Bitcoin payments will face big challenges heading to brick-and-mortar but it’ll get there

Recent developments associated with Bitcoin, its silver-like sister Litecoin, and other crypto-currencies forced many merchants to start thinking seriously about accepting these digital alternatives to cash and plastic cards. In fact, some businesses already accept Bitcoin. E-commerce merchants were first to accept Bitcoin; however, just as life once emerged from the ocean to the land, Bitcoin is slowly but surely creeping out of its virtual cradle to the real world of brick-and-mortar merchants.

The benefits of crypto-currency for consumers are well known. They provide:

• Limited anonymity, or pseudonymity — your wallet is anonymous, but its address and transaction records are kept public and can be flagged and traced
• Independence from traditional financial institutions — unless you need to exchange your Bitcoins and get back your dollars
• Decentralization — nobody controls the “main switch” or “emergency brake,” unless the open source client software is compromised
• Fast, reliable, and cheap money transfer between any locations in the world