Why consumers are not adopting BTC

[Ruthful]

It seems to me all this talk of "value" is just speculative investment talk.This drive for bubble and crash isn't really healthy for mainstream acceptance.

Huh

It seems to me all this talk of "value" is just speculative investment talk.This drive for bubble and crash isn't really healthy for mainstream acceptance.

[1714113602]

1714113602

[GSI_Kristjan]

We see new consumers adotping BTC every day. The process has been slow so far, but it will fire up exponentially. Soon.

[PandaMac]

Yeah it's very risky and hasn't really entered the mainstream yet.

[1anonymous]

The only good reason given thus far for mass adoption of btc by a large percentage of consumers was GAMBLING.

Like Drugs, Gambling is a vice and vice products/services often have major problems with traditional banks, so btc is well suited to

Drugs
Gambling
Porn

Now all three of those areas have a huge number of consumers and outside of porn, most do not take credit cards or paypal for long.

Porn is tough now to have a legitimate merchant on, I KNOW having invested in tons of porn stuff in the 1990's and also having a previous connection to adult companies from years ago decades before the commercial net existed.

So if a large group of porn operators got together and said they were tired of paying cayman banks 20% or more per transaction, they could over night create a mass amount of new consumers for btc.

Gambling, now that's the most interesting thing mentioned, btc lends itself well to gambling and keeping the money in btc, it's a universal money for a btc only casino.

That could get mega-millions of people over night

Got to be in caymans though

Same place you need to set up a legit btc bank

So cayman bank takes wires, or cayman casino takes wires

Caymans the only country with no treaty with USA as to extradiction

So to keep btc outside of governmental crap, you need two cayman charters IMO

One for a btc bank and one for a bitcoin casino

Then you let the world know they can bank safely outside of any government control in caymans with btc and play in the casino

[RodeoX]

The only good reason given thus far for mass adoption of btc by a large percentage of consumers was GAMBLING.

Like Drugs, Gambling is a vice and vice products/services often have major problems with traditional banks, so btc is well suited to

Drugs
Gambling
Porn...

I have never bought drugs with bitcoin. Nor have I gambled or bought porn. Maybe that is what YOU see as "the only reason" to use bitcoin, but there are some grown ups here who use it to buy everyday items.

[inBitweTrust]

The only good reason given thus far for mass adoption of btc by a large percentage of consumers was GAMBLING.

Like Drugs, Gambling is a vice and vice products/services often have major problems with traditional banks, so btc is well suited to

Drugs
Gambling
Porn

So you are suggesting Bitcoin has a secure and fruitful future in human society?

P.S.... Don't forget guns as well:

https://ghostgunner.net/preorder.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwRtll3jjU4

  The future is looking great!

[inBitweTrust]

Bitcoin is still just a toy of the 1%. Neither the masses nor any serious government entity will embrace bitcoin given the fact that it is entirely too volatile and untrustworthy. Its just a high-risk investment vehicle for speculators. And the greed element is not going to slow down.

I would like to be proven wrong, but realistically, bitcoin has already been co-opted by the forces of evil.

Good... we don't want governments embracing bitcoin. That is not its purpose. At most we want governments tolerating or dealing with bitcoin.

You are being proven wrong hundreds of thousands of times a day with every time someone buys drugs, gambles, buys porn, launders money, or just eliminates credit card processing fees.

These useful human functions are never going away. The Black market and grey market eclipse the white market worldwide and are open to everyone and not just the 1%.

[desired_username]

Bitcoin is still just a toy of the 1%. Neither the masses nor any serious government entity will embrace bitcoin given the fact that it is entirely too volatile and untrustworthy. Its just a high-risk investment vehicle for speculators. And the greed element is not going to slow down.

I would like to be proven wrong, but realistically, bitcoin has already been co-opted by the forces of evil.

(facepalm) Typical gloomy attitude when the exchange rate is depressed.

It's always the same, every single time.

[RodeoX]

Bitcoin is still just a toy of the 1%. Neither the masses nor any serious government entity will embrace bitcoin given the fact that it is entirely too volatile and untrustworthy. Its just a high-risk investment vehicle for speculators. And the greed element is not going to slow down.

I would like to be proven wrong, but realistically, bitcoin has already been co-opted by the forces of evil.

Money always attracts greed. But unlike fiat money you can compete on a level field with bitcoin. There is no co-opting, you can play the game or not. If some "1%er" beats you then you were beaten fair and square. Fair does not mean someone helps you, it means the rules are the same and those who work hardest win biggest.

