Faster adoption

[IIOII]

I think it's always good to talk to people who show interest in bitcoin. But I don't think it's a good idea to do aggressive marketing for bitcoin, because those that accept bitcoin have to feel comfortable and in control with it.

I also don't think we need faster adoption. What we need first is the software infrastructure to support easy and secure usage of bitcoin.

[1715433979]

1715433979

[counter]

It talk about it with friends and family but haven't really approached anyone about it because it is a pretty complex topic and not everyone is willing to commit a small amount of time to stranger who may or may not be trying to pitch them the "next best thing".

i asked a couple small businesses in my neighborhood. they didn't seem too interested. actually, both of them seemed to think i was shady....

My point exactly..  People have slowly degenerated and even having a normal conversation is becoming a task.

[dothebeats]

Asking some stores and businesses to use bitcoin is very hard (I already asked two eateries in our place, they don't seem to be convinced by the idea). The common problem merchants might face if they accept bitcoin is that they can't control their budget on certain expenses because of bitcoin's high volatility. And another thing is that they can't pay all of their expenses with bitcoin, knowing that not all businesses accept it. To pay for some expenses, they need first to convert their btc to fiat, which is another task for them to do. And some exchanges implement high fees, which is already a deduction to their profit.

[jcoin200]

Asking some stores and businesses to use bitcoin is very hard (I already asked two eateries in our place, they don't seem to be convinced by the idea). The common problem merchants might face if they accept bitcoin is that they can't control their budget on certain expenses because of bitcoin's high volatility. And another thing is that they can't pay all of their expenses with bitcoin, knowing that not all businesses accept it. To pay for some expenses, they need first to convert their btc to fiat, which is another task for them to do. And some exchanges implement high fees, which is already a deduction to their profit.

Not to mention having to train all workers on how to accept payment in BTC, what they would do about returns, getting receipts to print properly, how not to get scammed, etc.

I'm sure most business owners have enough on their plate to deal with learning a new payment system and then implementing it.  Unless they are into tech and have studied BTC, it probably going to be an uphill battle getting new businesses interested in accepting btc.

[negafen]

i asked a couple small businesses in my neighborhood. they didn't seem too interested. actually, both of them seemed to think i was shady....

Because the media is portraying bitcoin that way.

[scribbles]

Why bother? It's not like BTC is even that useful in retail. Let it first prove itself by conquering the international remittances market and e-commerce.

Why is it not useful in retail? I love the idea of not having to depend on a credit card company to buy simple, cheap items. If I can just scan a QR code and pay directly that sounds so much easier and convenient.

Price volatility is the main reason.

I'm surprised that someone on this forum would regurgitate an incorrect statement like this. 
Bitpay and coinbase remove the risk of volatility completely. Period.

[bluemountain]

Why bother? It's not like BTC is even that useful in retail. Let it first prove itself by conquering the international remittances market and e-commerce.

Why is it not useful in retail? I love the idea of not having to depend on a credit card company to buy simple, cheap items. If I can just scan a QR code and pay directly that sounds so much easier and convenient.

Price volatility is the main reason.

I'm surprised that someone on this forum would regurgitate an incorrect statement like this. 
Bitpay and coinbase remove the risk of volatility completely. Period.

This is correct, however as you may or may not know, consumers tend to complain a lot. It would be possible for a customer to say that they paid $700 per bitcoin and the restaurant should accept their bitcoin at a conversion rate of $700 even though the actual price on the major exchanges (and on coinbase) is only $630.

It is a crazy complaint but these kind of complaints do happen often in the retail business.

[SHA255]

i asked a couple small businesses in my neighborhood. they didn't seem too interested. actually, both of them seemed to think i was shady....

Because the media is portraying bitcoin that way.

This is horribly wrong. Payment processors can take away the price risk for businesses so the business only needs to pay the 1% processing fee for accepting bitcoin.

[cinder]

Why bother? It's not like BTC is even that useful in retail. Let it first prove itself by conquering the international remittances market and e-commerce.

Why is it not useful in retail? I love the idea of not having to depend on a credit card company to buy simple, cheap items. If I can just scan a QR code and pay directly that sounds so much easier and convenient.

