Bitcoin next phase should be real world adoption.

[Olotu20]

The story of Bitcoin has come a Long way, just like the story of a humble beginning, Bitcoin has come a long way as it started more as an experiment which then where not taken seriously by people. From Bitcoin battling to gain acceptance, to the problem of scalability and market fees which arose that, brought about the lighting network. To Bitcoin becoming accepted by institutions which is a very big win for Bitcoin, these are just a few challenge that Bitcoin has passed through to become where it is today. But Bitcoin is phased with yet another big challenge and I believe this one will define the future of Bitcoin and that is real world adoption and acceptance.

what is the essence of us having this type of revolutionary digital money without it been used in real sense, by this I mean that we using Bitcoin on the supermarket, market and buying things without any rigorous process. just a simple transaction between buyer and seller via Bitcoin, I know plenty people will be saying that Bitcoin was not ment for this as it's a digital money. But at this stage of Bitcoin this should be the next level that Bitcoin adoption should be heading to, the reason is that this will reshaped the history and future of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin adoption can't be complete without having real world use without any ambiguity that may come up .At this point we should be looking beyond just adoption of Bitcoin online to real world adoption which has been the missing Link all these times.

WHY REAL WORLD ADOPTION

Small Business should be part of the Bitcoin Ecosystem.
At this point in time I feel that, Bitcoin is only usefull to the big companies, CEO, traders and big investors. we should look beyond this and make Bitcoin useful and felt by ordinary people and  small business and small business is at the center of at this level.

Bitcoin should be seen as more than just an investment.
Bitcoin at this point is still at the level of an investment scheme, where people can invest and wait for return over a while. we should look at Bitcoin beyond that, if you ask me the reason is that Bitcoin was made to operate as a P2P electronic payment system. in as much as Bitcoin is seen as digital gold we should be thinking about not only Saving your money only in Bitcoin but, also making payments in Bitcoin.

Every day real world payment, can drive adoption.
People get used to a thing that they are seeing and having practical experience about always, so for Bitcoin to break the barrier of just been held by adopters only then people must use Bitcoin to purchasing things in a real world events . It's my believe that Bitcoin real world adoption will only be visible if people can become more practical and real daily world use.

Adoption should start Locally
How valuable a thing is Known at the local level, imagine a shop accepting Bitcoin in your street and people are buying things via Bitcoin, this will create more awareness which may create interest and make people to ask more questions about Bitcoin. this has the capacity to drive local adoption which will translate to local adoption, which will give birth to more real world adoption.

So the big question is , Making Bitcoin spendable in real world living how possible is it.

[Catenaccio]

Bitcoin is Bitcoin, it's real and Bitcoin adoption is real too.

I don't understand "Bitcoin next phase should be real world adoption", because the adoption for Bitcoin has been real for many years since 2009. Bitcoin adoption already went to the main stream since Bitcoin Spot ETF approvals then operations since January 2024.

https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/gensler-statement-spot-bitcoin-011023

Fake adoption is with altcoins and tokens that mostly die with time when fake adoption disappears quickly.

[Upgrade00]

The current reality is that fiat is a better option for small businesses and more everyday purchases. It's stable and does not require any additional system as they are certainly already accepting it. Bitcoin fills the gap for global services like casinos which needs an easy to way to allow people from different continents to deposit. Bitcoin is also very useful for most online payments and purchases.

We should focus on how we can grow adoption along the strengths of bitcoin as magic Internet money rather than trying to get it to replace fiat.

I should add that this is not to discourage stores and merchants from using bitcoin, it is being used in that sense globally. But this is not a necessary step for bitcoin growth.

[Karl_3000]

So the big question is , Making Bitcoin spendable in real world living how possible is it.

It is not easy at all, most people prefer to use fiat for the purpose because it is less volatile in a way that it does not look volatile at all within a short time period.

But I will like a world that business can use payment processor for it which can help them convert the bitcoin to fiat if they want.

The current reality is that fiat is a better option for small businesses and more everyday purchases. It's stable and does not require any additional system as they are certainly already accepting it.

Fiat is not stable. If you are comparing it with other fiat in pairs, you will noticed that it is not stable, but bitcoin is more volatile. I get your point, you are not wrong in what you are saying about how people see fiat.

[Upgrade00]

Fiat is not stable. If you are comparing it with other fiat in pairs, you will noticed that it is not stable, but bitcoin is more volatile. But I get your point, you are not wrong in what you are saying.

