Bitcoin has already come a long way since its inception in 2009. Starting from scratch, Bitcoin currently has a market capitalization of more than $150 billion. More and more people are realizing that Bitcoin is a technological revolution comparable to what the Internet was when it was first launched.
Beyond the technological revolution it embodies, Bitcoin is also an ideological revolution. Bitcoin proved that a Peer-to-Peer payment system without any central control authority was possible on a large scale.
On a social level, Bitcoin is already making a big difference in protecting people in the poorest countries who have to face monetary oppression from their rulers but also from the United States who use the U.S. dollar as a weapon.
Despite all of Bitcoin’s success, you should be aware that Bitcoin is still in the early adopter phase if you look at the adoption cycle of a technology. If you decide to buy Bitcoin today, you will still be an early adopter with all the risks and rewards that this entails.
Many People Still Do Not Really Know What Bitcoin Is
At the beginning of the year 2020, the situation of Bitcoin towards the general public is totally different from the one it was at the beginning of 2010. At that time, Bitcoin was really confidential and only a few cypherpunks were experimenting with it.
By 2020, everyone has heard about Bitcoin at least once.
Bitcoin’s euphoric year-end in 2017 is no stranger to this.
At the time, the media largely took over the phenomenon that made Bitcoin’s name with the general public.
However, many people don’t really know what Bitcoin is.
Most people have simply retained what the media and politicians have put forward in order to leave them in a form of ignorance that benefits them.
For a majority of people in the general public, Bitcoin is a speculative instrument that promotes criminal activities by facilitating the laundering of dirty money.
This is a myth that is completely false but is frequently used by opponents of Bitcoin to denigrate it.
All this indicates that we are still in the early adopter phase of Bitcoin technology.
The great work of evangelization that will be done over the next decade will, therefore, benefit Bitcoin and its adoption by the general public.
The more the general public understands what Bitcoin really is and what it can bring to the world, the more the adoption of Bitcoin will increase and the price of Bitcoin will rise with it.
Adoption Among Merchants Is Still Limited
Bitcoin has already managed to establish itself as a global store of value in my opinion. The latest events between Iran and the United States at the beginning of 2020 have shown that Bitcoin is indeed a safe haven like gold.
On the other hand, the adoption of Bitcoin as a medium of exchange and a means of payment is still struggling to develop.
In developed countries, Bitcoin is too rarely offered as a payment solution by merchants.
The situation will improve in the coming years as more and more merchants start to take an interest in Bitcoin and see an important opportunity to support it before their competitors do.
The current low adoption of Bitcoin by merchants as a means of payment shows you the exceptional growth potential that Bitcoin has for the future.
Indeed, which payment technology can afford to have a market capitalization of more than $150 billion with as much growth potential with merchants around the world?
The answer is simple: none other than Bitcoin.
Media Coverage Is Very Negative
The phenomenal rise in the Bitcoin price at the end of 2017, with a record price of $20K reached, obviously did not leave the media indifferent. Very quickly, the mainstream media took up the subject of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
The media coverage has been globally very negative around Bitcoin.
The media has constantly alerted the general public only to the risks of Bitcoin without even trying to explain all the benefits it can bring to the world.
Since then, the situation has not changed much and the media still prefers to give voice to Bitcoin opponents who are always inclined to throw out small polemical sentences hoping for a viral effect.
Bitcoin has been declared dead 380 times since its creation.
All these criticisms about Bitcoin must finally be seen as a good thing.
Bitcoin is still in the early adopter phase and in order to reach the general public, it needs to be talked about.
For good or ill, the important thing is that we talk about Bitcoin to the general public.
Time will then prove that Bitcoin is resistant to all these criticisms and that no matter what happens, Bitcoin continues to move forward block by block in building a fairer system for the world.
The User Experience Can Still Be Improved
Many people criticize Bitcoin by explaining that it is far too complicated for average people to use. These critics must have been stuck in the early 2010s in my opinion.
In recent years, the user experience with services around Bitcoin has improved significantly.
Not everything is perfect, but it has become much easier to trade or exchange Bitcoins for the general public.
Despite all these advances, the user experience can still be greatly improved.
This is great because it paves the way for a whole bunch of startups to come up with major innovations around the everyday use of Bitcoin.
This potential for improvement suggests good growth opportunities once again, with greater adoption of Bitcoin and an inevitably rising price.
Bitcoin Price Volatility Is Very High
Bitcoin is such a phenomenal success that many forget that it is only 11 years old. People who criticize its excessive volatility should realize that it is quite normal given its youth.
Bitcoin price volatility will stabilize in the future.
When the volatility of the Bitcoin price has stabilized, we will have achieved widespread adoption.
The fact that it is still there is a risk but also an incredible opportunity for you.
If you haven’t boarded the Bitcoin train yet, you can still get on before it reaches full speed and leaves you far behind full of regrets.
No one knows how high the price of Bitcoin is going to go. Nevertheless, it is almost certain that as the production of new Bitcoins continues to slow down in the coming years, demand will become increasingly strong.
If you need to discover Bitcoin and buy some, now is the perfect time to do so, with the price still below $10K.
Bitcoin Scalability Is A Big Area For Improvement
The sharp increase in the number of Bitcoin transactions at the end of 2017 showed that the Bitcoin Blockchain needed to make great strides in terms of scalability.
Bitcoin can currently validate up to 7 transactions per second.
This technical limitation is a weak point in Bitcoin that the community is trying to find a technical solution.
Indeed, Bitcoin will not be able to become a payment system used by everyone with so few transactions that can be validated per second.
By way of comparison, PayPal can validate near 200 transactions per second and Visa claims 24,000.
The comparison with these systems is not really appropriate in my opinion because they are totally centralized whereas Bitcoin proposes a total decentralization.
The solution that the community has been working hard on for many months now is the implementation of the Lightning Network protocol.
The Lightning Network would relieve congestion in the Bitcoin Blockchain by creating micro payment channels, the final result of which would then be reflected in the Bitcoin.
The generalization of the Lightning Network on Bitcoin Blockchain is more complicated than expected, but things are progressing at their own pace.
Buying Bitcoin before its scalability is maximized is a risk as you may think it will never be enough.
Nevertheless, you can consider this risk as limited enough and buy Bitcoin now. Once its scalability has been significantly improved, its price will increase tenfold and you will be rewarded for being an early adopter.
Conclusion
Bitcoin is already a phenomenal success even though it has just celebrated its 11th anniversary. Its success is all the more phenomenal because it is still in the early adopter phase of the technology adoption lifecycle.
To be more precise, Bitcoin is in the “The Chasm” phase and how it emerges from this phase will determine whether or not it reaches the mass adoption stage.
For your part, you should be aware that it is not too late to buy Bitcoin. If you buy Bitcoin now, you will still be an early adopter with the risk and reward that this represents for the future.
It’s up to you to decide what you want to do from now on.