Decentralised exchanges already work, but they cannot play in the same league for trading speed.
Could you point us to one that works?
There's got to be a way to add some real-time trading to the mix... Even if it's just some sort of a session that pops into existence for a region...
You cannot decentralise bank transfers without friction. There is P2P trust and other considerations.
I hear you, but if we just solve some of the problems we may be able to hybrid the system between other, existing exchanges and have no central point of failure... Worth a mental excercise, at least.
Last time I checked they were a work in progress but since I'm not a short term trader I haven't really needed them so far. I plan to get back there when I have more free time.
Check Dark Exchange, p2px, bitcoinx. Dark Exchange is open source but I think it's kind of abandoned (lack of interest).
For these things to catch up I think you'd need traditional exchanges to completely stop working or be so unreliable people would need to hedge elsewhere.
Despite all the doom and gloom, this is not the case just yet.
My prediction:
MtGox will improve their performance and for the time being things will continue "as usual". I don't think this is going to change any time soon.
Not without some real answers.
...And again, until they appear, bitcoin will never be a currency that the masses can accept.
I'm ambivalent about it being a currency for the masses. I think an scenario where bitcoin is an alternative for a few million smart, conscious users is more than acceptable to me.
In any case it's definitely not a currency for the masses now and it definitely wasn't while it sky-rocketed vs the US$. You don't want a currency moving so fast in perceived value, regardless of the direction of this movement.