**Even though we have witnessed much mainstream media coverage recently with cryptocurrencies, still a sizeable percentage of the world population has not ventured the use of them.
With a market capitalization inching close to half a trillion dollars and being in existence for about a decade, one would assume that adoption and usage would have been somewhat mainstream by now. The truth, however, is that a greater percentage of people are beginning to understand and use cryptocurrency in comparison to its early stage of inception as the concept and usability gets simpler by the day – irrespective of this, it is still not yet simple enough for the larger world to understand. The following are some factors that have contributed to hindering the wider adoption of cryptocurrency;
- Cryptocurrencies are difficult to spend
The biggest obstacle to the uptake of cryptocurrency into the real economy is that few gateways and outlets allow the use of them for direct purchase of goods and services at the moment. This more-often-than-not leads crypto holder having to convert their digital currencies back into fiat (mainstream currency) before making purchases.
Recently, however, several online platforms and some physical stores are beginning to accept direct payments in cryptocurrency (especially Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin) and it is rumored that some internet giants like Amazon and Facebook are looking to allow cryptocurrency payments in some time to come.
Cryptocurrency are too abstract
Newbies to cryptocurrency usually find the very concept of their operations to be out-of-the-norm; this becomes even more pronounced when they have to convert from satoshis to BTC and even convert Bitcoin decimal places into fiat or fiduciary currency. Some people even imagine that since Bitcoin is called a ‘coin’ it is expected that there should be some physical coins somewhere that can be seen and touched – people are still trying to come to terms with the idea that cryptocurrencies are hundred percent virtual and are not even physical coins to begin with.Cryptocurrency are extremely volatile
In the year 2017, the price of Bitcoin rose by about 2000%, Ethereum by about 10,000%. In between these, however, the prices fluctuated, sometimes steeply enough to cause a panic attack. This has also led many to shy away from venturing the space. A lot of people are also further ill-informed by mainstream media about cryptocurrency and are in perpetual panic-mode with regards to these new digital currencies.
Cryptocurrencies’ rampant volatility makes quite a number of people very sensitive and in panic, they sell at the dip and make a loss. Even though many people hear the saying “buy low, sell high,” most people follow ‘the mentality of the crowd’ and do the opposite. With time people will better understand that digital currencies are still pretty much in their nascent stages and will learn to be more patient and HODL (hold) even in the face of temporary**