There seems to be a little less excitement surrounding bitcoin over the past few months. The price has been steadily declining since it hit it's peak in November 2013 of $1,145 and transaction volume, which I believe is an incredibly important metric, has been relatively flat over the past few months. Furthermore there seems to be a lot less discussion in the general press about bitcoin. Although I can't quantify that metric the marked drop in bitcoin press and open debate is a little troubling.
I believe that bitcoin is missing the major use case that drives it to the mainstream. Paypal was able revolutionize online payments, but only after they found a very specific use case. It was not until they began to focus specifically on eBay that they were able to recognize the growth they were looking for. Bitcoin faces a similar problem in that it is so unfamiliar to most people that in order to drive mass adoption they need to address a specific problem. The most logical place to me is international remittances. In 2012 there was over $123 billion in remittances sent form the United states to other countries alone. The global market for these types of money transfers is absolutely massive and also suffers from a couple major problems, which bitcoin is uniquely positioned to address.
First is that fact that most citizens in Third World countries do not have access to modern banking, making international money transfers difficult. With the number of smartphones expected to be close to 6 billion by 2020, transferring bitcoin would be much easier than than hard currency.
Second is that fact that the average fee imposed on international remittances is roughly 8.5% but can often be as high as 25%. Even on the low end that is a huge chunk of money that is taken away from some of the poorest people in the world. Again bitcoin is a perfect solution to this problem because the cost to transfer it is close to 0%. While this problem may not touch close to home in the lives of most bitcoin enthusiasts it is certainly a big problem globally. The 8-25% could be the difference between a family in the slums of Mumbai eating for a week or not.
International remittances represents a way for technology to truly change the lives of billions of the poorest people on earth. And although its faces a tough uphill battle I wold love to see more people get behind this specific cause.