Disadvantages and Barriers

Abstract

Bitcoins can be lost, misplaced, or stolen. Once the digital file is gone the value of the Bitcoins cannot be recovered. Bitcoin purchases are final and irreversible which is often negative for consumers. The network contains no anti-money laundering software and does not permit monitoring of customer accounts in order to identify suspicious cash flows and patterns which may indicate criminal activity. A large barrier to entry in the American consumer marketplace is trust. For Bitcoin to succeed on a large commercial scale in the United States the transaction and settlement experience for American Bitcoin merchants needs to be much more streamlined and certain.