Why “Bitcoin accepted here” damages the crypto industry

An Italian town, Rovereto, has several businesses accepting bitcoin since 2015 (the “Mani al cielo” cafe), according to the latest of a large number of stories that all look the same.

In times of fake news, I don’t question the story itself: every detail is probably true. What I question is whether a story like this benefits, or damages, the crypto industry as a whole.

If you read the story, you will find that a Bitcoin-to-Euro business charges “up to 12% markup” for the money exchange; and that business owners switch from holding bitcoins, to selling them as soon as they can once they receive a payment.

The problem is, bitcoin is not a STABLE store of value. Its value, in fact, fluctuates by several percentage points every day. You need a VERY stable currency to be able to accept payments with it, without worrying too much about WHEN you’re going to exchange it into another currency.

What’s the effect of “Bitcoin accepted here” stories like this, then?

A few people try out the service. They buy some bitcoins. Some of them will luck out, and make money out of it. Others will lose significant amounts. The overall perception will simply be that Bitcoin is a wild, unpredictable lottery, and NOT a serious, efficient, secure way to transact.

These are the phrases that do the most damage:

“But I’m not paying them {the employees} in bitcoin right now,” he says emphatically. “Not now — now is the time to hold!”

Read it again. Tell me what you think about a business owner that thinks that way. Is Bitcoin all about speculation, then?

The Italian media, one of the worst in Europe, simply echoes a story that makes readers click. They are not interested in doing real journalism.

It’s still the wild west out there, we know that. But I expect better from Bitcoin magazine, or from other news sources. Cryptocurrencies are a great opportunity — let’s not delay it, or damage it, by running stories like these.

There’s no point in accepting Bitcoin as payments. For now. There might NEVER be a point of doing that, since we will keep paying our taxes in Euros, US Dollars, or other “sovereign” currencies.

I think the use case for Bitcoin has been simply “store of value”. And the use case for other cryptocurrencies (like Ethereum) still has to be shown.

Let’s keep it real.

Disclaimer: I hold BTC and ETH. And I have no interest in pumping things up to make a quick buck.