I have always heard from old school bitcoiners that they like bear markets more than bull markets. I never understood why. Now I do. Things are getting crazy. New accounts on SN, for instance. Many good, but plenty of spammy bots and NGU newbies too. That's okay. I'll adjust.
What is really driving me nuts, though, are family and friends suddenly showing interest in bitcoin. These same people were laughing at me during the recent bear market. I'll go through the motions of orange pilling them, but I know they're only in it for fiat profits. I'd almost rather start fresh with a stranger than try to convince people again who wouldn't listen a year or two ago. Sorry. Just a little complaining on a cold morning.
Do not let that become a chip on your shoulder. Everyone will become more interested when things align for them to do so. I was in Bitcoin for a long time before everything clicked. Don't be in a rush. Have patience. You also place too much power on why someone is in Bitcoin. Why should it matter? If they see that it can benefit them either long term or even short term then who are any of us to gate keep that? Just because Bitcoin is not used in the exact way you want, or people don't understand it in the exact way you do does not mean you should give up on their path to understanding it.
I don't understand why so many Bitcoiner's want to take the path of being so jaded. Is your goal to get people using Bitcoin or not? Did you contribute to Bitcoins yearly growth in adoption or not? Those are the only two things that actually matter in any of this. Not why someone uses Bitcoin or if they are a maxi and not if someone hodl's. Literally not relevant to Bitcoins adoption.
Bitcoiners are going to have a real difficult time accepting people who don't care about being sovereign and don't care about self custody, but you're going to have to accept those people to. After all, Bitcoin is for everyone.
tl/dr none of your business why someone is motivated to learn about Bitcoin now. Take the opportunity and be an educator or sit in silence.
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Take the opportunity and be an educator or sit in silence.
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Most people in this thread are agreeing with op. It is just crazy to me that a group of people who desire to be self sovereign are attempting to impose their ideas of how everyone should be sovereign. When those ideas don't align they get mad and try to impose authority over someone or write them off entirely. Ostracized from the group because you are different. That is tribalism.
Do you want to be in Bitcoin because you believe in it or because you have nowhere else in life you feel like you belong? All of you are just going to give up the second someone's interest does not align to yours?
That is crazy and to me is just a sign of a weak human. A challenge comes your way and you run? Where is your appetite?
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The thing is even fomo-ing the top of any cycle will still be worth it on a 10-year time frame- if they take take self custody and start to learn what Bitcoin really is
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Haha!! Yep.
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Lol. We’re not even in a bull market yet.
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Lots of folks emerging from the past with "so, howz your Bitcoin Kate" and have the false assumption I must have hot tips how to invest....
I respond with...What is money? and send them to 21lessons.com and tell them to get back to me once they have read it.
If I experience too much friction I use this: “If you don't believe me or don't get it, I don't have time to try to convince you, sorry.” ― Satoshi Nakamoto
I'm not here to fucking cajole you into why it makes sense - show some proof of work and do your own due diligence.
There are many folks that have a freedom orientation that need help and welcome it - I'm here for you!
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This, I'm just going to tell them what books and podcasts I recommend.
I am just a pleb who did some proof of work. I can't explain what I've read in multiple books or heard on multiple podcasts to you.
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My wifes friend mentioned something about bitcoin being dead :)
In a couple of months my friends and family will start calling me a genius, and then a year or two later i'll go back to being a retard.
And the cycle continues......Cant make this stuff up folks.
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So true. I swear it’s like everyone has amnesia. Hypnotized…
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Its a combination of things I think. The first one is short attention span. The second is what Ayn Rand called second handers.
That, precisely, is the deadliness of second-handers. They have no concern for facts, ideas, work. They're concerned only with people. They don't ask: 'Is this true?' They ask: 'Is this what others think is true?' Not to judge, but to repeat. Not to do, but to give the impression of doing. Not creation, but show. Not ability, but friendship. Not merit, but pull. What would happen to the world without those who do, think, work, produce? Those are the egotists. You don't think through another's brain and you don't work through another's hands. When you suspend your faculty of independent judgment, you suspend consciousness. To stop consciousness is to stop life.
~ Ayn Rand, The Fountainhead
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That sums it up!
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Bitcoin meetups are WAY better in the bear seasons. The philosophers come out.
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I'm trying to keep up with replies while following my wife through Costco wheeling a giant cart. Holiday food shopping. She keeps telling me to "get off that stupid bitcoin app and pay attention." So my responses may be a little sub par. I'm multitasking.
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I’d be interested to see a chart that plots sats zapped on SN against price per BTC over time. Makes me wonder if folks will get more stingy with their zaps as the fiat value increases
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And we will be able to answer that question :)
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How have you changed in your approach to these various people after having been through a bunch of these cycles?
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I have only been around since 18, and I wasn't really focused on orange pilling until recently. I think @DarthCoin or some other OG's might be more qualified to answer this. I would be interested too.
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I "survived" 3 halvings and the new one is getting really close...
The first halving was a real shock for me because I was mining too and seeing in real time how your rewards are getting cut in half is a real harsh feeling.
Then I start learning more about many aspects of Bitcoin and taking notes and saving a lot of documentation pages.
Seeing people ignoring BTC was quite astonishing for me, meanwhile I was devouring anything I could reading about Bitcoin. Indeed people were always looking to price and trading shit, but that part never interested me. I just accumulated BTC at any price, all the time, whenever I had some spare money.
