Bitcoin’s merchant adoption has actually gone down this year, according to the Bitcoin ABC lead developer.
In an episode of BitTopia, Amaury Séchet mentioned Bitcoin merchant adoption and its present status. He sees a decline in adoption in 2017, with more and more merchants formerly comfortable with supporting Bitcoin now choosing to no longer do so. The connection between this trend and ongoing high fees is fairly clear as merchants no longer find it viable to accept Bitcoin transactions for smaller payments, and consumers no longer finds the novelty of the transaction to be worth the fees.
Transaction fees became higher than credit card fees in 2017
While on a gradual increase for long before then, Bitcoin fees began to grow to unsustainable levels in 2017. At the beginning of the year, the median fee was 17 cents and the average fee was 35 cents, both no longer at a clear advantage over card processing fees for regular small transactions. By mid-April the median fee passed 50 cents and the average fee was over $1, now firmly less efficient for small transactions. By mid-June the median fee was over $2.50 and the average fee was approaching $5. At present, despite a large exodus of transactions to other chains including Bitcoin Cash, and the recent activation of Segwit, the average fee is still over $5 while the median fee is over $3.
The result of this fee structure is that Bitcoin is an untenable solution for most regular purchases, and only makes sense for larger transfers of wealth. More importantly, even where competitive with other transaction methods, the former “Bitcoin advantage” no longer exists. This was previously a selling point for merchants to adopt the digital currency, and without that incentive many simply choose not to put the effort towards adding a new feature.
Main street adoption for a digital currency won’t happen without low fees and fast transactions
As the rest of the digital currency world searches for an alternative for regular transactions, Dash maintains a strong adoption lead, currently ranking 316 businesses worldwide listed on DiscoverDash, a rapidly growing figure as more merchants come on board after having waited out Bitcoin for too long. The median transaction fee is currently at 2.6 cents, set to be reduced in the coming months.
In addition, over the next year the Evolution release will provide a much cleaner and user friendly experience on the protocol level, providing an additional incentive for merchants weary of previous issues with digital currency to switch.
You mean, maybe Roger Ver knew what he was talking about when he said high fees were putting Bitcoin in jeopardy of losing its “first mover” advantage?
Yes, that’s sarcasm. I suspect you already knew that too. Keep up the great work. I’ll probably be buying more Dash. I didn’t want the Bitcoin party to be over this soon.
There are also technical analysis veterans calling for a massive correction in BTC. Bad fundamentals along with bad chart patterns is surely going to drag things down the drain. The good thing is this will open people’s eyes to Dash and other coins that are objectively better than Buttcoin in every way.
Yes for sure, but that may not happen for years. Blockchain tech is amazing, and Bitcoin is the “gateway drug.” Once “everyone is hooked” they’ll start to see that Bitcoin isn’t so great, and the “crash” will be hard. lol
It’s going happen much sooner. Probably even on this month or next. But the thing is too many zealots on uninformed noobs will buy on the dip like madmen and drive the price much higher than even the current levels.
The biggest frustration is BTC drags the whole market with it. Even ETH is corelated with BTC for no solid reason. It’s a bubble within a non-bubble market getting in the way of all the good coins. I’m hoping for BCH to become inversely corelated with BTC. That could save the market. That’s the reason I’ve been a big supporter of BCH though I consider Dash, NEM and PIVX to be the only solid currency cryptos. (MUE is nice and better than most coins. But there is Dash and Dash is too good and too big for MUE to compete.)
Considering that BTC was the pioneer, it’s quite surprising that it has led the field for so long. Normally pioneers fail quickly as better versions come along having learned the lessons thrown up by the pioneer. The big question is not whether Ether or Litecoin is better than Bitcoin, it is whether the future is one of private money equalling or even overtaking public money in terms of circulation. There are strong views on both sides of the argument. Those who think BTC is a bubble often believe that the future is one of a single universal credit, Star Trek style, whereas others see a proliferation of privately issued money circulating alongside $, £ etc.