once consumers have more of a reason to use it (as all of these projects develop).
I see this argument a lot, and my question is this: what, exactly, would give consumers more of a reason to use bitcoin for legal transactions over existing payment methods? What will these new projects do differently that will make it more attractive for the consumer?
My opinion is that bitcoin's huge flaw in regards to regular consumer usage is that two of its major benefits both work in favor of the merchant.
Can't reverse transactions: benefits the merchant, makes it harder for them to get ripped off, but easier for the consumer to be ripped off, or to force them to accept what could be an inferior product with no guarantee of a refund.
You don't get a refund because of your payment method - you get a refund because of consumer protection law.
Companies that think they can get away with not giving refunds because people have paid with bitcoin will find that what happened to Butterflylabs happens to them.
Consumer protection law is what matters here - not your payment method. Most times you want to get a refund/take something back you talk directly to the retailer and they refund you directly or give you store credit. You only go to the credit card that one time in a hundred when that doesn't work.