After the 2nd halving survival I realized that is time for me to start earning more BTC and not buying it anymore. Again those times was really hard.
This time I saw that many people were making only noise and do not help in any way Bitcoin adoption. And yes, the hype was related with price peaks and was really annoying because you couldn't read some important news in the plethora of bullshit about price and trading.
After the 3rd halving survival this noise was accelerated. When was some big dips, was a relief for me, because I could concentrate better into writing guides and help others.
Now I am a bit concerned about this halving that is coming, because is an important one, we have LN now and taproot and other goodies, but people are still in a hype mode a lot. We will see much more noise after this halving. So be prepared. Go deep into learning and reading more Bitcoin documentation.
Staying online is a nightmare in these hype seasons!
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but I know they're only in it for fiat profits.
Weren't most of us only in it for fiat profits at the beginning?
I know how you feel, especially about this:
I'd almost rather start fresh with a stranger than try to convince people again who wouldn't listen a year or two ago.
I'll probably feel the same way when friends and family start approaching me.
But I try to keep in mind that's how my journey started, too.
I think the urge to say "Told you so" is strong in all humans but we need to stay humble :)
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I was definitely like that, and five years ago isn't such a long time either.
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I get the feeling.
Having said that, I personally don't find it that bad when people join only for fiat profits. It's obviously a wrong mindset and a proof of ignorance, but then I remember that I started out being just like them and completely changed along the way. So I guess the important thing might be to leverage that bait, take them by the hand and use the opportunity to put them in the right path.
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You're right. I think I over reacted in making this post. It was the result of an irritating conversation with an old friend.
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I still didnt have friends asking me about Bitcoin ... still early ... how early? when I tell people
"I work in BTC mining space" .... they give me a shocked look (get a proper career bruh!) "I do Bitcoin workshops" .... another strange look (scammer type) "I run a podcast on Money & Bitcoin "... and another (why money, why waste your life on Bitcoin)
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This puts things in perspective for me.
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Truth. I really liked the bear market. Almost makes me hope we stay in it for just a little longer
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I keep watching my paycheck go down in BTC every week when it's on an up-tick and I'm like, "no, stop going down $USD!"
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The bear market is when you get a high signal to noise ratio. The real bitcoiners are excited about buying at lower prices, the transients are nowhere to be seen!
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The look of confusion when you reiterate to them that you couldn’t care less about the price
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Only the real bitcoiners stick around during bear markets.
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100% I feel like I’m a true Bitcoiner now, that and self custody in cold storage
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I never understood why. Now I do
When you want to buy more and look at the price.. Mehhh
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Yeah. That's no fun either. You discover you never have enough bitcoin.
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never...
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I'm new here, but been around the Bitcoin scene since 2015. I just haven't gotten around to utilizing this place yet. Figured now was as good a time as ever. But yeah, I've also learned to love the bear markets. 👍
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Good to have you here. Your experience is an asset.
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Thank you so much! Bitcoin is great because it brought all of us plebs together. Our shared interest in fixing the money will be unstoppable soon! Gradually then suddenly! 💪
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Yep. The bear market is peaceful, quite and has a good signal to noise ratio. The bull market gets crazy. This is only the beginning. It gets much, much crazier. Honestly, I like them both. Sit back, keep stacking and enjoy the ride.
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Right there with ya.
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Damn, I'd love for more people to ask me to help them understand Bitcoin, for any reason!
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Keep in mind, the people I am referring to are ones who I have talked about bitcoin with for at least a year or two.
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I love this post! I got in Bitcoin in the spring of 2021 at the top. I’ve grown my conviction never selling a sat and am looking forward to my first halving. None of my family or friends get it yet unfortunately
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Similar to my experience. I bought the first month of 2018, then sat hunched in my bunker for 2 1/2 years gradually learning.
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And I’ve DCA’d since and brought down my cost basis big time! I know there is a thread in DCAing now lol
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I know right?
My family would shout "SCAM!" the moment they hear the word "Bitcoin", now they ask me to do "but and sell" with fiat to earn more.
Of course I replied with "No way!", my money, my rules.
They're free to do what they want, on their own of course.
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Me too,my wife used to laugh at me but now she's interested
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Another great lesson I learned from my tutor. He must have gone through SN.
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👍 bear market is for building.
Tell all those people that come back to you in the bull that they haven't done the PoW - they should NOT buy.
Tell them to earn it or mine it. 🌽
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Touch points are what it's all about, that's how I've orange pilled most. Repeated and variety of exposure. See it, hear it, touch it and feel it. Most only hear things, doesnt really work except for those rare single conversation cases.
the bull run is a very strong single signal that they should get involved
this..No matter what the orange piller or the potential orange pillee respectively think and say..the price matters (and ONLY matters in this case) to serve as a barometer for real "truth".
Why does the price keep on rising? That's the foundation you have to work within, otherwise anyone can endlessly delude themselves to think whatever they like about bitcoin, although some do still seem to be okay with repeating "BUBBLE" after every 10x.
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Im sure you're right. It took me a few touch points to buy. You know, I wasn't fully on board during my first bear market (2018), but rather than sell I kept what I had and waded through. It's not easy.
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