Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) has definitely come a long way in just over ten years of existence, but to be honest, we are not even close to mass adoption of digital currencies. In that Fool Live video clip, written on 18 MarchFool.com contributor Matt Frankel, CFP, asks Onramp Invest CEO and cryptocurrency expert Tyrone Ross what it will take for Bitcoin to become a widely used payment method.
Matt Frankel: When do you think we will see the massive adoption of Bitcoin as a payment mechanism? I only know last year or so, I know PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) announced they plan to roll out Bitcoin acceptance to all of their merchants. Do you think this is possible in the future? Do you see it as a few years? In other words, how long do you think Bitcoin’s speculative period will last?
Tyrone Ross: When the cryptocurrency has its iPhone and it didn’t have its iPhone, and I think it will take a lot more designers – UX / UI – who are used to creating this wonderful experience for people where it just works in the background and you do not know. When I use Bitcoin, blockchain and all these things, I don’t even know, and it’s just a wonderful experience. Then you get Steve Jobs from cryptography who says, “I’m going to make you want something you never knew existed,” and you think, “God, I really need an iPhone.” Then we’ll make sure that every time we update it, you’re going to go and get it. But this is a wonderful experience. I think that once we get a nice design and experience in cryptography, it will go to the other side, because then you will get away from the public key, the private key, by losing it. How about this? How should I store it? Where should I put it? Once it all disappears and it stays in my phone, my Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) wallet or something else – have you seen the news about Visa (NYSE: V) yesterday said again that with a credit card and everything else that makes Visa easy to use bitcoins on your phone and the ability to convert them to dollars. When we get to that point, the game starts, and regulation plays a role in this too, because if you use bitcoin to buy things, each of those transactions is taxed. We must make sure to get away from this too. There is a long way to go here.
Frankel: One of the things I often say about new technologies is that people are not going to do it easily, no matter how good they are.
Ross: One hundred percent.
Frankel: In other words, you are saying that when Bitcoin becomes easier or easier to use than US dollars, it will be the moment of the iPhone, I think you would say.
Ross: One hundred percent, because that’s what it is, it’s cash. The ease that I could just walk up to you, hand you $ 20 and walk away. It is tax deductible. I can do the same with Bitcoin right now. But when everyone does that, it’s just a fact: “I just sent you a bitcoin.” You understand, and there is nothing special about it, then we will be there, but we are not there yet.
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