I mean it is stable in relation to that country. A store owner does not usually at the start of the day first check the prices of their goods to know if they should adjust them. With bitcoin there are regular changes which necessitates the use of a payment processor to constantly make adjustments.

[Lucius]

~snip~
what is the essence of us having this type of revolutionary digital money without it been used in real sense, by this I mean that we using Bitcoin on the supermarket, market and buying things without any rigorous process. just a simple transaction between buyer and seller via Bitcoin, I know plenty people will be saying that Bitcoin was not ment for this as it's a digital money. But at this stage of Bitcoin this should be the next level that Bitcoin adoption should be heading to, the reason is that this will reshaped the history and future of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin has one small problem when it comes to on-chain payments, and that is that the transaction is not instant but requires confirmation from the miner, which again means that the same miner must find a block in which to place and confirm the transaction. The time between blocks is on average 10 minutes, so sometimes you can be lucky and get the first confirmation already in the first minute, and sometimes you can wait more than 60 minutes.

The conclusion is clear, on-chain Bitcoin payment is not exactly something that can work in supermarkets, but there is no problem with online payment. However, Bitcoin also has Lightning Network with which payment is instant, but you will find a lot of people who are very critical of it, even though it is the only thing that would really work for mass payments.

I can tell you that the problem is not that we have insufficient sales points online and even in the physical world where payment with Bitcoin is possible, but that the choice of most people is that they do not want to use it as a currency. No matter how much what you wrote makes sense, in the end, you can't tell anyone what to do with their property - people invest in Bitcoin for profit, not to pay with it.

Of course there are always exceptions, I occasionally use BTC as currency, but if I can't do it any other way I'll simply use one of the no-kyc crypto cards and make the payment that way.

[hd49728]

Bitcoin has one small problem when it comes to on-chain payments, and that is that the transaction is not instant but requires confirmation from the miner, which again means that the same miner must find a block in which to place and confirm the transaction. The time between blocks is on average 10 minutes, so sometimes you can be lucky and get the first confirmation already in the first minute, and sometimes you can wait more than 60 minutes.

If bitcoin is used for small payments, long transaction time will cause inconvenient because it's not comfortable to wait for 1 first confirmation after 10 minutes or even longer just to buy a cup of coffee, a bread, hamburger for example. If payments are bigger in value, people can have another priority, that is security for a transaction and guarantee for a trade completion and safety, then Bitcoin will be a good choice.

For small value payments, they can use Lightning Network or Bitcoin side chains but there is another problem, adoption is not too good.
How many Bitcoin confirmations is enough for a transaction and a trade?

1 confirmation: sufficient for small payments less than $1,000.
3 confirmations: for payments $1,000 - $10,000. Most exchanges require 3 confirmations for deposits.
6 confirmations: good for large payments between $10,000 - $1,000,000. Six is standard for most transactions to be considered secure.
10 confirmations: suggested for large payments greater than $1,000,000.

[Luzin]

I can tell you that the problem is not that we have insufficient sales points online and even in the physical world where payment with Bitcoin is possible, but that the choice of most people is that they do not want to use it as a currency. No matter how much what you wrote makes sense, in the end, you can't tell anyone what to do with their property - people invest in Bitcoin for profit, not to pay with it.

Currently, almost all Bitcoin owners hold it because of its value. Clearly, its value in history will continue to rise and will bring profit. Using it as a payment transaction tool is not impossible, but everything is limited to certain conditions. We have to remember how the Bitcoin network became congested with high fees because of Ordinal. If the whole world used Bitcoin for payments, ah I think that would be bad. At present, Bitcoin as a transaction tool is only limited to certain countries. So this is what is called a minority. Many people are still dependent on fiat money recognized by the state and the world. There might be Lightning, but as far as I know, it is limited to small transactions.

[KiaKia]

~snip~
what is the essence of us having this type of revolutionary digital money without it been used in real sense, by this I mean that we using Bitcoin on the supermarket, market and buying things without any rigorous process. just a simple transaction between buyer and seller via Bitcoin, I know plenty people will be saying that Bitcoin was not ment for this as it's a digital money. But at this stage of Bitcoin this should be the next level that Bitcoin adoption should be heading to, the reason is that this will reshaped the history and future of Bitcoin.

Bitcoin has one small problem when it comes to on-chain payments, and that is that the transaction is not instant but requires confirmation from the miner, which again means that the same miner must find a block in which to place and confirm the transaction. The time between blocks is on average 10 minutes, so sometimes you can be lucky and get the first confirmation already in the first minute, and sometimes you can wait more than 60 minutes.

