How long will it take for bitcoin to reach mainstream? The digital currency has been around for over 6 years now and the number of people using it is also constantly increasing. Bitcoin’s potential to provide alternate financial services to the unbanked has made its adoption a lot easier.
Even though bitcoin is a pretty decent following so far, it does not have enough users to be considered as a mainstream currency. In fact, bitcoin is long way from becoming mainstream currency as a very small percentage of people around the world actually prefer to pay directly with bitcoin to buy stuff, and with a good reason. Except for a handful of people no one is getting paid in bitcoin and in order to use bitcoin they would have to convert fiat to bitcoin only to spend it again. So they would rather pay with fiat currency than go through multiple steps to pay using bitcoin.
Recently, World Economic Forum conducted a survey on latest technologies and the potential impact of these technologies. The survey report titled “Deep Shift: Technology Tipping Points and Societal Impact” offers the results of the survey. Bitcoin was one of the survey topics and responses from over 800 people, mostly executives and experts was recorded and analysed. The results showed that bitcoin will take a long time to reach the tipping point enabling it to become mainstream.
The World Economic Forum’s survey reports that by 2025 over 10 percent of the world’s GDP will be supported by Bitcoin and Blockchain Technology. According to the survey, over 58 percent of respondents believed that bitcoin may reach tipping point by 2025. Over 70 percent of respondents predicted that bitcoin and blockchain technology would be widely adopted by governments and other institutions for maintaining public records, collect taxes and for transparent record maintenance and allocation of funds for development by 2025.
While the World Economic Forum’s survey report sounds promising, the recent developments in bitcoin ecosystem, especially in Australia where banks are cracking down on bitcoin businesses and merchants are moving away from bitcoin creates a sense of uncertainty.
Image: EPA/JEAN-CHRISTOPHE BOTT
