A quick update on my "orange pilling my friends" journey \ stacker news ~bitcoin

A quick update on my "orange pilling my friends" journey

1817 sats \ 13 comments \ @SpaceHodler 26 Feb bitcoin

For context, my previous post on this topic.

J: I haven't been in touch with her about it, I think she's a lost cause. Too much of a state worshipper.

B: I've shared some quality Bitcoin content with him, but he hasn't really picked up on it. It feels like casting pearls in front of swines.

What's worse (warning: the next paragraph may trigger some people), about a month ago he messaged me with excitement about a Telegram crypto trading group he had just joined. He said that for their trading signals to work, you had to trade on their own exchange, because it had its own prices, and asked me what I thought of it. A quick google search revealed the exchange's domain had only existed for 4 weeks, it was a scam exchange you couldn't withdraw from, and their tokens didn't even exist outside of it. The people in the group were shills posting fake results, but he said "No, they're real people. The group has 400 members and only 2 of them are admins!" I got really peed off that he was so gullible, but didn't convince him it was a scam. He said "It's not a scam and I'm gonna prove it to you by becoming a millionaire in 6 months!" I said "OK, but please don't message me about it anymore. Just let me know in 6 months how it went."

S: I gave him Lyn Alden's "Broken Money" for Christmas. He started reading it and told me it was fascinating. I'm not sure if he's finished it yet or not. The other day I had a chat with him. He said he really wants to buy bitcoin now and needs to prioritize it.

So I guess a win in some way, but at the same time I feel he's dragging his feet for some reason that's beyond my limited understanding of human psychology. It was as though he said it more to make me feel good than as an expression of genuine intent to save himself from fiat slavery. It's not like buying takes more than 5 minutes, and he spends 3-4 days a week sitting at home all day with little to do that I'm aware of (although there is a non-zero possibility that he's busy with something I'm not aware of).

My hunch is that in a year from now he still won't have bought any corn. Instead, he'll again say "I really need to get around to it, thanks for reminding me, I really appreciate it!"

view all related items

374 sats \ 4 replies \ @TwoLargePizzas 27 Feb

You could write a sitcom with these characters.

My only thought is to meet people where they're at. Nobody likes being told what they ought to do but you can often find a problem in their life that relates.

It would also be interesting if you could provide a little more context. Correct me if I'm wrong but if I had to take a wild guess I'd say you're all in your 20s?

Based on your previous post it seems J is interested in making money but is more concerned about losing money. For her I would say it really depends on her current saving habits. If she's got some savings I'd talk to her about price inflation and how her savings are slowly losing purchasing power. Then ask her why she thinks price inflation happens. Try letting her lead the conversation and discover the truth rather than telling her directly.

B is going to get scammed. That seems super obvious. Hopefully he's only going to lose his 'gambling' money. It might be already too late. If I where you I'd be really thinking about how it's going to play out when the shit eventually hits the fan. The problem is he's going to have a hard time admitting he was wrong. It might be best if you just say 'that sucks' and move onto another topic.

It sounds like S just doesn't want to rock the boat. In other words, he's being friendly but doesn't really have much interest in Bitcoin or money in general. If it where me I'd probably just find the easiest possible way to get him some BTC. Send it to him yourself, like $20 worth or something.

Anyway, that's just my 2 sats. I don't know these people so I could the wildly off the mark. Take it with a grain of salt.

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @SpaceHodler OP 27 Feb

Thank you for the thoughtful response.

We're quite a bit older :)

I don't think J is able to save that much, but she got a windfall a few years ago. I wasn't even a bitcoiner back then and suggested putting it into an S&P 500 ETF, but she had some resistance against it, so she left it rotting in the bank. It has probably lost 40% of its purchasing power since then.

Yes, B is going to get scammed. Not his first time, and probably not his last, he doesn't seem to be learning.

I probably care about S the most at this point. As I may have mentioned before, if I sent him some corn he'd probably lose it.

10 sats \ 2 replies \ @TwoLargePizzas 27 Feb

Honestly, I think the key to all of them is long term thinking.

If they really sat down and thought about the next 10 or 20 years of their life what would that look like?

I'm in my mid 40s and I really didn't properly start long term thinking until I turned 40. It was actually the day my dad retired. The moment I started getting rich slow rather than getting rich fast everything turned around.

And if I'm being perfectly honest, it was only a few key decisions that made all the difference.

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @SpaceHodler OP 28 Feb

It may be that, but there is probably more.

I was baffled when he asked me "Does the value of your bitcoin still go up when you hold it in self-custody?" It shows how little he understands.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @TwoLargePizzas 28 Feb

face palm

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei 27 Feb

As a teacher, I can attest to the fact that you can sow seeds. some of them will germinate n bloom whereas others will falter n perish. Such is the nature of life. Just remember that you are doing God’s work. Maybe the timing is not right for S now. But just like how some of my students blossomed years later after I taught them, maybe he will do so too. Just keep doing what you’re doing and leave the rest to God

51 sats \ 5 replies \ @03c43494a9 26 Feb

For S- Maybe try sending a River Link with $20-50 and then tell them to set up a recurring buy?

River link is nice because you can say, here is some free money. Even skeptics will usually download the app for the money.

Getting set up with a recurring buy is nice because they have skin in the game and can watch the number go up, even if only a small amount.

I have two friends set up with this strategy but it remains to be seen how effective it will be.

0 sats \ 4 replies \ @SpaceHodler OP 26 Feb

Thanks. Where I'm based River is not available. S has WoS on his phone, I sent him a symbolic amount a few months ago, but he needs to get set up to stack sats himself.

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @aoeu 27 Feb

https://www.mutinywallet.com/ has gifting too. Works very similar to the River Link. Free if using a self-hosted Mutiny Wallet.

10 sats \ 2 replies \ @03c43494a9 26 Feb

Gotcha. I wonder if you helping him in person with setting up a reoccurring buy on Binance might help. Even though its easy to set up, its probably still intimidating.

10 sats \ 1 reply \ @SpaceHodler OP 26 Feb

It can be intimidating indeed, but I don't know if it's that or something else, maybe it's just him saying one thing and doing another.

I had offered a long time ago to help him get set up, he knows he can ask me anytime.

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @03c43494a9 26 Feb

Yea, it's so hard. Every person is different. Keep up the good work! I'm in the same boat with many of my friends and it can be frustrating.

30 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford 27 Feb

You can lead a horse to water but you can't orange pill them.