"Merchant adoption is not THE barrier to Bitcoin commerce - it’s the lack of incentive to spend."<p>Accepting Bitcoin from a merchant perspective is a brain dead decision. "Save over 50% on your transaction costs" is an easy sales pitch. Convincing people to spend bitcoins - that's the real challenge.
"Merchant adoption is not THE barrier to Bitcoin commerce - it’s the lack of incentive to spend."<p>Merchants accepting Bitcoin is a brain dead decision. "How would you like to save over 50% on payment processing?" is the easiest sales pitch around. The real challenge is convincing Bitcoin holders to spend.
This is an even greater hurdle to overcome now that spending a Bitcoin is a taxable event. According to the IRS, precisely <i>which</i> Bitcoin you spend has significant consequences. Without fungiblity, Bitcoin is not a practical currency.