adoption go hand in hand. without growing adoption, we shouldn’t expect sustained price increases.

Acceptance of bitcoin is possible without reference to price. We could use bitcoin even at a price of $1.

And why do you need growth? I repeat, to use bitcoin, you don't need BTC to cost $10k, $100k or $1000k. This growth is profitable and needed only for speculators.

Would BTC be able to be talked so much about and be known to so many people and countries alike if it only cost 1$ each as of now?

[aoluain]

Bitcoin’s price and adoption go hand in hand. without growing adoption, we shouldn’t expect sustained price increases. After all, demand (and thus price) is a reflection of real-world usage. But here’s the challenge: Bitcoin can’t compete with fiat for everyday transactions yet. So how do we bridge that gap?

I dont think anyone around Bitcoin for a few years expects sustained price
increases especially seasoned traders who are able to make decent gains off
of Bitcoins "volatility". Anyway is you "zoom out" of Bitcoins price chart its price
has been on an upward trajectory.

When we see Bitcoin’s price surge, it begs the questio... Will it remain just a speculative asset? If so, that makes it a risky long-term hold, especially if adoption stalls. Worse, if whales and corporations dominate supply, they could manipulate the market, turning Bitcoin into a game for the wealthy rather than the many. That would defeat its purpose entirely.

We cannot restrict anyone from using Bitcoin, its open source and decentralised
so I would stop worrying about it and look after your own corner of the Bitcoin space.

I never consider such questions because I have no control of what Bitcoin does
and I am not expecting anything like mass adoption to happen or volatility to be "solved"

So if someone doubts Bitcoin’s future over these concerns, how do you convince them it’s here to stay and grow?

I trued that a few years ago, none of my friends bar 1 took it up and guess what...
Bitcoin grew anyway! Better off not worrying about convincing others, Bitcoin
will grow organically and we should not expect Bitcoin to become mainstream
where everyone uses it daily for everything from a coffee to a car.

[Akbarkoe]

Bitcoin’s price and adoption go hand in hand. without growing adoption, we shouldn’t expect sustained price increases. After all, demand (and thus price) is a reflection of real-world usage. But here’s the challenge: Bitcoin can’t compete with fiat for everyday transactions yet. So how do we bridge that gap?

When we see Bitcoin’s price surge, it begs the questio... Will it remain just a speculative asset? If so, that makes it a risky long-term hold, especially if adoption stalls. Worse, if whales and corporations dominate supply, they could manipulate the market, turning Bitcoin into a game for the wealthy rather than the many. That would defeat its purpose entirely.

So if someone doubts Bitcoin’s future over these concerns, how do you convince them it’s here to stay and grow?

Bitcoin is decentralized and not controlled by an institution most of these sat holders are retail not whales or institutions, bitcoin will remain mighty in the future with a market that plays 24 hours and also a strong holder throughout history, speaking of speculative assets or not I think all assets are speculative but we know that if there is organized speculation on an asset it will see the asset sway according to the narrative brought on the news and it also happens to other assets if the same thing is done.

Adoption becomes an important point as a form of investor response to see the future of bitcoin, the more adoption the greater the possibility of price increases, seeing that today's adoption is still less than 10% of the world's population, so bitcoin is very likely to continue to increase, the more here it also turns out that many countries are starting to study bitcoin and its use, whether it is an alternative transaction tool or made as a backup asset or even an investment asset.

[Agbamoni]

Bitcoin is thriving on the mass adoption worldwide this is how it was designed Without mass adoption we'd still have Bitcoin at $100. The mass adoption is driving it's price. This is what I think without any reference to anywhere but from what I have been . For now the more adoption the greater its price. There is also to not forget that institutional adoption is part of it too.

