Bitcoin adoption and the issue of trust

[hydroxide]

From my point of view, this seems to be one of the biggest barriers to widespread Bitcoin adoption. One of the most widely cited benefits of Bitcoin is that it is trust-free and you are in control of your own money.

But the vast majority of people don't have the technical ability to store their own bitcoin. Even many of those who can are still putting inherent trust in the system if they don't understand exactly how it works. How do you feel about being entirely responsible for huge sums of money like your life savings? If you fall back to trusting a bitcoin bank for this anyways, then there is little incentive to switch.

Now of course you can say that the current system also requires a great deal of trust on many levels (banks, government, etc.). But I think most people are more comfortable trusting an established system (especially in developed countries where it more or less is working) than something brand new that  they don't even understand. There has to be some other incentive to use Bitcoin to get a majority of people using it and only then will trust develop.

Moreover, it seems to me that the countries that need Bitcoin the most are the ones where it is least likely to gain ground. Example: Argentina. There is a huge amount of inflation (25% annually), nothing is being done by the government, and there is zero confidence in the banking system - most people don't have bank accounts and literally store their life savings in USD under their mattress.
But why would people who barely trust the banks trust someone trying to sell them on Bitcoin - something they don't even understand? Third party services and banks that simplify payment and storage will always be necessary and people have no reason to trust them. Even if you can create something that the user is in control of (hardware wallets, etc.), a non-technical person is still putting trust in you since they have no knowledge of how the system works.

[p2pbucks]

what's the incentive of buying btc by normal people ?
because the btc can hedge against fiat value devaluation ,so the only thing that matters is the price .
if the price goes up stably more and more people would get involved .
But now the situation is dirty chinese exchange are controlling the price , they wants to make fiat money from big volatility .  

[Bitcoinpro]

Insurance, most people dont even trust their house to be standing tomorrow or
their car to be there, even government bonds can be insured, contries have
had their fiat systems destroted before look at Argentina ends up being food ques
10 miles long.

[H.W.Z]

what's the incentive of buying btc by normal people ?
because the btc can hedge against fiat value devaluation ,so the only thing that matters is the price .
if the price goes up stably more and more people would get involved .
But now the situation is dirty chinese exchange are controlling the price , they wants to make fiat money from big volatility .  

Recent plummet of bitcoin price was due to the Alibaba's huge amout of IPO. Many traders were dumping their bitcoin holding recklessly on the open market. Don't you read the news? I don't think it is right to blame others' non-exist mistakes without knowing the true.  

[cyberpinoy]

The current system we have was not adopted, it was not accepted, it was taken at the tip of a sword (per say)

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"130 years ago, while you were chewing your chewing tobacco, hammering shoes over an anvil, and your neighbour was putting on the hinges to a coffin in his mortuary and the whore house down the street was sweeping the front step, a clean suited man came strolling up the dusty street with his briefcase in hand. He looked sharp and crisp, new, government type – not a lawman. He walked into the Saloon to a general audience and politely introduced himself as a disciple from the Federal Government. He politely explained how all of you over the next few months had to turn your Gold into him in exchange for his paper notes which were now going to be considered legal tender for trade instead of you shaving bits of your Gold off out of your pocket which was a crude way to do business in his opinion.

Instead, they were going to take your Gold put it in a vault at a fixed rate they determined and they would give you some debt notes that were related to that Gold you have given them and you would use that for trade. He was laughed out of the saloon and escorted kindly to the town limits. However he returned with force the next time and it was written by decree or fiat, that you were to give up your Gold in exchange for paper notes under the threat of imprisonment!!<-----(took it at the tip of a sword)

It took 20 years for people to finally accept the worthless paper money but enough education had passed that it was easy to correlate the idea of Gold in the vault to the serial numbered issuance of paper money so it began to be believed it had value. Everyone became enslaved during that moment and over the years following, the treasury note was leveraged, fractionalized and derived magnitudes of order of its original value as the Government printed more and more and more with you powerless to do anything about it. You simply must work harder and harder now to have the same thing as 50 years prior."

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the current system was not a choice, it was not an adaptation, it was forced onto people thru the government, a government which was supposed and created to be seperate fromthe financial system. now the two are the same. Our whole financial system is a complete breach of constitution (IN USA) it is a complete failure and is doing exactly what our forefathers did not want it to do....Control us

[p2pbucks]

what's the incentive of buying btc by normal people ?
because the btc can hedge against fiat value devaluation ,so the only thing that matters is the price .
if the price goes up stably more and more people would get involved .
But now the situation is dirty chinese exchange are controlling the price , they wants to make fiat money from big volatility .  

Recent plummet of bitcoin price was due to the Alibaba's huge amout of IPO. Many traders were dumping their bitcoin holding recklessly on the open market. Don't you read the news? I don't think it is right to blame others' non-exist mistakes without knowing the true.  

Alibaba IPO It's the real reason ?
So , all stocks which went down recent days  all because Alibaba IPO ? How do you draw this ridiculous conclusion ?
At least i wouldn't be brainwashed by the stupid bitcoin media

[Velkro]

But the vast majority of people don't have the technical ability to store their own bitcoin.

True, thats why there beign created tools for newbie computer security users. With that they won't care about it.
Same thing people sayed about e-banking. But it works and scams happen like everuwhere.

[grifferz]

Alibaba IPO It's the real reason ?
So , all stocks which went down recent days  all because Alibaba IPO ? How do you draw this ridiculous conclusion ?
At least i wouldn't be brainwashed by the stupid bitcoin media

It may or may not be the reason, but it is no less credible and a lot less prejudiced than your "dirty Chinese exchange" comment.

[p2pbucks]

Alibaba IPO It's the real reason ?
So , all stocks which went down recent days  all because Alibaba IPO ? How do you draw this ridiculous conclusion ?
At least i wouldn't be brainwashed by the stupid bitcoin media

It may or may not be the reason, but it is no less credible and a lot less prejudiced than your "dirty Chinese exchange" comment.

I dont have prejudice towards exchanges .

This poll shows what most Chinese users' opinion .  http://p2pbucks.com/?p=12195

[sushibi]

what's the incentive of buying btc by normal people ?
because the btc can hedge against fiat value devaluation ,so the only thing that matters is the price .
if the price goes up stably more and more people would get involved .
But now the situation is dirty chinese exchange are controlling the price , they wants to make fiat money from big volatility .  

Recent plummet of bitcoin price was due to the Alibaba's huge amout of IPO. Many traders were dumping their bitcoin holding recklessly on the open market. Don't you read the news? I don't think it is right to blame others' non-exist mistakes without knowing the true.  

That's a comical conclusion. I think you need to look elsewhere, maybe get some facts to back that up... I think that is one of the least likely scenarios.