reply on: Get started with Bitcoin circular economies \ stacker news ~bitcoin

653 sats \ 7 replies \ @deleted231216 OP 6 Sep 2022 \ parent \ on: Get started with Bitcoin circular economies bitcoin

Thanks for the feedback. :)

IMO there are 2 groups:

Bitcoiners who hodl but don't use Bitcoin as a payment method.
Small businesses and individuals who are currently using credit cards or Paypal.

(Corporations and nation-states aren't included as a 3rd group, because they are unlikely to adopt Bitcoin in an inclusive (= KYC-free), self-sovereign and private way. Instead they are more likely to use walled-garden KYC payment gateways such as Strike and Bitpay, which require government ID even for small amounts (e.g. an electronics store that uses Bitpay would require ID even to buy 20€ headphones), and are no different than the existing surveilled and censored banking system.)

Regarding the 2 groups, I think it would be easier to convince hodlers, as they are already familiar with Bitcoin. The difficulty is to market Bitcoin as a payment method, not only a store of value or investment. "Spend and replace" as a strategy could help people who are worried about "selling" their Bitcoin. For the ideological Bitcoiners: Satoshi invented Bitcoin as peer-to-peer electronic cash (not gold) and an early version of Bitcoin included a peer-to-peer marketplace (https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/ejvhri/how_bitcoin_looked_11_years_ago/), so circular economies are a core part of Bitcoin's ethos. For people who are worried about "taxable events", KYC-free exchanges, payment gateways and marketplaces solve this. An active "Bitcoin Craigslist" would help to provide a range of products and services for Bitcoin, as well as Bitcoiners who accept Bitcoin in their day jobs (e.g. construction, farming, retail, healthcare, real estate) and convince their favorite businesses to do the same.

For small businesses, there are many benefits of accepting Bitcoin (privacy, low fees, no risk of fraud, counterfeits or seizures, etc.) but many businesses may need to withdraw Bitcoin to fiat in order to pay bills and suppliers. Maybe a Bitcoiner or even a local Bitcoin meetup could help to exchange some of the business's earned Bitcoin to cash. Local Bitcoin meetups could also provide free onboarding to teach interested businesses how to setup a mobile wallet, process payments and exchange Bitcoin to fiat (if needed for bills/suppliers). https://oshi.tech is also a great initiative (customers enjoy rewards when paying with Bitcoin and businesses enjoy easy onboarding and free advertising).

Some additional "Introduction to Bitcoin" content here: https://anarkio.codeberg.page/bitcoin/ https://anarkiocrypto.imgbb.com/ https://twitter.com/linkinparkrulz_/status/1543348394181148672

Plus a great book "Why Cryptocurrencies" by Jonas Hietala: https://whycryptocurrencies.com/toc.html

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @DarthCoin 6 Sep 2022

This is gentlemen !

353 sats \ 4 replies \ @om 7 Sep 2022

I'm in the 1st group. It's not that I need a lot of convincing, but it's not really possible to buy food with Bitcoin where I live. And I know some would say that I need to go to villages and preach Bitcoin to farmers. But they'd say:

"but can I buy electricity with Bitcoin?" "but can I buy fuel with Bitcoin?" "but can I buy fertilizers with Bitcoin?"

... and what can I do?

0 sats \ 3 replies \ @tenuous 7 Sep 2022

I live in an extremely entrepreneurial place, with tons of brick and mortar retail shops. I simply don't see a path for adoption at the Point-of-Sale, unless through something like Strike or Square which handles fiat also.
I do see a huge opportunity to grow bitcoin adoption generally; create more bitcoiners. Who will then utilize the BTC function in their square terminal, perhaps offering a discount to do so. "Peer to peer" payments does not necessarily mean "business to consumer". Many people have an antagonistic relationship with commerce in general and aren't looking to explore its nature.

333 sats \ 2 replies \ @deleted231216 OP 7 Sep 2022

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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @tenuous 7 Sep 2022

Thats a very good point but also identifies a goal that is easy to rally around. Narrows our target and focus on an attainable goal.

My personal opinion is the two Jacks are kindred spirits and have good intentions (but I could of course be wrong). Since they are running businesses they would also be receptive to organized communication (petition, email list, etc). "If it makes dollars, it makes sense"

I am not an apologist for big companies. Just really want to direct attention properly. Running a BTCpayserver should absolutely be encouraged as an alternative to big platforms. Thats why your article is great. But speaking from experience small business is hard enough already. Collecting money just needs to work transparently in whatever currency the customer wants to pay.

30 sats \ 0 replies \ @deleted231216 OP 7 Sep 2022

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200 sats \ 0 replies \ @tenuous 6 Sep 2022

Interesting, I am actually coming from both of those groups. An "IRL" business owner, and also starting to shift myself to a bitcoin standard personally.

I don't necessarily think I need any convincing of anything. I am fully on board and doing whatever I can to advance bitcoinization. That's what I meant by "preaching to the choir".

It seems to me the way to get a new leg of adoption is to get people out of their comfort zones somehow. This means

bitcoiners should aggressively try to stay within a circular economy. I believe thoughtful spending generally has immense power in a data-driven world.
receptive normies need to be given some breadcrumbs to follow, but honestly also probably some hard incentives. Promos, discounts, just like the old days where people just gave away bitcoin.

The issue to fight on this leg of adoption, IMO, is echo chambers. Its a bigger societal issue, but bitcoin is also bigger now so the challenges evolve.