I have a friend I've tried orange-pilling before, bit he wasn't ready, so I didn't insist.
However, he seems more interested now. His Bitcoin experience is limited to buying a small amount of corn on Binance and forgetting about it for a few years. About 2 years ago he told me the phone he had Binance on was broken, he had moved to a new phone and asked me if I could help him regain access to his account (for which he couldn't remember his password) so he could sell it.
That was a facepalm / blood curdling moment for me, even though I didn't show it. I was at the stage of self-custodying my corn in cold storage, with the seed phrase engraved on steel plates and a passphrase, and here he is, losing access to his Binance IOUs he believes to be bitcoin just because he can't remember his password...
Now, he mostly sees Bitcoin as a way to get rich. That's understandable, but I'd like to show him that Bitcoin is much more than that. He is 'awake' to the fact the current system is broken and is a bit of a conspiracy theorist, perhaps too indiscriminately and without enough critical thinking.
I have a technical background and am fascinated by how Bitcoin works, the blockchain, mining, signatures, the UTXO model etc. But I don't want to overwhelm him with all that just yet. He doesn't even use a desktop or laptop, only a smartphone. And I'm afraid self-custody is something he's not ready for yet.
I was thinking I could start with LN. He could install WoS and I'd show him some cool, practical stuff, like send him some sats using QR codes, using amounts small enough that even if he loses it all it won't matter. To show him the use cases and simplicity before getting into the theory. (FYI I'm running a full Bitcoin node and Electrs, but not a lightning node, so can't be an LN Uncle Jim)
What do you guys think? Can you suggest other concepts that are good for the first few lessons, or content, like articles or video, preferably ones that don't require a long attention span? I have a lot I'd happily share with him, buy it's too much for his (for now) moderate level of interest and willingness to engage.
Last Sunday I got one of my frens into Bitcoin for the first time. I bought a gaming chair from him and paid him with sats. The easiest and fastest thing I thought at the time was to have him download WoS, the most popular and transfered him the Sats. Since then, he's been so curious about it and keeps asking me for more info (more orange pills 🤣) The easiest thing for me to do is to share @DarthCoin guidelines' links... he will eventually find his path and will learn at his on phase... I saw him yesterday and he told me, did you know that Bluewallet is better than WoS? Lol I really felt so proud of myself👨‍🎨
If you're gonna use wos try blink.sv, imo is way better, and wos has already a too big market share
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Very good point! And you can even install it without any google shit services, directly the apk https://github.com/GaloyMoney/galoy-mobile/releases/tag/beta-2.2.125
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Thanks, I didn't know about it, will check it out.
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Help him with LN custodial as a first step ( most people should not clog onchain with small tx ) onboard him by showing various lightning apps he would potentially interested ( fountain, stacker news, fold maybe or anything )
Self-custodial would be pain in the ass for first-learner. I can't give you much since i've yet be able to onboard anyone🥲
Help them with cex that support LN ( Kraken, Bitfinex or Binance ). Would be a long way to introduce him to P2P markets like Bisq or Robosats
After one month show them rugpull of the past to spark his interest in self-custodying his own stack. Phoenix is good since it's not that complex & ACINQ already take care of the user's SCB
Start with NGU narrative maybe help ( it's gold that can teleport anyway ). Once enough people adopt Bitcoin then using it as a medium of exchange would be instant-click
:)
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Fun fact: I don't have any tech background, yet I learned how to run nodes and built my own cold wallets. I think too much focus on the tech side keeps most people from learning Bitcoin.
Keep it fun and practical is the way: Bitcoin is freedom money.
Can you suggest other concepts that are good for the first few lessons, or content, like articles or video, preferably ones that don't require a long attention span?
Maybe try to find out what problem in his life Bitcoin could help to solve? e.g. does he always need to do international transfers, or is he suffering from inflation etc.
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He is surely suffering from inflation and has some anxiety about his financial future. As for international payments, it's harder, because I don't think he knows any people abroad who would be happy to accept sats.
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Nobody is ready to be orange pilled. In fact the first time you talk to someone about Bitcoin, that's the first pill you actually give them, and some folks take a while to swallow it.
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With the seed words engraved in steel, what is a recommended way to save the passphrase? Also in steel?
And ofcourse not only one copy, so 2x seed words in steel and 2x passphrase in steel should be safe?
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Bitcoin requires fertile ground, your friend’s not ready yet.
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What makes you think that? Is it because he mostly sees it as a way to make money? If so, isn't that how most people get into it? "Came to Bitcoin for the money, stayed for the freedom" or something along these lines.
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Go slow!
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Qr code payment are the fastest way to facilitate Lightning payment which is one of the network's biggest value
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The option you suggested is okay for a beginner but nothing beats when they learn on their own
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