Quote from: BTCisthefuture on January 01, 2014, 10:54:29 AM

Quote from: nimrodlehavi on December 31, 2013, 10:49:03 AM

hi
i'm giving a lecture to investors, regulators, gvmt officials and such next week
wanted to title my lecture "from here to mainstream" and wanted to check the hive mind on what do YOU think are the greatest barriers make bitcoin truly mainstream

thanks in advance

I guess everyone's definition of mainstream is different. But I'll go off the assumption that you mean something like a normal day to day thing people do/engage in. Debit/Credit cards are mainstream for example.

To answer your question I would argue some of the biggest road blocks in no particular order a are volatility, ease of use, safety, and adoption. When I talk to people who don't have bitcoin and have no interest in it, it's usually one of these things they bring up. They will point out its too much of a hassle for them (too difficult) , they dont want their money stolen (not safe enough for them), they dont want money that goes down or up constnatly (volatailty) , and there is no were currently that takes bitcoin (adoption).

Once these roadblocks start getting overcome bitcoin will continue to go mainstream. It's my opinion that all of these roadblocks are solvable and are already steadily being worked on by various start ups and individuals. The only one that people can't really fix through innovation would the volataility issue but I would think/hope that starts to become less of an issue as the market expands.

Have fun with your lecture, may I ask why you are giving a speech on bitcoin ?

Excellent points, a currency must be at least somewhat stable, but also easy to use. For instance, you go to work, get a paycheck, have it auto deposited to your account, or bring it to the bank, and you can then use a card to make all purchases you need very quickly and easily in most places, or use physical money. It's easy, simple, and for the most part, safe.

If you want to make something like this mainstream, you must first reject the whole "anarchist" "unregulated" notion, because despite what you might feel, the general population will never adopt something like that. Why would they?