Is Bitcoin Adoption Outpacing The Current Level of Technology?

Once again, the rumours about the demise of Bitcoin are circulating on the Internet en masse  Mainstream media will not hesitate to make the digital currency look vulnerable, although the internal bickering and fighting over a block size solution are not helping matters much either. Bitcoin is not going to die anytime soon, no matter what the media have to say about it. But they do raise some valid points as well, unfortunately, as Bitcoin adoption could face serious problems.

Also read: R3 Member Banks Test Securities Trading on 5 Different Blockchain Platforms

Adoption Ahead of Technological Curve

If there is one thing people can learn from the Bitcoin block size debate, it is how the adoption rate of this digital currency is starting to outpace the technological curve. Whereas many people assumed the 1MB block size would not be a major issue anytime soon, the exact opposite became a reality a few days ago.

Even though there are still allegations regarding either Bitcoin Core or Bitcoin Classic members purposefully flooding the network, it is impossible to determine what causes the recent surge in Bitcoin transactions. The number of network transactions has gone up significantly in the past few years, but there was never a significant backlog to speak of.

Mainstream media outlets are seeing this as how too many people started using Bitcoin all of a sudden, at a point where technological uncertainty was reigning supreme. When the payment system gets jammed – especially the one touting to transfer money all over the world in mere seconds – things are not looking all that good for Bitcoin right now.

Bringing additional Bitcoin miners to the network would not help get these transactions confirmed faster either, as there are technical limitations. The 1MB block size will only allow for so many transactions, and Bitcoin miners prioritize transactions based on the associated fees. Tradeblock presents comprehensive Bitcoin charts of how many transactions are waiting to be processed, and the numbers could stifle digital currency at this rate.

All Bitcoin wallet solutions were affected by this backlog, although most of them allow users to set a higher transaction fee at any time. This is where a Bitcoin wallet is different from more traditional solutions, as users are in full control over their money at all times. However, if everyone started using higher fees, the backlog would just become more expensive, rather than get solved.

If digital currency enthusiasts want more people to buy Bitcoin and speed up adoption, these technical issues need to be addressed yesterday, rather than tomorrow. While the Bitcoin price is not affected by this debacle just yet, it is not a time for positive Bitcoin news either. If this debacle continues, the price of Bitcoin will go down once again.

Source: Fortune

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