As I continue to pile into Bitcoin, I’ve noticed more and more people starting to ask me questions about the technology. I’ve given up my evangelistic approach to cryptocurrency, and I’ve realised that even though I feel this tech will change the world, others don’t, or rather most don’t.
Despite the economic issues we currently have, we live in a world where many people happily see fiat to transact, despite its apparent shortfalls. As I learned more through my research, I become more bullish and realised it doesn’t matter what I say. The protocol will continue to do what it’s meant to do.
In the beginning, I was a bit of a loudmouth, probably to try and prove something to myself that I am making the right decision. No one wants to invest in the wrong thing, so we don’t want to hear the bad news and only push out the good news.
Less talk more stacking
As I continued to buy more BTC and learn more, I became less of a loudmouth; I needed less validation, the chain did that. I’m at this point now where the asset class is too big to fail and will only mature; most tokens will die; that’s a fact; it’s part of doing business.
The crypto space is still a microcap in terms of an asset, and it’s got plenty of upsides and also volatility to weather. So since this is the beginning, it means mistakes aplenty and cost us a little, and we will all make mistakes.
Mine so far was trying to shout off the rooftops about how great this tech is and trying to get people involved. Those who want it or need it will find it, and as long as they know you’re an expert in the space or a user, they’ll eventually seek you out.
As we like to call them normies or no-coiners, I find that the BTC rabbit hole is overwhelming to many, and most don’t care to know everything. We’re never going to have a world full of Bitcoin purists, and you’ll find out how deep you want to go as you continue along.
So what I’ve begun to do with those who ask me about BTC is come up with six steps and see how far they are willing to go.
Learning
The first step is naturally learning, it may not cost them money, but it costs them time. Learn about what it’s about, where to find the price, where to see transactions, where to buy BTC, how to trade fiat for BTC and back and also your wallet options.
The more they learn, the more you can see if this is something that they think is worth their time, and you can lead them further along.
Most people you talk to will stop here, so don’t take it personally and don’t try to fight it. It’s their time and choice; that’s how you got to BTC of your free will, so allow others the same path.
Buying
Of those who take a step further, they most likely want to buy only to sell at a higher price later and get more fiat. Most of those who come to me and ask about Bitcoin want to know how they can make money from it; they’re still mostly going to be fixated on the fiat price and how quickly they can swap in and out of the asset.
If that’s what they want to do, fine, show them the way to custodial exchange, let them know of the dangers of custodial services and then allow them to buy and sell their BTC with these services as they please.
Storing
A tiny few will trickle through to this point; here are those who understand inflation; they’re looking for a hedge and want to have a position in something different. Here you can teach them about custodial wallets, hot wallets, private keys, and how to use them.
Eventually, you can move them on to cold storage or multi-sig solutions to store their BTC, especially if it’s a massive amount they want to invest.
Using
BTC is by no means a dead asset; it’s actually a gateway to the wider crypto world. Once you’ve got a user to store BTC and they would like to see how they can use it. Show them some of the various dapps and projects using BTC and accepting BTC and give them a taste of how you can spend it in this new digital economy.
Earning
Some Bitcoiners may feel they don’t only want to sit on the asset and use it to earn an income. As the DE-FI and CE-FI space heats up, you can take them through all the options on how you can leverage your BTC to earn an income.
Running a node
Most of those you encounter will never get to this point, but I think it’s an important one nonetheless. While mining may be out of the question for all retail miners. However, you can run a node to support the network and provide more privacy and security. Additionally, you can also encourage them to set up a lightning node to help support second-layer scaling solutions.
The rabbit hole runs deep
As you can see, the journey into BTC will be different for everyone, and at some places, people will fall off; that’s natural. As long as those who go the distance help the rest find where they will be most comfortable, then that’s all that matters.
