Maybe All you Need is to Ask - Do you Accept Bitcoin? ⚡️ ( Part III ) \ stacker news ~bitcoin

Maybe All you Need is to Ask - Do you Accept Bitcoin? ⚡️ ( Part III )

5218 sats \ 30 comments \ @Natalia 21 Mar bitcoin

Recently, I managed to pill one of the Airbnb hosts—it wasn't easy, but it was so worth it because I could come back anytime and pay in sats now.

The Art of Using Airbnb

As many of you might already know, I'm a nomad, and I usually book accommodations on Airbnb when I'm out exploring. And here is one of my hacks: I only book the first 1-2 days of the trip. If I like the place, I extend; if I don't like it, I find a new place. I like being flexible and definitely don't want to be stuck at somewhere I don't enjoy.

Another hack is I always ask for ways to contact the hosts outside of Airbnb after I pay for the initial days and keep the good hosts' contacts. If I happen to go back to that place, then I just text them and say I would like to come back and stay again, and then we discuss how the payment works between us; Airbnb already served its purpose of connecting, but after we are connected, it has done its job and got paid for that—everything that happens next is private, and nobody needs to know anything, but many people don't understand the meaning of public and private...

My Pilling Experience

I returned to somewhere I had stayed before lately, and all I did was message the host, reserve the time and agree on the price. Then, as I mentioned here, I don't have much fiat with me, so I used the same strategy again—I asked the host if I could pay in Bitcoin.

At first, he said no because the house is his parents and they are old and don't quite understand Bitcoin, blah blah, and would prefer cash. ( The first ask failed. ) But after a week, I decided to extend the stay, and I just asked again and said I don't have enough Lira with me, how about I pay you in Bitcoin? He still said no and didn't mind waiting for me to exchange. ( The second ask failed. )

After that week, I decided to extend for two more days due to weather reasons, so I asked again, do you want to try accepting Bitcoin? All it takes is two minutes, and so much easier! Actually, during that entire week, I learned something interesting, and I saw my opportunity — there is a new Airbnb policy in Turkey. Basically, anyone who wants to continue doing Airbnb needs to apply for a license and pay extra tax, and dat is my chance! I guess he probably doesn't want to bother with that, so I just said Bitcoin easily solved this problem, and you can even accept it with other old guests, and not to mention the inflation! He was intrigued, so I guided him to download Blink and showed him how to send and receive, and voila! Now, I can pay in sats whenever I come back. 👀

But something interesting I've noticed is whenever I pill someone new, they always ask how they can sell it back to fiat, and then I would just say why would you even want to sell the best money?! The goal is to use them directly like what I'm doing now. But okay, I'm fine showing them how to exchange with fiat too, they are free to do whatever they want with their money after all...

Easy Pilling Strategy

Try with a simple ASK.
Keep trying and be patient, but only for the ones who are worth it, especially those you need to contact from time to time.
Spot the pain points of others and show how Bitcoin can help with that!

Did you learn any new hacks on pilling others? 🤓

view all related items

171 sats \ 0 replies \ @WeAreAllSatoshi 21 Mar

Airbnb already served its purpose of connecting, but after we are connected, it has done its job and got paid for that—everything that happens next is private, and nobody needs to know anything, but many people don't understand the meaning of public and private...

I have never hosted on Airbnb but I assumed there was some kind of liability insurance made available when using the service. I think this is a very plausible and reasonable justification for hosts to want to continue using the platform for providing rental services

142 sats \ 4 replies \ @0xbitcoiner 21 Mar

Airbnb already served its purpose of connecting, but after we are connected, it has done its job and got paid for that—everything that happens next is private, and nobody needs to know anything, but many people don't understand the meaning of public and private...

Whenever possible, I do this when I go on vacation. The amazing thing is that I've had situations where the landlord didn't want to do it privately, but I respected that, of course.

they always ask how they can sell it back to fiat, and then I would just say why would you even want to sell the best money?! The goal is to use them directly like what I'm doing now. But okay, I'm fine showing them how to exchange with fiat too, they are free to do whatever they want with their money after all...

