It's hard to give bitcoin away! \ stacker news ~bitcoin

666 sats \ 13 comments \ @mudbloodvonfrei 29 Jun 2023 bitcoin

SN has really been my first hands-on exposure to Lightning. LN makes it way easier to transfer small amounts of money to people, so I've basically been messaging my friends at random, asking them to install Wallet of Satoshi and give me their address. I figured I'd start off with 30 sats, because it's really a technological breakthrough that I can transfer $0.01 to anyone, anywhere, essentially for free. And then send a bit more after.

I've spoken to ~7 people so far, and only one put in the five minutes of effort. Several people were like "why do you want me to install that app?" or "that app looks sketchy and crypto is a scam".

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35 sats \ 0 replies \ @0000 29 Jun 2023

I wouldn't do it either. You can't just expect people to be on board without proper foundation. You have hundreds of hours to go with an individual before you even reach that point. Try to put yourself in their shoes.

26 sats \ 1 reply \ @OriginalSize 29 Jun 2023

Maybe challenge them instead. Here's a scenario. You go to the store and find that one day the price of everything is 10x. You look at the cash in your wallet, sad that it now buys 1/10th of what it did before. What would you do?

The point is to get them to acknowledge this problem which they may have only gotten hints of by now to see how realistic a scenario it seems. If they think it'll be a problem then you can sell, not give, some Bitcoin to them.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @nymatix 29 Jun 2023

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25 sats \ 1 reply \ @bagel 30 Jun 2023

It’s hard to marry the meat space with the cypher punk ethos. I’ve tried and failed for two years. But I recently got plugged into my local bitcoin meetups and let me tell you. When you meet people in real life that are deep in the space the ideas flow fast and furious. It’s hard to onboard people that aren’t ready. And I’m finally realizing that I can’t force them. When they’re ready bitcoin will be there.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @mudbloodvonfrei OP 1 Jul 2023

Yeah I guess you're right. These are close friends but I guess I gotta let them find their own path.

25 sats \ 0 replies \ @026fc08021 30 Jun 2023

I'd suggest to show them a real use case connected with a Lightning wallet, such as BitRefill. You can show them how easy is to buy a lot of different things using their wallet and their sats. Moreover explain to them the importance to have a custodial wallet, the security connected to it...

25 sats \ 0 replies \ @carlosfandango 30 Jun 2023

When you see money as notes and coins in your pocket or numbers in your bank account it is hard to convince people that ‘magic internet money’ isn’t a Ponzi… especially when they don’t understand how to turn it from sats to cash.

Give a gentle explanation, tell them you are in it for the long haul and you would be happy to talk them through it again in the future. They will encounter other touch points with Bitcoin over the coming months and years and if it is right for them they will return to you for advice. And you can always discuss wider financial matters (ie inflation etc) where you don’t have to mention Bitcoin.

We risk alienating people who could benefit if we repeatedly force it on them.

You could offer me free Reese’s Pieces all day long, tell me how great they are and will save the world but I still wouldn’t take them as I just don’t think I will like them. But maybe one day….

25 sats \ 0 replies \ @nullama 30 Jun 2023

It's not Bitcoin, it's your behavior that comes off as scammy.

If you receive a random message from a friend asking you to install an app to receive money in Bitcoin, which for a nocoiner would sound like crypto, well, yeah, that sounds a bit scammy and most people won't bother doing so.

Instead, if you happen to talk with someone that is interested in how high inflation is, or shows an interest in Bitcoin, you can explain a bit and then you can show them your own sats, etc.

Only after something like that they would be ready to receive sats because at that time they would value it because they understand it.

25 sats \ 0 replies \ @TSW 30 Jun 2023

I just use https://lightsats.com/ and then it is up to them if they want to do the work not. So far this has had a good succes rate. But that is also because I use it for tips or as presents with a higher sats value.

25 sats \ 1 reply \ @siggy47 29 Jun 2023

I think you hit on a great idea. Orange pilling is hard work. 1 out of 7 may seem low to you, but check out how many cold calls have to be made to get one lead. Granted, these are your friends, so the success rate won't be the same, but still. You are just starting. Maybe follow up with a short article on bitcoin? I'm impressed. I may use your strategy myself.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @nymatix 29 Jun 2023

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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @waddytaft 30 Jun 2023

Yes it's hard to give away Bitcoin but Satoshi of 10 ,20 or 30 I can give it to a deserving person.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @nymatix 29 Jun 2023

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