I recently stumbled upon an old article written by @Hisnameisolllie where he talks about how he paid for his coffee with Steem Dollars (SBD). After reading the article which included an 18 step guide on how he transferred his Steem Dollars into fiat currency in order to pay for a coffee.
This article got me thinking about the future form of everyday purchases with Steem Dollars, especially since the currency is generally tied 1 to 1 with the value of the U.S. Dollar or more. Would Steem Dollars be accepted in real life as a form of payment in the near future? Bitcoin debit cards already exist but with the fluctuating price and and unpredictable value many stores, chains, and businesses are reluctant to adopt it as a form of payment.
Steem Dollar has the attributes that would make it easier to be more wide spread adopted. Carrying the word 'Dollar' in its name makes it already that much more trusted as a form of value or currency through the eyes of someone who has never heard of Steem Dollars. Comparing that to bitcoin, a currency that has a history of being considered a ponzi-scheme by the misinformed public and making some unfavorable headlines in the media over the last seven or so years.
How Soon is Soon?
It's impossible to predict exactly when, there are countless amounts of factors to consider. Personally I would say around the time of the next stock market, real estate, and government bond crash people will start to loose trust in their "trusted" greedy banks and re-think their whole schema of how money and personal banks work. The next inevitable crash will cause catalytic change in how the western world views the worth of government issued currency and will in turn cause them to try secure their own personal assets by turning to crypto-currencies such as bitcoin and even Steem Dollars.
We are witnessing such adaptations at our horizons already, Lamborghini among other companies are allowing customers to purchase their products through bitcoin since a few years now, but who is to say that Steem Dollars, Ethereum, and other crypto-currencies are off of the table? Days like these are a few year countdowns away from becoming a reality. We live in such exciting times and we can almost certainly expect a pivotal change in currency within the next 10 years.
Sincerely,
@Pryce
can't find @Hisnameisollie page
Sorry about that I misspelled his name, missed the third 'l'
https://steemit.com/@hisnameisolllie
I agree. Taking out money out of steemit to buy real life goods is quite a hassle and complicated like the 18-steps-guide clearly shows. I hope there will be easier methods in the future. And until it'll get easier steemit won't become mainstream I think but only serve the small niche of the crypto-users.
Give it time and as soon as the demand arises (as soon as there are more steemitians!) you'll start seeing more and more businesses allowing you to purchase their products with Steem Dollars
Thank you for reading my article, @arian1! I really do appreciate it!