Coinbase CEO says Bitcoin Mass Adoption Slower than Expected

The bulls are fighting with this plummeting price in a hope of the bitcoin is strengthening fundamentally and is all positive in the long run with adoption increasing. Although this is true it’s happening at a much slower pace than expected at least that’s what Brain Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase says.

Armstrong’s statement means the horizon is gone a little longer

Coinbase’s Brian Armstrong who was present at the Bloomberg Players Technology Summit in San Francisco warned in a TV interview given to Bloomberg stating that Bitcoin and cryptocurrency adoption rates around the world are growing, but not quickly enough to prevent the bitcoin price from falling warning the world that mass bitcoin adoption for payments is going to be a long time coming. TO quote him he said

“I think it will be quite some time before you cross the street to Starbucks in the U.S. and pay with crypto,”

Armstrong estimated that only about 10% of cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, are used in real life, in games and other purchases online. It is very important for cryptocurrencies to be used at brick and mortar stores for their actual adoption to increase.

He too compared bitcoin to early-stage internet companies and explained the price volatility by saying

“This technology is going through a series of bubbles and corrections, and each time it does that, it’s at a new plateau. People’s expectations are all over the map, but real-world adoption has been going up.”

Also, read: Former PayPal CEO Bill Harris Says Bitcoin Headed Straight to Zero

Armstrong’s Starbucks reference critical as it believes brick and mortar acceptance a major boost

As the news surfaced in early August that the coffee chain is partnering up with tech giants such as Microsoft through Intercontinental Exchange, a lot of media and crypto community got excited as to digital currencies would find a real-world use case as Starbucks would accept them at its stores. But this joy was short-lived at Starbucks clarified its role is to provide a testing ground for implementation of the solutions that will be connected to the conversion of digital assets to fiat, which then can be used to purchase a coffee, tea, or whatever product the retailer offers. It said that the picture painted by media was that Starbucks would accept cryptocurrencies and manage ownership of these currencies, similar to how Overstock and Microsoft do, which is very far away from the truth.

A spokesperson from Starbucks said in an interview with Jordan Pearson from Motherboard:

“It is important to clarify that we are not accepting digital assets at Starbucks. Rather the exchange will convert digital assets like Bitcoin into US dollars, which can be used at Starbucks.”

Another spokesman had also commented that “Customers will not be able to pay for Frappuccinos with bitcoin,” a Starbucks spokesperson said after it was announced the coffee chain was involved with a new cryptocurrency venture called Bakkt.

Brain Armstrong comment may not be directly directing to Starbucks but the reference defiantly is towards brick and mortar adoption of cryptocurrency so that more people can start using it to buy real goods.

He was also confident that in economies going through turmoil, such as Venezuela and (to a lesser extent) Turkey, could give bitcoin and cryptos a stronger use case by adopting them as alternative currencies.

“I’m bullish on countries that are going through economic crisis, over the next three to five years, where everyone has the internet and a smartphone, you could see people adopting bitcoin and cryptocurrencies as an alternative,” Armstrong said.

While like many others bulls Brian also believes it’s the use case that will drive the cryptocurrency prices, he also says that this needs to be at a little faster rate. Regulation definitely will play an important role as more and more countries come forward to accept it.

Will, the rate of adoption of cryptocurrencies increase or will it be turtle-paced at it has been? Do let us know your views on the same.