Digital currency bitcoin has shown tremendous growth since its inception. Although mainstream bitcoin adoption still seems to be distant dream, cryptocurrency aficionados believe in its potential. Also, one cannot deny the fact that outlets world over are increasingly adding support for this digital currency.

However, a new research has found that business do not believe bitcoin to become a widely accepted payment method in the future. City A.M. reported that 61 percent respondents to the Smith & William Enterprise Index survey said they did not see the digital currency having a major impact on the major currencies and payment models over the past five years.

Fergus Caheny, a partner in investment management at Smith & Williamson, told the publishing house that bitcoin, which was once touted as the currency of the future, has taken severe hits to its reputation and popularity over recent years.

"Whilst still having its place, as an international currency and within certain sectors, our respondents thought it would fail to become a widely accepted method of payment”, Caheny added.

Various scams, ponzi schemes and frauds have frequently shaken the cryptocurrency ecosystem – Mt. Gox, Coin.mx to name a few. Also, the infamous Silk Road debacle highlighted that how bitcoin was the most preferred payment method for making illegal purchases on the dark Web.

However, figures released by bitcoin payments processor BitPay in February showed that the number of retailers accepting bitcoin has exceeded 100,000 and included Microsoft, Dell and PayPal.

Also, the surge in bitcoin price and market cap is something that is being talked about all over the world. At the time of writing, bitcoin price is at $730 and its market cap has surpassed $12 billion mark. Also, the amount of investments being made into digital currency and blockchain startups also speaks volumes about its potential.

Speaking with City AM, Oliver Carding, founder of CoinJournal, said that the survey results are not that surprising, considering bitcoin’s dented reputation during 2014.

"The fact that bitcoin and blockchain investment continues to grow as it has in the first half of 2016 is a testament to the potential long-term success, especially considering overall tech funding is decreasing”, Carding said. “More mainstream adoption will likely come as the result of larger financial institutions utilising the technology to improve their service for customers."