The decision to use Bitcoin or not varies from individual to individual and is highly dependant on circumstances. Most people that live in first world nations have a high degree of access to the financial system that offers them banking services and international trade and investment opportunities. Yet, a vast number of the world’s population has no access to these services and this limits their opportunities to trade and to achieve financial inclusion.
The internet has made it easier for international trade to occur from all parts of the globe and Bitcoin along with other Cryptocurrencies are seen as a way for improving international transactions, once the domain of middlemen and brokers that all extract fees.
The fact that the blockchain operates at all times of the day and is not dependant on business hours, weekends and international time zones makes it ideal as a money to be used for the internet and international trade. International transactions are settled within minutes and not days, anyone with basic computing or mobile devices and access to the internet can get involved. Once payments are entered into the blockchain they can no longer be reversed which reduces the rates of fraud that occur with international trade.
Bitcoin is also being used for remittances from migrant workers to their families back home, saving them time and exorbitant charges that traditional remittance workers used to levy on these payments, especially when they are sent to the poorest third world nations. These are the very same nations where banks only service wealthy customers and where bank accounts have higher maintenance fees than mobile phone bills, allowing the unbanked to have access to services they are typically not offered.
Charities, non-for profits, and activist organizations are increasingly finding new use cases for censorship-resistant money. In economies where the local currency is collapsing, families are increasingly turning to Bitcoin and other Cryptocurrencies for maintaining their savings and hedging against rapid deflation.
Each day, more and more people are discovering new use cases for Bitcoin, a permissionless payment and wealth storage money system that cannot be censored or confiscated at a border.