The conclusion is clear, on-chain Bitcoin payment is not exactly something that can work in supermarkets, but there is no problem with online payment. However, Bitcoin also has Lightning Network with which payment is instant, but you will find a lot of people who are very critical of it, even though it is the only thing that would really work for mass payments.

I can tell you that the problem is not that we have insufficient sales points online and even in the physical world where payment with Bitcoin is possible, but that the choice of most people is that they do not want to use it as a currency. No matter how much what you wrote makes sense, in the end, you can't tell anyone what to do with their property - people invest in Bitcoin for profit, not to pay with it.

Of course there are always exceptions, I occasionally use BTC as currency, but if I can't do it any other way I'll simply use one of the no-kyc crypto cards and make the payment that way.

I have no single complain about Bitcoin's lack of instant payment, it's not a problem like many people want to make it look like, someone should try using their debit card to pay in a store and let me use Bitcoin, the difference? Confirmation.

There are times where I needed to hold on using credit 💳 card to make payments too, service problem and outages or something other delays where I have to try again, I don't need to try again anything with Bitcoin.

I have used Bitcoin to purchase many things online and I have never for once be in that position where I felt like Bitcoin wasted my time, it was easy breezy, I don't see much of a difference using my bank account to make payment and using Bitcoin.

[Frankolala]

Scalability is the only problem that will make bitcoin not to fit in for every day payment and adoption by small businesses because of the time it takes to mine a block. Small businesses needs instant confirmation which cash solves that problem. Another thing is that, not all countries bitcoin legalised bitcoin making it a big challenge for them in that country.

I could remember four years back when some forum members were accepting bitcoin in their businesses and made it an alternative payment method. Some even gave discount if you pay with bitcoin but I don't think it really favoured them. Maybe, they can tell us the challenge the faced in this thread.

[Obim34]

WHY REAL WORLD ADOPTION

Small Business should be part of the Bitcoin Ecosystem.
At this point in time I feel that, Bitcoin is only usefull to the big companies, CEO, traders and big investors. we should look beyond this and make Bitcoin useful and felt by ordinary people and  small business and small business is at the center of at this level.

Small business owners should not worry about using Bitcoin as a payment option. Given that I want Bitcoin payment adoption to increase, I still know the value of fiat, and when it is best used to receive payment. Bitcoin can be used for macro payments, small, cheap goods and services can be paid comfortably with cash or ATM cards, with just a swipe.

Bitcoin as a payment option is best during cross-border payments or certain online subscriptions, but not useful for small businesses.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

Real world adoption is already happening, I remember there was an old thread where a member asked about good places that is suitable for vacation and accepts payment in Bitcoin, in that thread a lot of users mentioned different hotels in different countries that accepts Bitcoin payment, I am only making reference of that topic, to remind you that there are some business that still accepts Bitcoin payments every day and no matter how the real world adoption grow, it's not every small businesses that can accept Bitcoin payment and it's not everyone that would want to spend their Bitcoin to buy a cup of coffee. But what you are talking about is already happening, there are some small businesses in different countries that accepts Bitcoin payment all the time, just that you and I might not be aware of those businesses because we are not based in that country.

[Smartprofit]

For example, in my country, using Bitcoin as a means of payment is strictly prohibited. This raises the question: how can a store on my street accept Bitcoin as payment for goods? Regulatory authorities would close it within 24 hours! 🙋

Governments of all countries prioritize protecting their national currencies. The situation is further complicated by the fact that Bitcoin cannot technically be used as a global means of payment. The number of possible daily transactions is limited. This is, incidentally, why stablecoins have become so widespread. In Asian countries, and elsewhere, stablecoins are very common. You can even buy real estate with them.

Therefore, the ideas of the author of this thread seem, unfortunately, utopian to me. Bitcoin's mission, in my opinion, is to fill the gaps in the modern financial system. Bitcoin can be used in situations where fiat currencies, for whatever reason, cannot be used. This is what constitutes mass adoption of Bitcoin.🧖

[Dreadboost]

Bitcoin has the adoption it needs what other adoption does it need?
If you think people aren't spending Bitcoin on real-world assets, goods, and services, then you must be joking.

From Bitcoin battling to gain acceptance, to the problem of scalability and market fees which arose that, brought about the lighting network.

Bitcoin never battled to gain acceptance. This statement is wrong. People doubted the technology, and it took them time to accept Bitcoin. The blockchain feature has always been the same.

