We’re almost 3 weeks into our 12 week experiment. I’m no expert, not by a long shot. But I’ve learned a couple things.
Here is the hard truth about bitcoin adoption. It will only happen if we care enough to use it ourselves and to hold everyone else’s hand the whole way there.
Merchants aren’t looking for an alternative currency. Bitcoin is a big idea, but most places are (rightly) focused on small stuff, specifically their day in, day out bottom line. Will accepting bitcoin improve business? Will it be worth the (even minimal) setup hassle?
And for some businesses, it isn’t. The first local restaurant I spoke with that agreed to accept bitcoin was El Azteca Mexican Food. They make the best Mexican food around (in my humble opinion). And it’s not just the food. They have great service, decor, and a comfortable setting and location at a very reasonable price. If there was one restaurant in Provo UT that I had to choose to eat at every day, El Azteca would win.
But here is the problem: They don’t have a smart device at the point of sale, and they don’t have in store wifi. So they decided to not accept bitcoin at this time.
Is that a problem for the store? No, not at all. People don’t come to El Azteca for the wifi. They come for the cilantro lime chicken salad (thank me later). That ol’ credit card machine seems to be working just fine for now. Are they willing to accept bitcoin? Sure, but not if it won’t improve business, and fast. Small business owners always have a thousand things they need to get done, and it just isn’t at the top of their priority list.
So how do we persuade merchants to accept bitcoin?
To get small businesses to accept bitcoin, it’s not enough to invite them. We need to pave the road for them, with smooth asphalt and clear signage, and convince them they want to go there. If we want merchants and users to accept bitcoin, we need to think of it like we do web design on a web startup. We’re getting people to sign up for bitcoin like they signed up for their first email account, or the first time they used PayPal, or switching to a new OS. We’re selling them on it. And it needs to be absolutely painless. They just won’t make the jump otherwise.
So how do we fill in the gaps? How do we develop the infrastructure to make it easy for all?
That’s my question for all of you. I think it’ll take all of us to really come up with the answer.
-Austin