Here's some of the reasons I think bitcoiners keep their coins in exchanges or ETFs.
- Trust in institutions. People trust the government, they trust banks and exchanges. This means they haven't studied history, but that's the way it is.
- They want to, but have heard the horror stories about losing seed phrases, or making a mistake in a send, and "poof", all your bitcoin is gone.
- They're afraid of the new technology. And for lots of people, ANY new technology is hard - too hard to actually use.
I have had a few older people take the workshops I've been giving, going through my book Bitcoin, Hands-On, that I've worried about, in terms of self-custody, and thought it's probably too much for them.
And while I do help them, I also nudge them to involve their kids in bitcoin, so there's someone else who will learn it. They're just not technical enough.
In my book, I have an analogy between learning how to self-custody bitcoin, and learning to drive.
When you’re learning to drive a car, do you immediately start driving on the highway? No, you don’t. You head to a large parking lot, and practice driving there. You make a lot of left turns and right turns, starts and stops. That’s what you’ll be doing in Bitcoin, Hands-On—lots of practice, in a low-risk environment. Working your way through this book will help you overcome the anxiety that can come with managing your own bitcoin. The exercises use a few temporary, small test wallets, that you create and control. This is the Bitcoin equivalent of taking your first drive in a parking lot, to learn about the steering wheel, gas pedal, and brake.
And I think that when/if holding your own bitcoin is looked upon as being as important as driving, then YES, people will learn.
People: