RE: Before You Do This...
Adoption comes from a lot of things, and one reality I hate to say is that having a free-floating market value for a currency with this much volatility will be very difficult as it will never be a unit of account. In reality, it will likely be about attempting to create a decentralized solution for:
- Payments
- Microtransactions
- Remittances
For that to happen, businesses have to accept XYZ cryptocurrency. The general populace has to be aware of said cryptocurrency and be comfortable owning it (even if for short periods of time) and transacting with it. The user interface has to be friendly and inviting. There must be enough protections in place that if a mistake is made, there are ways to not suddenly lose thousands of dollars. I call this idiot proofing, and it is much more important in fintech than usual tech (given that money is on the line).
Scalability is overrated and I will standby that until the day I die. Not because it is irrelevant, but because all the "tech nerds" will figure it out as they always do. We have control over scalability. We have limited control over how long it takes for everyone to WANT to use and feel COMFORTABLE with using cryptocurrencies. That will take far longer than most early adopters realize.
Scalabilty is important because lack of it stands in the way of adoption. I believe scalability has to come first or we will never get to mass adoption. Simple.
Exactly. Paypal isn't Paypal solely because of its transaction capacity. It had to do everything else right first.
Good points
I understand that you're worried about the development of a "friendly and inviting" user interface and that you're confident that it's only a matter of time for scalability issues to be solved. I would like to suggest the idea that maybe there is reason to be just as confident about the innovation and implementation of "idiot-proofing" solutions for the cryptocurrency user interface as for the resolving of possible scalability issues! Andreas Antonopulos has mentioned that that bitcoin does face "some very significant security problems related to the ownership and control of bitcoin keys[...]for the end user", the implication being that the technology may not be user-friendly enough for mainstream adoption (43:15-43:24, video linked below). He does however go on to say that he DOES BELIEVE that "over time, we are going to see the development of more secure mechanisms" and that "for every problem [he] sees in bitcoin, as an entrepreneur, [he] simultaneously sees a tremendous opportunity" (43:53-43:59, video linked below). There IS a strong business incentive for the innovation of idiot-proofing solutions to cater to the requirements of the mainstream adoption of cryptocurrency. The market introduction of the Trezor hardware wallet is representative of this commercial push towards the simplification of the use of cryptocurrencies. Today, the innovation carries on with products such as Javvy with the "support of the multi-signature authentication" for even more approachable user interface (https://javvy.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/javvy_prospectus.pdf). :)