Is there a way to determine the number of people who are actually using Bitcoin till date? Who would have access to such information? Meaning a way to find out, how many new people have used Bitcoin in 2016 , so that we can say exponential growth is natural not artificially created by hoarders.
Especially when you consider that current fiat related payment platforms are also moving forward, where the cost of using it for people is zero, and all payments are instant. Another plus for these people is that they also enjoy buyers protection. I don't think we'll ever come to a point where even a small or medium country is feeling the impact of people transacting with Bitcoin.
What you say is very true and it seems not many people get that it's an uphill battle for Bitcoin to really compete in this corner of the market. Lightning helps, but Bitcoin is still fundamentally worse for the consumer.
Personally I think it's more suited to being a global financial asset that has similar properties to gold, yet is way more flexible. Consumer payments is a tough nut to crack.