Don't say Bitcoin was designed to keep rising, honestly apart from the usage Satoshi made known to all, we were skeptical on what direction bitcoin was designed to follow. Now look at us, enjoying the benefit of mass adoption because it is one main factor that has affected Bitcoin in a way it keeps going up overtime. Have you imagined a scenario where everyone decides to sell of their bitcoin, the market will definitely crash. Instead of that happening, every day we see more enthusiast wanting to buy more of Bitcoin.

[Ethan_Crypto]

Bitcoin is here to stay and grow not just as a speculative asset but rather an asset that continues to solve the challenges of inflation. There will always be continuous interest and growth as long as it solves cross border payments

[Kelward]

Bitcoin is thriving on the mass adoption worldwide this is how it was designed Without mass adoption we'd still have Bitcoin at $100. The mass adoption is driving it's price. This is what I think without any reference to anywhere but from what I have been . For now the more adoption the greater its price. There is also to not forget that institutional adoption is part of it too.

I also think that Bitcoin trends on mass adoption, as it's adoption is increasing it's demand will also increase which will always make the price to rally. If it were not for increasing adoption and demand I guess that it's price will be bellow $1. Presently Bitcoin is not trending as a digital cash for payments, what is driving it's adoption is that people are seeing it as a store of value. The demand for Bitcoin is increasing because it has become an asset for investment, that is what is driving it's adoption so far. When the adoption of Bitcoin saturates and almost everybody is holding it, that is when we can ask whether it can succeed without adoption.

[henry_of_skalitz]

Bitcoin is here to stay and grow not just as a speculative asset but rather an asset that continues to solve the challenges of inflation. There will always be continuous interest and growth as long as it solves cross border payments

Many coins solve that.

Many are not decentralized and trustworthy as BTC, though

[Antotena]

Bitcoin’s price and adoption go hand in hand. without growing adoption, we shouldn’t expect sustained price increases. After all, demand (and thus price) is a reflection of real-world usage. But here’s the challenge: Bitcoin can’t compete with fiat for everyday transactions yet. So how do we bridge that gap?

When we see Bitcoin’s price surge, it begs the questio... Will it remain just a speculative asset? If so, that makes it a risky long-term hold, especially if adoption stalls. Worse, if whales and corporations dominate supply, they could manipulate the market, turning Bitcoin into a game for the wealthy rather than the many. That would defeat its purpose entirely.

So if someone doubts Bitcoin’s future over these concerns, how do you convince them it’s here to stay and grow?

Mass adoption is subjective in my opinion, Bitcoin community can grow and there adoption alone is enough for Bitcoin, the more the community continues to grow so the adoption. Not until some bank or central bank want Bitcoin, they are just some catalyst I see as money liquidity to boost the growth of Bitcoin but even if they don't come, the community can become more mature and more money will be supplied to the Bitcoin just like the way it has been the conventional ways.

Adoption don't need to be force, you can see people like Blackrock and Micheal Saylor are buying everyday because they believe in Bitcoin and they believed the price will do something better tomorrow and other days after tomorrow. Look at the United state that has made all sort of promises with their adoption to make Bitcoin their central reserve but they played everyone but it was obvious from beginning, it's just that we only choose to listen to what we wanted to hear.

[henry_of_skalitz]

Bitcoin’s price and adoption go hand in hand. without growing adoption, we shouldn’t expect sustained price increases. After all, demand (and thus price) is a reflection of real-world usage. But here’s the challenge: Bitcoin can’t compete with fiat for everyday transactions yet. So how do we bridge that gap?

When we see Bitcoin’s price surge, it begs the questio... Will it remain just a speculative asset? If so, that makes it a risky long-term hold, especially if adoption stalls. Worse, if whales and corporations dominate supply, they could manipulate the market, turning Bitcoin into a game for the wealthy rather than the many. That would defeat its purpose entirely.

So if someone doubts Bitcoin’s future over these concerns, how do you convince them it’s here to stay and grow?