The important thing is for people to know what they are doing and to be aware of it. Hiding or deceiving is not good, neither for you nor for Bitcoin.

Congratulations on the post, it is really enriching.

85 sats \ 3 replies \ @Natalia OP 21 Mar

The amazing thing is that I've had situations where the landlord didn't want to do it privately, but I respected that, of course.

yes, I met a few too, but most of them were in Europe. 👀 I was amazed by how funny it is because they got benefits too when doing it in private! why someone would say no to such mutually beneficial approach?

21 sats \ 2 replies \ @0xbitcoiner 21 Mar

I believe this type of behavior has a lot to do with cultural factors. In Latin Europe, you still find many people who prefer to go the private route, I would say it's about 50/50. I'm not sure about Eastern Europe, but my perception is that they tend to prefer to do it privately as well. However, if you go to Northern Europe, you will find a culture where 90% want to comply with the government's law. The key word here is RESPECT for each individual's decision.

16 sats \ 1 reply \ @Natalia OP 21 Mar

The key word here is RESPECT for each individual's decision.

agree dis, but I'm not sure how much it's about cultural factors, maybe more like telling how "well" the local government is doing too? 👀

33 sats \ 0 replies \ @0xbitcoiner 21 Mar

I said it's one of the main reasons, and it's not just because of cultural factors. The government governs, but the people decide whether or not to comply. It's that simple.

97 sats \ 1 reply \ @kepford 21 Mar

Yes! I'm often to pessimistic in my thinking. I think there's no way they will say yes. I need to get better about asking.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Natalia OP 21 Mar

oh there's is, keep trying!

64 sats \ 1 reply \ @satoshiplanet 21 Mar

Be natural, nonchalantly n use few words, when is time to pay, just ask... bitcoin wallet or fiat?

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @Natalia OP 21 Mar

yes, just ask, and what's the worst thing that can happen? but the up side is both happy:)

122 sats \ 3 replies \ @StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears 21 Mar

Love how polite persistence here (along with Turkish tax laws) helped wear him down!

On the subject of converting to fiat, I think it serves as a (perceived) safety net or training wheels, so for folks just dipping their toes in and still not 100% convinced of the utility of BTC, being able to easily convert it to fiat makes them more willing to give it a try. Then they're on board and just like a kid riding a bike, they soon find they can leave the training wheels/fiat behind.

32 sats \ 2 replies \ @Natalia OP 21 Mar

me keep trying until it works. 🤓

Then they're on board and just like a kid riding a bike, they soon find they can leave the training wheels/fiat behind.

good analogy!

But then it's quite tricky - they also prefer those KYCed exchanges instead of HODLHODL / robosats, especially BTCturk or Binance are way more well-known in Turkey.

I took these photos at the airport and many similar ads around some of the major cities too.

33 sats \ 1 reply \ @StillStackinAfterAllTheseYears 21 Mar

I see Bitcoin ETF ads all over the place here; I think the nature of the businesses means that only KYC ones (exchanges, ETFs, etc) are really going to advertise, but that does help raise awareness (I hope). Then we have to convince people to take the next step.

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @Natalia OP 21 Mar

but that does help raise awareness (I hope)

it does, but I think it really takes certain experiences for people to put the trigger to learn about Bitcoin deeper, but the inflation here is def a good "help".

121 sats \ 1 reply \ @DarthCoin 21 Mar

Excellent. Nice and steady.

100 sats \ 0 replies \ @Natalia OP 21 Mar

and only pill the ones that worth it. 👀

90 sats \ 1 reply \ @carlosfandango 21 Mar

deleted by author

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @Natalia OP 22 Mar

there are other ones, but it's the same strategy! 👀

210 sats \ 1 reply \ @m00ninite 21 Mar

My most recent ask was painless. There's a guy online that repairs 1st Gen HomePods (and will dye them cool colors, too!). He listed what he accepts, but bitcoin wasn't on the list. I simply asked and he was like "hey I've actually been in crypto for a while and never thought of accepting bitcoin". A few days and a simple transaction later and my homepod is back at home working as good as it ever was :)

Edit: might as well shout him out while I'm here. If you have a homepod on the fritz or just want it dyed a cool color, check him out http://nicsfix.com/

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Natalia OP 21 Mar

wooohoooo!

