Yesterday, I had an interesting experience at Steak ’n Shake. I paid using Bitcoin. It’s exciting to see mainstream businesses starting to adopt this technology. But it also raises an important question: Will people actually spend Bitcoin to pay for everyday things?
Right now, Bitcoin’s primary value proposition seems to be as a store of value—a hedge against inflation and the weaknesses of fiat currency. It’s grown significantly in that role over the past few years. So for many, spending Bitcoin feels counterintuitive; why use a potentially appreciating asset to buy fast food or coffee?
That thought stayed with me today while I was at the park with my kids. I saw a group of young children running a lemonade stand—classic, simple entrepreneurship. And I started wondering: if those kids wanted to accept Bitcoin, what would that look like? Right now, it probably wouldn’t make much sense. Not enough people would be willing to pay that way. But imagine fast-forwarding a few years, when Bitcoin is more widely accepted and the dollar has lost even more of its purchasing power.
At some point, there will be a tipping point—a moment when people stop seeing Bitcoin as “the thing you hold” and start viewing it as “the thing you use.” I used to think that shift would be gradual, but the nature of exponential change suggests it might be sudden and surprising.
Those of us who are deep in this space don’t really question if this transition will happen. The real question is how it will unfold. And that’s what makes watching moments like a fast food chain accepting Lightning—or a kid’s lemonade stand considering crypto payments—so fascinating. They’re tiny glimpses into a very different future that may arrive faster than most expect.
John Christensen /
npub1m4…wwe7f
2025-05-17 17:30:59
in reply to nevent1q…lnlc
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2025-05-17 17:30:59Event JSON
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