How can a cryptocurrency become mainstream?

K

Kong

Member
How? I wonder...

Why should anyone make the effort to get verified (idendity) at a bitcoin exchange, to buy a cryptocurrencie with fees, with which he/she then can buy something on the internet? It is so much easier to use a credit card, it is already established and everyone knows how it works. Also the fluctuation of the price prevents normal people to even consider buying ordinary stuff on the internet. Imho cryptocurrencies will only get used if the merchants credits you the saved fees of the credit card fees, or if you have to hide something (like porn or drugs from darknetmarkets).

How and why do you think cryptocurrencies will ever become mainstream?
 
I've more or less been a proponent that they will start off as a store of value and later become viable currencies as prices stabilize. That isn't to say some merchants are comfortable taking on that volatility risk now but the majority would be instantly converting to fiat at the present. With government after government racing to the bottom of devaluing their currencies and rates pegged at zero (negative on a real basis in some countries), if we get another global contagion event and/or some run on banks due to capital constraints (i.e. Cyprus-like event), I think you will see a bunch of people move into crypto as a result. That, and precious metals, but the practicality of transacting in metal isn't there.
 
In addition to what oblox has said... credit cards are a 1950's tech.. you give your private key to every merchant. Even the government is working with IBM to experiment with crypto. do the math. this is the very beginning of something HUGE>
 
I'm not even factoring in transfer of wealth, especially (frictionless) cross borders, unbanked financing, microloans, etc. I just know from a true currency-related standpoint, the volatility needs to compress substantially for people to feel comfortable maintaining positions in crypto, let alone see merchants willing to take it all the way through the supply chain.
 
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You're all correct, and the way I see it, it will really take off when places like coinbase take a coin like DASH and allow for instant transactions (meaning buy to buy, fiat to coin, then seller can sell to fiat, a lot slower, no rush there) This way, if one has a coinbase account that accepts DASH, they could send a payment in DASH instantly to any merchant, including grocery stores and gas stations, and the money would be withdrawn from their bank on an as spent basis. I know this kills the anonymity issue, but the fees would be super reduced on both ends with the convenience of a credit card in tact.

Eventually, one could keep their funds in DASH simply because one doesn't want to deal with a centralized entity, but most people simply don't care. That's where instantX wins the day. And if Coinbase, or companies providing this service, used pre-mixed coins on behalf of their customers, they'd surely use DASH and customers would appreciate it :)
 
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