[halfawake]

You guys can blast the OP all you want, but he does have some valid points.  In my opinion, the biggest weakness of bitcoin from the consumer standpoint is one simple thing: consumer protections.  Or rather, the lack thereof.  

A few people mentioned credit cards and being worried about their numbers being stolen online or at some merchant etc.  I personally don't worry about this happening ever.  Because I know that if my card information is stolen, I have $0 liability for transactions.  My bank can invalidate the old card and issue me a new one.  It is because of this that I feel confident shopping online with my credit card at merchants that I know nothing about, knowing that I can perform a charge back if they decide not to deliver the product they claim to be selling.

None of these protections exist with bitcoins.  With bitcoin, you really only want to use it on trustworthy sites like Overstock, because if you're using it on Joe's Music Store, where you've never transacted with Joe before and know nothing about him, you could get some great new CD / set of MP3s.  Or you could be throwing away $20.

But there are a few natural markets for bitcoin, of course.  Some people have already mentioned porn and drugs, these are both big ones.  The porn industry has a huge problem with chargebacks from people who bought porn and then later didn't want to admit it so it's really in their best interest to not only accept bitcoin, but possibly go bitcoin only eventually.  

The other less controversial market is of course remittances.  Remittances is a huge market, there were around $53.8 billion in remittances from the United States to Mexico and Latin American countries just in the last decade or so.  The problem here is, as always, the exchange rate.  With remittances, you're generally doing a person-to-person money transfer, so unless the person is waiting on the money and can get it one or two blocks later, there's a decent chance (especially these days) that the person on the receiving end would end up getting less money than was sent.

The big question there is this: is the potential loss greater than the amount of money Western Union charges to do currency conversions?  Their fees aren't cheap if you're sending a lot of money, so it could very well be a loss or even in bitcoin's favor.

[practicaldreamer]

You guys can blast the OP all you want, but he does have some valid points.  In my opinion, the biggest weakness of bitcoin from the consumer standpoint is one simple thing: consumer protections.

1) Escrow  and 2) Circle are now insuring deposits (bank like) - they won't be the last.

(facepalm) Typical gloomy attitude when the exchange rate is depressed.

It's always the same, every single time.

I think this is the crux of the problem here. We all have our moments of doubt - especially when the exchange rate is shit. Over on the speculation section of the forum I think they refer to it as "shaking out the weak hands", or somesuch  

[borna_121136]

they are probably afraid of the unstable condition of BTC market. MAybe the lack of security concerns them. Or simply they just dont get BTC at all.

[practicaldreamer]

"When we break our habits, we shall become as Gods"

Fiat is a habit - and is the problem here. Not Bitcoin.

How far away are we from me being able to transfer my (£) wages directly into a BTC "bank", a la Circle ? Next month I go to Italy for 2 weeks and have no need to worry about buying Euro (and being scammed in the exchange) ? I then wish to transfer some "value" to my brother in Japan cos he's a bit hard up at the minute - I send him some BTC.

On top of all this I am circumventing the very same system of financial usury that has put most of the nation in hoc for a generation and brought the economy to its knees.

Again the question, to me becomes, why use GBP ?



The chasm that needs scaling here is the idea that the individual has to take personal responsibilty.

I dunno - maybe try it once and you might find that you like it  .

[the joint]

You guys can blast the OP all you want, but he does have some valid points.  In my opinion, the biggest weakness of bitcoin from the consumer standpoint is one simple thing: consumer protections.

1) Escrow  and 2) Circle are now insuring deposits (bank like) - they won't be the last.

(facepalm) Typical gloomy attitude when the exchange rate is depressed.

It's always the same, every single time.

I think this is the crux of the problem here. We all have our moments of doubt - especially when the exchange rate is shit. Over on the speculation section of the forum I think they refer to it as "shaking out the weak hands", or somesuch  

Escrow does absolutely *nothing* to protect the consumer and is a false sense of security.

I never understood the emphasis on using escrow services in many cases.  For most transactions, using an escrow service actually adds risk rather than eliminating it -- instead of having to trust one person, now you need to trust at least two.  The only reason escrow is useful on these forums is because you can reasonably determine the authenticity of a reputable member acting as an escrow agent, and you can make reasonable assumptions about what the escrow agent would stand to gain/lose by running off with the money; you can't make the same assumptions about a newbie. 