I think it's gonna become easier and easier pilling others, especially when more Bitcoiners start to ask!

33 sats \ 0 replies \ @BitcoinIsTheFuture 21 Mar

Yes this is the new system!

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bitcoinisawesome 21 Mar

Natalia! Great job. You are expanding the bitcoin network with every newcomer and it’s so important that those newcomers are using safe practices and are informed on why/how bitcoin.

Your work is equally as important as dev work, new bitcoin business, all of it. We need people like you creating MORE people like you, and you’re just straight up DOING IT!!! Many thanks for your effort

10 sats \ 2 replies \ @DiedOnTitan 22 Mar

Nice post Natalia. One distinction I would draw is that I have also been successful paying in Bitcoin and getting someone set up with a wallet for the first time, but this is different than orange pilling. To me, orange pilling means that you have shown someone the Bitcoin light, that there is an entirely new monetary system that replaces fiat because it cannot be inflated. The newly pilled pleb then starts the long journey of reading, listening to podcasts, and eventually running their own node. Paying in Bitcoin transactionally can lead to orange pilling - and it sounds like you might have planted a good orange seed, but paying with Bitcoin only for it to get converted immediately to fiat is not quite enough.

37 sats \ 1 reply \ @DarthCoin 22 Mar

Important is that they did the first step, the hardest one.

And Natalia helped them to do that 1st step in a most elegant way: earn them, not buying BTC. Once they've done that 1st step, it will come also the education and all that stuff and I am sure Natalia will take care about.

As I explained in many guides:

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @DiedOnTitan 22 Mar

Very true.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Taurus 25 Mar

I orange pilled some shops just by asking to pay with Btc in a serious way. But then if there is no more demand they stop accepting it, logical

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @fiatbad 22 Mar

People living paycheck-to-paycheck are going to approach it differently. Their only concern is paying the next bill, which they know can't be paid with Bitcoin.

They should learn about how unethical the dollar is, and move their family to El Salvador so they can pay their bills with Bitcoin. But that's a big ask.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Coinsreporter 22 Mar

I've been trying it with one of my neighborhood friends. I have already asked him 10 times to come and join SN but he is a lazy guy. He says, he is interested, he fixes the meeting time as well then bunks it. 😜

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @rafaelasprilla334 21 Mar freebie

From time to time there are people who are interested when you want to pay them with Bitcoin and other times people who reject it. también hay personas que an escuchado de Bitcoin y no lo entienden pero cuando le cuentas tú experiencia ya se an tomado la píldora naranja

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @arrivederci 22 Mar

Just as an indication of a somewhat different mindset, I have zero interest in 'converting'¹ anyone to using or receiving Bitcoin. I am not evangelical and dislike it when evangelism is tried on me. Or, if you want to phrase it differently, I dislike attempts to influence me or 'sell' things to me, and so I don't try either of these things on other people. Of course, ppl do influence me and I presume I influence others, but that is by the (genuine) example they set and by the behaviour they (genuinely) model as they go about their lives, and not because they are thinking about how to influence others.

I would certainly ask merchants and service providers whether they take Bitcoin, and would answer questions (with positivity) about Bitcoin if they asked why they should accept it, but again, I have zero interest in actively trying to convince them.

My own interest in and conviction about the soundness of Bitcoin came from hearing about it, thinking it sounded interesting (the very first time I heard of it) and then going and researching it for myself. And in the early days yes, I did talk to friends & family about it with enthusiasm but now consider that a mistake (should have kept my interest private).

I don't mean that we should keep Bitcoin secret, far from it. Certainly we should provide information and education about it, and produce podcasts and explanatory videos and so on. That's all very good. But that information should be there for ppl who already have some interest (even if it's just an initial spark), and not as material to 'convert the heathens'.

I've used the ordinary English word here rather than 'orange pilling' because I consider having a special term for conversion just another indication of evangelical zeal, and frankly a bit cringe. ↩

The Art of Using Airbnb

My Pilling Experience

Easy Pilling Strategy

Footnotes