I think Monero has two obstacles to overcome before it permanently moves up into a higher price bracket, relative to Bitcoin.
First, Monero will need to definitively put to rest the perception -- whether accurate or not -- that Monero may have a bloat problem, in terms of blockchain size and/or memory usage. This perception has dogged Monero from the beginning and it does Monero no favors.
Second, Monero will need a no frills GUI -- something simple and easy, friendlier than the command line interface. I love me a good CLI. Many don't.
I am confident both of these issues will get addressed. All in good time.
The bloat/blockchain size is not a problem. It will not be a problem in even 5 years, stop with the nonsense. People are getting this wrong (so have I).
Fluffy can throw you some numbers and you will see. I do however see a problem with the memory usage, 3+ GB of RAM is indeed too much. I was forced to close most of my work that I had previously started.
A GUI is necessary for adoption! Many do not like using a console, and even more do not know how to use one.
Just to be clear, I did not say Monero has an actual bloat problem, from a technical perspective. I'm saying, whether or not the "bloat" thing has any merit to it whatsoever, this perception has managed to get out there -- perhaps through a misunderstanding, or through the intentional work of Monero's detractors, I don't know. I guess it is a communications/PR issue at this point. I just know the perception is out there, and that it sometimes turns people off to Monero when they don't look very deeply. Such people -- "new money", if you will -- are not each going to individually contact Fluffy for numbers to address their concerns.
The problem is precisely that "[p]eople are getting this wrong."