At the risk of asking a question based on a popular but imprecise term, at the risk of approving the term by saying it, at the risk of giving the term additional currency, here goes: When does a cryptocurrency reach or surpass a tipping point among consumers?
At what point does a cryptocurrency tip, going from the parochial to the popular, going from a community of enthusiasts—or evangelists, in the inflated rhetoric of business communication—to a countrywide phenomenon or an international fact of life?
Answer: when consumers can buy their favorite items with the cryptocurrency they favor most.
For a brand like Mirai Clinical, an online retailer of Japanese skin care products, the tipping point will come when consumers ask for a payment method that includes crypto.
I cite Mirai because it represents the union of East and West.
The brand celebrates the history of Japan’s artisanal soap makers, who use persimmon extract and other natural ingredients to treat a condition known as nonenal (aging odor), while applying that history by teaching it; giving it shape and texture not only in the form of products, but packaging too; offering an experience on top of an experiential product, since unboxing what Mirai ships is as tactile and impressive as any item the company sells.
When Mirai accepts crypto, currently under consideration—that will be a tipping point.
When that happens, the result will be clear: that crypto appeals to all (or almost all) merchants and consumers, including a discrete but powerful constituency whose influence is strong, whose importance is substantial, whose integrity is supreme.
That constituency knows what it wants.
That constituency buys the best products, based on the best available evidence.
Show that constituency why they should adopt crypto, and they will do so—provided the facts are clear and the proof conclusive.
For example: If a group of consumers can increase name recognition for a good or service, if what that group says or does can further the common good, improving how companies do business, that group can also get more businesses to accept crypto.
Between what consumers do online and how they act offline, between their testimonials and word-of-mouth marketing, they have the ability—they have the credibility—to advance a cause, like treatment of nonenal, or advocate on behalf of a campaign for greater adoption of crypto.
These consumers have the means to win that campaign.
They have the skills to make the case for crypto, highlighting its benefits and explaining its necessity.
They have a voice, as certain in its sound as it is in the soundness of its convictions.
They have a voice—they have a message—we must not ignore. Not if we want crypto to flourish, gaining acceptance from the largest retailers and the most prestigious brands, gaining value that no critic can gainsay after reviewing the facts, gaining adoption at a rate no opponent can deny.
Let us listen to that voice, so we may follow its recommendations and profit from its advice.
