Bitcoin's Rally Masks Uncomfortable Fact: Almost Nobody Uses It | Bloomberg

Later in the article: "Dark net, or illegal, activity has increased, as have peer-to-peer Bitcoin transactions, Chainalysis found."; also a chief investment officer insight: ""Bitcoin doesn’t have to be money to be a success. A lot of great technologies end up being strategically important without living up to their initial road map.""

"Bitcoin has a lingering problem that few people are talking about amid the renewed exuberance of the recent price surge.

Hardly anyone is using the world’s largest cryptocurrency for anything beyond speculation. Data from New York-based blockchain researcher Chainalysis Inc. show that only 1.3% of economic transactions came from merchants in the first four months of 2019, little changed over the boom and bust cycles of the prior two years.

Even though marque companies such as AT&T Inc. now let customers pay with cryptocurrencies, the problem is that few speculators want to use the digital coins to pay for wireless services when the digital asset’s price might surge another 50% in a matter of weeks. That’s become the main dilemma with the cryptocurrency: Bitcoin needs the hype to attract mass appeal to be considered a viable electronic alternative to money but it has developed a culture of “hodlers” who advocate accumulation rather than spending."

Bitcoin's Rally Masks Uncomfortable Fact: Almost Nobody Uses It | Bloomberg