The difference being that most of these students will receive the free bitcoin and hold, hoping they appreciate in value, instead of transacting and contributing to the network effect.
$10 isn't even much to hoard. If the price goes up 10x that's still just $100. This is more like, "Oh, you got our drinks, I'll pay you back in btc!" kind of money.
The myth here is that "people want to spend bitcoin." Just take a look at the bitcoin transaction volume merchants are seeing beyond the first few days.
Are you looking day to day trends? Because if you step back a little you'll see that transactions have done nothing but increase.
We see a decrease since December and otherwise flatlining. And this includes the trading volume that happens on the exchanges which has increased.
Have you actually talked to people who own bitcoin? They want places to spend it.
> Just take a look at the bitcoin transaction volume merchants are seeing beyond the first few days.
This doesn't really mean anything. First-day enthusiasim can't be held as representative of the greater trend. The greater trend being that more merchants are accepting bitcoin over time, and more bitcoin is being spent on real things.