Mass adoption is subjective in my opinion, Bitcoin community can grow and there adoption alone is enough for Bitcoin, the more the community continues to grow so the adoption. Not until some bank or central bank want Bitcoin, they are just some catalyst I see as money liquidity to boost the growth of Bitcoin but even if they don't come, the community can become more mature and more money will be supplied to the Bitcoin just like the way it has been the conventional ways.

Adoption don't need to be force, you can see people like Blackrock and Micheal Saylor are buying everyday because they believe in Bitcoin and they believed the price will do something better tomorrow and other days after tomorrow. Look at the United state that has made all sort of promises with their adoption to make Bitcoin their central reserve but they played everyone but it was obvious from beginning, it's just that we only choose to listen to what we wanted to hear.

It should be natural, I definitely agree.

Otherwise, it's all a good sound in our ears like what we saw with the US, and much less actions toward achieving such a goal.

[bitbollo]

for what I have seen during these years, in most of the countries, people are now choosing (freely) to join bitcoin.
Why freely? because not all countries are seeing the "typical" issues like ATM withdraw interrupted (Cyprus), High inflation - corruption (many many countries)... and so on...
Even profits... who know is a new economic crisis could hit financial markets and create another crazy issue like what we have seen in these last years.
Probably at a certain point the whole society could suffer one /more of these issues (even new ones)... I would not surprised for big values and utility even without mass adoption.
 

[Dump3er]

Bitcoin’s price and adoption go hand in hand. without growing adoption, we shouldn’t expect sustained price increases. After all, demand (and thus price) is a reflection of real-world usage. But here’s the challenge: Bitcoin can’t compete with fiat for everyday transactions yet. So how do we bridge that gap?

When we see Bitcoin’s price surge, it begs the questio... Will it remain just a speculative asset? If so, that makes it a risky long-term hold, especially if adoption stalls. Worse, if whales and corporations dominate supply, they could manipulate the market, turning Bitcoin into a game for the wealthy rather than the many. That would defeat its purpose entirely.

So if someone doubts Bitcoin’s future over these concerns, how do you convince them it’s here to stay and grow?

The adoption you are referring to is to have more people use it on a day to day basis as a means of payment and then price would increase. If technology is put into place that allows for more usage or basically increase the number of use cases, it increases velocity of BTC units, but this is not unconditionally connected to price increases. There is an important distinction that must be made.

Compare it to gold and ask yourself what the use case of gold is for the average guy. You can now comment that gold can be used to manufacture jewelry or electric items and I agree. But since you are bringing up the case of day to day spending in essence, nobody uses gold for day to day payments. This is at least not the case for the vast majority of people. Yet gold' total market capitalization is like 10x of that of bitcoin and payments is not a relevant use case at all for gold. In other words payments is not the one and only key for bitcoin to grow. More and more people will realize that it is the superior tool for value preservation and growth because velocity doesn't matter that much. It can have a huge impact if the whole world uses bitcoin for payments because it would have to have a certain amount of market capitalization in order to be able to serve transaction demand, leaving aside the bottleneck problem here.

The most important thing for bitcoin is to not get attacked in its core architecture. Exchanges will be hacked, people will be hacked, but not the network itself. It is funny sometimes how it is framed in public when an exchange gets hacked and the question is asked whether bitcoin is safe. Lockers do get robbed from banks, people get robbed off their watches. Cars get stolen. Credit cards get hacked. In some cases there is insurance and recourse, but in many cases it is not. But nobody would shout out that Rolex should be banned because a man got robbed or Visa or Mastercard should be shut down because data is sold on the dark net.

You should define what you mean by mass adoption. It is not like everybody owns gold. But there are some players owning a lot of it! In bitcoin the same will happen over time, some big players will come out on top and in this particular time, normal people have the opportunity to make use of this great innovation as an investment tool in the first place. If it becomes a major currency when technology is introduced for easy to use higher transaction capacity, in my opinion that is a plus. But for now I think it is clearly an investment tool and not a payment tool, but that doesn't reduce bitcoin's potential to grow beyond gold's market capitalization.