For wire-transfer or sending money across borders, its already a winner. As a payment alternative it covers most scenarios. Something you buy online and go pick up later (or is sent to you) is already working perfectly well.
You talk about regulation, but that only covers the coins (money). Blockchain as a separate element can be used in any project without requesting authorization. But you are talking about payments, and that is an specific use which is heavily regulated (especially when it involves fiat, which most processors do).
Fiat is, after all, outside the realm of Bitcoin. Its State money.
Future depends on merchant willingness. Often, you can talk directly to a seller and ask if he/she would accept bitcoin, and chances are getting better and better everyday that in fact they do. Its often their trading platforms that won't, due to "fear" or regulation.
You talk about regulation, but that only covers the coins (money). Blockchain as a separate element can be used in any project without requesting authorization. But you are talking about payments, and that is an specific use which is heavily regulated (especially when it involves fiat, which most processors do).
Fiat is, after all, outside the realm of Bitcoin. Its State money.
Future depends on merchant willingness. Often, you can talk directly to a seller and ask if he/she would accept bitcoin, and chances are getting better and better everyday that in fact they do. Its often their trading platforms that won't, due to "fear" or regulation.
That's certainly true, mate. Bitcoin is already a winner for sending money worldwide at lower costs than traditional payment processors. It may not be useful for sending micropayments yet (due to high fees), but it's improving every step of the way. Right now, there's no reason why merchants should avoid Bitcoin in the first place since there are many regulated exchanges available within the mainstream world. Of course, there's the issue of price volatility. But, merchants could easily gain the stability of Fiat by choosing a stablecoin such as Tether or USD Coin. I believe that as more people join the Bitcoin cause, the more it'll become accepted by merchants worldwide. The main advantage traditional payment processors have on top of Bitcoin is scalability. Once Bitcoin gains the ability to process millions of transactions per second at faster speeds and lower costs than before, it'll gain a massive boost in merchant acceptance like never before.
Thankfully, the Lightning Network will surely bring Bitcoin towards the mainstream adoption it deserves. It may not be a perfect solution for scaling Bitcoin, but it's the best thing there is in order to make sending micropayments a reality once more. Only then, Bitcoin will be able to directly compete with giants such as Visa, PayPal, and MasterCard. Time will tell us whenever Bitcoin will prevail over current traditional payment processors or simply remain as an alternative payment system for the world. Considering that Fiat is still largely dominant within the mainstream world, the last scenario is very likely to happen within the future. Just my opinion