[1anonymous]

Most considered my post FUD, it was not

I got what I wanted

A legitimate reason for the general public to acquire btc

To me it's GAMBLING

So today we got a bunch of brandable casino names

Cayman charter being drawn up

We will have a major bitcoin casino operating very soon

Users will be forced to ACQUIRE BTC

How they do it, we don't care

You want to play anonymously in a chartered Cayman's casino, it will be live soon

It is IMO real life reasons for general public to acquire btc, that makes btc a viable alternative currency.

Having mass retailers say they take it while also taking every other controlled currency did nothing to btc value, if anything mass retail acceptance hurt btc values.

So BITCOIN GAMBLING to me is a legitmate reason for the general public to try to figure out wtf btc is and then acquire it.

GAMBLING is the only major reason I see at the minute as a legitimate reason for mass adoption by the public.

So now the future of btc TO ME is setting up charters that are bullet proof as to countries trying to regulate btc

Bitcoin exists, and if someone wants to gamble anonymously in a chartered caymans casino

THAT IS REASON TO ACQUIRE IT

The whole point of my original post was name a reason the general public MUST ACQUIRE BTC and not use regulated currency or credit cards.

GAMBLING was the reason my post was posted, and now that someone mentioned gambling I AGREE

It is a legitimate vice that banks and gov's hate

Yet they tolerate it

So a Caymans chartered org that runs future btc casinos is why I am now again looking at btc as a legitmate alternative for consumers.

I created a special THANK YOU post to celebrate that person that threw open this major idea to me.

Again, I LIKE BTC, I like the idea, I don't like a few things about btc, but now with a legitimate reason for the public to AQUIRE IT, fine.

I don't mind creating projects in this grey area.

CASINOS ARE LEGAL

They are highly regulated, but to me the NET is ether baby, it should be unregulated and that has always been my position as to any government trying to regulate any aspect of the net.

So now let all the retailers join btc, and take it, great.

As long as I can generate btc from whatever use is LEGAL TO ME, I will create projects that are only btc related, GAMBLING is a nice vice niche for mass btc acceptance.

Again THANKS to the person that suggested it.

[nutildah]

I would like to be proven wrong, but realistically, bitcoin has already been co-opted by the forces of evil.

You are being proven wrong hundreds of thousands of times a day with every time someone buys drugs, gambles, buys porn, launders money, or just eliminates credit card processing fees.

Uh... quite frequently, drugs, gambling, porn and money laundering ARE evil. Not all the time, but more frequently than other recreational/business activities.

So that's your claim to Bitcoin's fame? Bitcoin is great because it makes buying drugs and gambling easier? Again, toy of the 1%.

And as for porn, have you heard of YouPorn? There is no need to ever spend money on porn again if you have the slightest inkling of creativity.

[nutildah]

Bitcoin is still just a toy of the 1%. Neither the masses nor any serious government entity will embrace bitcoin given the fact that it is entirely too volatile and untrustworthy. Its just a high-risk investment vehicle for speculators. And the greed element is not going to slow down.

I would like to be proven wrong, but realistically, bitcoin has already been co-opted by the forces of evil.

(facepalm) Typical gloomy attitude when the exchange rate is depressed.

It's always the same, every single time.

Nope. I'd have the exact same attitude it BTC were $1000, because it is the correct attitude to have.

[inBitweTrust]

Uh... quite frequently, drugs, gambling, porn and money laundering ARE evil. Not all the time, but more frequently than other recreational/business activities.

So that's your claim to Bitcoin's fame? Bitcoin is great because it makes buying drugs and gambling easier? Again, toy of the 1%.

And as for porn, have you heard of YouPorn? There is no need to ever spend money on porn again if you have the slightest inkling of creativity.

Are you suggesting Porn, gambling , drugs, and guns are only used by 1% of the human population? Are you a space alien investigating earth for the first time?  

Bitcoin is great for everything, including the "white market" as well.

P.S.... You are a cheap "welfare recipient of porn" which is being subsidized by users like me who don't mind paying the actors/actresses. You are welcome for all your free spank sessions; We pay for them.

[bornil267645]

THE CURRENT MARKET STRATEGY OF BITCOIN IS STILL NOT ON THE MONEY, IN MY OPINION. IT STILL NEEDS TO PROVE IT'S WORTH IN TERMS OF BECOMING A GLOBAL CURRENCY.

[Minor Miner]

Can you buy my new 550 benz convertible with it? No, its not for sale.

S550 is a four door sedan.   Not even an idiot rapper would cut the roof of one and make a convertible out of it.    After you get off the phone with the pope, see if your mother is done washing your underwear and get outside.   See the real world, not the fantasy you have built in your parent's basement.