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With respect, the press is regularly quoting how many places now 'accept bitcoin' but it is all really a vanity metric. I know it is difficult to know how much
by jval 13y ago
With respect, the press is regularly quoting how many places now 'accept bitcoin' but it is all really a vanity metric. I know it is difficult to know how much these merchant accounts get used without internal information from the providers themselves, but from all internal accounts I have heard, the usage is dismal. For no surprising reason customers are generally disinterested in purchasing anything with Bitcoin that they can already purchase with their credit card.
I think Bitcoin is going to be revolutionary but the application is lacking - entrepreneurs really need to find a real world application where the use of Bitcoin actually improves the experience. Remittances and International Money Transfers are the first legal industry I can think of where that will work, but businesses in that area need time to grow and navigate the uncertain regulatory environment before Bitcoin will actually see adoption that really means something.
- JohnDoe365 13y agoUsage will rise once the value starts to drop. Why would anybody spend on real god as long as the value is soaring? This is of course only true for those currently holding Bitcoins. The current rise of Bitcoins' value is actually very unhealthy for the market.
- BrokenPipe 13y agoWhy would I spend bitcoin when the value is soaring? Because I have no alternatives eventually. See, let's say i start out with 5k worth of bitcoin and 5k worth of USD. The bitcoin go up in value while the USD go down via QE. As you suggested I avoid spending the 5k in BTC but thing is eventually I will run out of USD and even if I don't because say I got a day job source of USD income eventually I will want to buy something which is above my pay rate and I will have to use my btc. The same thing happens with gold or with an estate property, only thing, bitcoin is more liquid than that and unlike gold or a house I can decide to use a tiny part at anytime without selling or exchanging the whole cake. And with BTC merchant can offer discounts which may encourage the use of btc. Time will tell.
- JohnDoe365 13y agoYour argumentation is valid yet I bet that you are very unlikely to invest all your money in Bitcoins thus you will not run out of USDs or Euros, whatever. Let's see.
- PeterisP 13y agoIf I have a choice of paying a provider with card or bitcoin, why would I choose bitcoin? I get more rights and benefits if I do the same thing with a card. For the majority user, who is mostly buying and not selling, Bitcoin currently has an advantage only in cases where I can't/don't want to pay with a card - say, a need for anonymity, but that is only a small niche. How bitcoin can improve the experience for common transactions?