pull down to refresh

For any Bitcoiners that have made it through a couple cycles: did your family/friends that initially ignored you eventually come around to embrace Bitcoin? Do they continue to ignore Bitcoin? If they haven’t come around, has your relationship with them been negatively affected?
I’m concerned with how to navigate this moving forward in my own circle. On one hand I feel like I did the right thing by trying to tell them about how the current monetary system is broken and that Bitcoin is the solution. Part of me regrets ever bringing it up in the first place because nobody is willing to put in any effort to look past the fiat exchange rate of bitcoin.
I will be humble as the Bitcoin thesis plays out, but just looking for guidance how to handle this.
Thank you!
I all but forced my immediate family to buy bitcoin and keep it in cold storage. I bought all of the signing devices they used or that part probably would not have happened. Your position in your family may make this approach impractical.
As for friends, I have got some to buy bitcoin and a couple to even keep it in cold storage. I bought one of them a signing device and was there during set-up otherwise it never would have happened.
Basically all of them have shitcoined except for one but it is hard for me to hold it against them. I did that myself for a few months before going bitcoin only. I am dismayed at a couple of them continuing to "buy the dip" on some truly obvious scams.
Literally no one in my circles has got as excited about Bitcoin as I have. I have long since calmed down so that's okay. There is, however, a gap there I now notice in terms of our ability to connect deeply in some cases. I don't know if that was created by the change in me or we were never really connecting that way, though.
Only advice I have is to stay humble. Try to get curious people to put a small amount in and show them what you can do with self-custody. Until someone has bitcoin in self custody and has recovered their funds using a seed phrase they have no chance of understanding its power. Not realizing this caused me to waste so much time. I really can't stress that last point enough.
reply
that makes a ton of sense, thank you. I think at the end of the day, most people will get curious when NgU (which is what I did), and a small percentage of those people will stick around and study it deeply.
reply
1st world problem. Ask a Nigerian or Argentinian today if they have to work hard to convince their families of bitcoin's usefulness and they'll tell you that everyone can see the benefits immediately. Even the slower ones, since their fiat is losing buying power daily there.
Some people in the 1st world forge ahead and risk social relationships when it's hard to get them to see BTC's benefits. I say don't bother; the 3rd world is coming their way soon enough and they'll understand then.
reply
use bip-85 to generate some wallets for the people you care for and give them a hardware wallet (not the seed) and then forget about it.
they will ignore it and then one day remember your gift and if they lose it you can derive their seed again for them.
reply
that's a good idea, thank you! I'll explore that option. Especially for the kids of close friends/family members- they need someone to stack for them or they won't have a chance
reply
Thanks for sharing and asking.
A few of them have somewhat embraced it (just buying). One of them is using cold storage. Another one asked me last year about the philosophical aspects of it. None of them are as passionate about Bitcoin as I am.
Truth is, most of them don’t care at all. Some of them even ridiculed me. Yes, the relationship with these has been negatively affected and I feel a lot of distance and cannot relate to them. It was upsetting at first, but with time I have learnt to accept the feelings of loneliness. I have come to realize that Bitcoin is not to blame for this; we were already on diverging paths and Bitcoin and the collapse of the system is just accelerating that separation.
Maybe this trend is more obvious in Western countries, because the system provides very comfortable lives for most. People don’t seek liberty; they seek comfort. The system somehow neglected me, so I suppose it was easier for me to see the advantages of Bitcoin.
reply
well said, thank you. It's funny how difficult it is for people in western countries to see since the problem isn't obvious to them.
reply
I never try to force anything or evangelize anyone. I travel my own path and if anyone asks we can then have a thoughtful conversation.
We can agree or disagree, but at the end it is up to each individual to take his own conclusions and make his own decisions.
It is normal for people to be skeptical, not have an informed opinion or have a different opinion.
These things take time, specially fundamental changes to society.
reply
ya, as long as they know who to go to when they become curious- that's about all you can do. You can only orange pill yourself
reply
They are generally not interested. I got a little extra for their kids.
Usually a bull market brings a few questions here & there but if they aren't interested, they won't look into it & therefore won't have any conviction.
So I normally don't mention it until the topic comes up (which is very rare)
reply
ya, admittedly the NgU is what got me to pay attention to it, so im hopeful that the next bull run i'll get some texts/calls- but i'm done evangelizing regardless of the current fiat exchange rate
reply
I've discussed it with several family/friends in 2017 when some of them ridiculed me. The years after that I've continued discussion with some of them. Talking to a lot of people I've learned one thing. That only an extremely small percentage comes around. Of course some of them go on the shitcoin wagon and also stocks.
I've learned to ignore them and not waste my time.
reply
that seems to be the consensus, which is a sad reality. You can't orange pill anyone- they need to orange pill themselves
reply
ладно.. скажуж как это работает... как фиат только сильнее... ты говоришь о том когда это заробатываешь... или мягкие деньги или твердые... так что все просто... нужно заробатывать... остальное придет само... первый кто это понял майнер...
reply
deleted by author
reply