[downandout]

> Thirdly, Bitcoin has done 6 years in a row what critics have always said it cannot do

The one thing that hasn't changed a great deal is accessibility to them. When buying, you are either subject to waiting periods, or have to conduct the transaction in cash in person. No one in their right mind will take credit cards or PayPal for them. I believe this is the major hurdle to adoption of crypto by the mainstream public. Writing tools to make BTC easy to work with is the easy part. Until they can be bought at Walmart or your local check cashing store, it's going to be a fairly rough road for new adoption.

[IkmoIkmo]

On the, that's probably the thing that changed the most.

Firstly, 'conduct the transaction in cash in person'. That sounds pretty accessible to me. You have cash, you press a button on your phone which shows the nearest person selling it, you go there and buy it from them. Can it get any more simple than handing over money in return for an item, like buying a coffee?

But secondly, there are various companies right now that offer quick and easy purchase. Try Circle for example, you can instantly buy bitcoin there with a bank transfer, even though the transfer takes a day you get your bitcoin, and at 0% fees, too. If you compare that to just 3 years ago when your only option was shady and risky as hell, or hell, even a year ago, it's rapidly improving.

For example here in the Netherlands I could buy bitcoin between now and one minute from now, safely and legally and I'd receive my bitcoin right away, using just my phone and not leaving my seat or registering for any account. (Bitonic)

[downandout]

>You have cash, you press a button on your phone which shows the nearest person selling it, you go there and buy it from them. Can it get any more simple than handing over money in return for an item, like buying a coffee?

Can it be more simple? No. Will most people do it, with the shady reputation of Bitcoin and the people involved with it? No.

[IkmoIkmo]

That's a different question from accessibility which I was answering.

As for will people do it? The popular ways to do this (localbitcoins, mycelium) have actually showed record amount of transactions lately, so more people do it than ever.

Does that mean everyone does? No, but that has more to do with the fact it's a nascent thing rather than a shady reputation or a lack of accessibility.

[downandout]

If the methods to obtain them quickly either cannot or will not be used by most people (as is the case here), then they are inaccessible to most people.

[jordigh]

> The one thing that hasn't changed a great deal is accessibility to them.

Just acquire them like you likely acquire any other currency: accept it in exchange for your labour or the goods you have to sell. That's what I do, for online math tutoring. It's just some pocket change on the side for me right now, but it's helped me buy a few Christmas gifts already.

[chm]

In Canada I can pay by debit, called an Interac eTransfer. Check out Vault of Satoshi. The funds are allocated in about an hour.

[jmonegro]

Coinbase does

[downandout]

Not without a several day delay.