I find it ironic that you guys in a very developed country like USA are finding it hard in dealing with Bitcoin. And amazingly, here in my country things are getting better and better though we still do not have many merchants dealing with Bitcoin we can easily convert our Bitcoin into cash anytime and there are already many ways in placed for us to receive the money fast.
Well, your experience can be the big reason why many Bitcoin holders would prefer to just hold it like an investment or an asset rather than use it in everyday transactions. It would still take many years before we can an explosion of merchants especially those who are just around the corner to accept Bitcoin as it is now more of a speculative tool or something to invest with because we are anticipating for the value to rise fast.
I wonder about this too. The more we hold because its so hard to spend, the more the price goes up (well that and the ceaseless enthusiasm of bitcoin investors). The higher the price goes up, the less feasible it is to use bitcoin as money, given the fees. Im starting to think bitcoin isnt really appropriate for day to day transactions; in this price range, it really is better served being a store of value rather than a currency. We will be spending satoshis if we keep this unsustainable price growth up.
And due to AML/KYC in the states, if you convert btc to fiat electronically, you are looking at base three days until you see cash. If you use any other method (in person, bank deposits via LBC), you run a risk of being scammed, or at the least, having your funds held during an escrow dispute for some unknown amount of time.