[Joy_learns_crypto]

Bitcoin has the adoption it needs what other adoption does it need?
If you think people aren't spending Bitcoin on real-world assets, goods, and services, then you must be joking.

From Bitcoin battling to gain acceptance, to the problem of scalability and market fees which arose that, brought about the lighting network.

Bitcoin never battled to gain acceptance. This statement is wrong. People doubted the technology, and it took them time to accept Bitcoin. The blockchain feature has always been the same.

Bitcoin has done good in adoption but Bitcoin hasn't gotten all of the adoption it can get, people are using Bitcoin but the amount of people who has Bitcoin and want to use it to those actually using it is much.
And I don't mean using Bitcoin amongst few acquittance who are into Bitcoin, I mean where many countries have the chance to spend their Bitcoin on a day to day basis.

[Junii]

So the big question is , Making Bitcoin spendable in real world living how possible is it.

I believe it is certain in the future because if we compare the current phase of the bitcoin with the starting phase of the bitcoin the result is mind blowing few days ago i read a post in our local board a guy shared the first transaction of bitcoin 17 years ago 1$ = 1309 Btc approximately and now you can see the current price of it also for adoption few years ago our country's government put a ban on bitcoin transactions but now they are adopting it and make another government authority our country is just a one example there are majority of the countries and government adopting it so the world is adopting bitcoin with a speed right now and we can see in few years the Bitcoin is accepted here logo in the markets because more better days are coming.  

[Zoomic]

Bitcoin is already been accepted by millions across the globe so when you talk about real world adoption, I believe you mean wider and mainstream adoption.

That said, do you think we should measure the "real world adoption" only by the number of shops and daily traders that accept Bitcoin?

To achieve that, we first have to make the use of Bitcoin in everyday transactions less difficult and more practical than it is at the moment. A shop accepting Bitcoin means little if customers have no reason to spend it or the traders cannot easily use the money received. If that can be achieved, it'll be easy to take adoption beyond just holding Bitcoin.

[LFC_Bitcoin]

The 2025 top was quite disappointing in my opinion. We only hit a 3.5x from the 2021 top, diminishing returns in place sight. Now that institutional investment in Bitcoin is more widespread, I would really like to think that we hit at least $250,000 in the next bull run. We need a proper bull run to excite people and bring in new money.

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

The 2025 top was quite disappointing in my opinion. We only hit a 3.5x from the 2021 top, diminishing returns in place sight. Now that institutional investment in Bitcoin is more widespread, I would really like to think that we hit at least $250,000 in the next bull run. We need a proper bull run to excite people and bring in new money.

Wars around the world, political and economic turmoils actually affected Bitcoin latest market cycle and I was disappointed like you. Even such situations are "golden chances" for Bitcoin but it's in theory only. Practically, people are all affected by dramatic changes in their nations, regions and around the world, while in the market when the majority are uncertain or worse fearful, they will prioritize to withdraw their capital out, keep it safely first.

It was how Bitcoin market was affected in the latest market cycle but I think it will be different in a coming market cycle or next ones. The war between Russia and Ukraine will have to end someday and Trump will leave the White House in early 2028.

[Fiatless]

For example, in my country, using Bitcoin as a means of payment is strictly prohibited. This raises the question: how can a store on my street accept Bitcoin as payment for goods? Regulatory authorities would close it within 24 hours! 🙋

Governments of all countries prioritize protecting their national currencies. The situation is further complicated by the fact that Bitcoin cannot technically be used as a global means of payment. The number of possible daily transactions is limited. This is, incidentally, why stablecoins have become so widespread. In Asian countries, and elsewhere, stablecoins are very common. You can even buy real estate with them.

Therefore, the ideas of the author of this thread seem, unfortunately, utopian to me. Bitcoin's mission, in my opinion, is to fill the gaps in the modern financial system. Bitcoin can be used in situations where fiat currencies, for whatever reason, cannot be used. This is what constitutes mass adoption of Bitcoin.🧖

Bitcoin works best as an alternative to fiat. Both of them have strengths and weaknesses, that it can exist side by side. In your case, government policies are one of the impediments to the adoption of Bitcoin. In this condition, Bitcoin adoption would be slow. Businesses also prefer to accept a more stable currency as a means of payment. This makes fiat better than Bitcoin.

Bitcoin adoption will happen naturally, so we don't need to worry. Our responsibility is to promote Bitcoin as we can. But we cannot dictate to people how they would use Bitcoin. Everyone is free to use it the way they want.