Price volatility is the main reason.

I'm surprised that someone on this forum would regurgitate an incorrect statement like this. 
Bitpay and coinbase remove the risk of volatility completely. Period.

This only remove the risk on the merchant side. What about consumer side?

If consumer only buy bitcoin on demand before paying, why not stick to fiat or credit card?

[Cicero2.0]

Why bother? It's not like BTC is even that useful in retail. Let it first prove itself by conquering the international remittances market and e-commerce.

Why is it not useful in retail? I love the idea of not having to depend on a credit card company to buy simple, cheap items. If I can just scan a QR code and pay directly that sounds so much easier and convenient.

Price volatility is the main reason.

I'm surprised that someone on this forum would regurgitate an incorrect statement like this. 
Bitpay and coinbase remove the risk of volatility completely. Period.

This only remove the risk on the merchant side. What about consumer side?

If consumer only buy bitcoin on demand before paying, why not stick to fiat or credit card?

Because right now bit coin consumers are also the main advocates for it. It is well worth it for me to use bitcoin at expedia for my travel and pay the exchange rate to replenish my supply. I get to help the bit coin economy and keep my stake where it is. In time this will be less of an issue because there will be a natural discount passed on to customers from businesses because they no longer have to build fraud and fees into their price structure.

[BitCoinNutJob]

How many of you are actually asking stores/restaurants if they'll accept bitcoin?

These stores won't add it if you don't ask.

I'm talking about the local/small ones.

I can see asking stores that you really really want to accept BTC.   But going and being a spokesperson for BTC adoption is going to be pretty time consuming, given the whole speech you will have to give business owners.  If you are retired and this is something that you enjoy doing, then I get it...but otherwise, I think your time would be better spent doing something else...

I think Bitpay and Coinbase and other companies like this are already marketing to businesses and trying to do this, because it means more profits for them.   

Asking all internet companies to accept bitcoin is probably the best use of time.  I have occasionally mentioned bitcoin to small businesses in UK but who we need to target is ebay, amazon etc.  Once they are on board the rest falls into place.

[Argwai96]

How many of you are actually asking stores/restaurants if they'll accept bitcoin?

These stores won't add it if you don't ask.

I'm talking about the local/small ones.

I've asked a couple restaurants near me. They didn't sound too interested. I think some bigger names need to get in first, and we need more general exposure for bitcoin.

[ajareselde]

How many of you are actually asking stores/restaurants if they'll accept bitcoin?

These stores won't add it if you don't ask.

I'm talking about the local/small ones.

I personaly use bitcoin mainly for trading, very rarely to purchase something.
I dont realy see the point in adoption of bitcoin to small stores, would make much sence if the bigger players adopted it, then smaller ones will follow anyway.

Now we have even Dell who is accepting btc, but did that affect the price, ofc not. But it may , however increase interest for bitcoin over time, slowly increasing uptrend.

[GrandmaJean]

How many of you are actually asking stores/restaurants if they'll accept bitcoin?

These stores won't add it if you don't ask.

I'm talking about the local/small ones.

I personaly use bitcoin mainly for trading, very rarely to purchase something.
I dont realy see the point in adoption of bitcoin to small stores, would make much sence if the bigger players adopted it, then smaller ones will follow anyway.

Now we have even Dell who is accepting btc, but did that affect the price, ofc not. But it may , however increase interest for bitcoin over time, slowly increasing uptrend.

in order for bitcoin to survive over the long term it must be used as a form of payment

[onezerobit]

That way, somebody will eventually mention that people have been asking for it.

Well....for that to happen, you need a lot of consumers to be aware of that.

[bitbinn]

it should be easier to buy and hold bitcoins for an average consumer

[jbrnt]

The most important factor when small businesses consider accepting bitcoin is whether they will get more business, or reduce cost, if they adopt bitcoin as a form of payment.

For local small businesses, the answer is often no. So, there is no incentive for them to setup an internet connection and train employees to deal with bitcoin. Bitcoin would be far more attractive to online mail orders retailers who uses paypal and credit card because there are no fees and no chargebacks.