How To Introduce Your Friends To Cryptocurrency
Just give them a dollar.
“What is this ‘Bitcoin’ I keep hearing about?” they ask…
“Some kind of magical internet money?”
“Pretty much!” I often respond.
We in this space are so accustomed to cryptocurrency jargon and lingo, we forget that most people either haven’t heard about it yet or have no clue what it’s all about.
They read about it in Forbes, or Bloomberg, or one of the other mainstream financial outlets. It piques their interest, and they come to you. Maybe it’s your ‘FREE THE MARKET FREE THE WORLD’ Bitcoin pin you bought on OpenBazaar the other week, or maybe it’s because you just won’t shut up about it...or both!
Either way, I’ve had people come to me and say “so and so says you’re really into this cryptocurrency thing — what is it all about?”
I’ve found that the best thing to do is show them how it works first hand. All of the technical information can come afterwards.
There’s something to be said for experiencing it yourself and seeing it with your own eyes.
So, I give them a dollar.
Doesn’t seem like much, but it’s a very visceral example of the technology working right in front of you.
- You can send a very small amount, even $1, and the other side will actually get $1.
- You don’t have to go through some other institution.
- You can do it from anywhere in the world, to anywhere in the world.
- It’s instant*
*Technical details about miners, fees, and confirmation time will need to be explained, but for the purpose of a demonstration, keep it simple.
Why Should They?
Why should people get into cryptocurrency at all? Why do we want our friends and family to look into it?
For me, it is the opportunity for growth.
You can make money. It's really that simple. I like to see my friends and my family doing well, I like to see them prospering, and I have seen that you can do that through cryptocurrency if you take the time and are smart about it (and a little bit lucky)
Secondly, it's the future.
If it's not Bitcoin, it will be something else. Money is going digital, that's just how it is. Cash will always be around, I'm convinced, but the world is going more and more digital. We can be ahead of the wave by getting on board and being acquainted with it now rather than later.
Thirdly, the more the merrier.
The more people adopt crypto, the better it will be for everyone. Adoption is really key to this thing taking off and going 'mainstream', and public perception has a lot to do with it. Allowing people to have safe, comfortable experiences with these often complicated systems enhances the perception that everyday users really can use these things...and it's not just for the hacker on the dark web buying guns!
We've established some reasons why we'd want more people to get on board...
Here’s how I go about it:
Tell them to install a mobile wallet
Any old wallet will do, but I prefer to introduce them right off the bat to a decent mobile wallet that allows you to control your own seed key. Might as well start right. They can get themselves up on paper wallets and Trezor later on, if they wish.
iOS
Jaxx — this is the wallet that I highly recommend. Right now it supports a variety of the more popular cryptos including Bitcoin, Ether, and Dash, and recently announced more support for many others.
Android
Mycelium — I don’t have any personal experience with this, but I know that it comes recommended for Android users.
Once they’ve installed the wallet...
Send them $1 in Bitcoin (or your preferred crypto)
I suggest Bitcoin, since it is the most widely known and most respected (for now!). It’s also the best way, almost the only way, to get into any of the other cryptos.
This shows them how easy and simple it is to send funds from one person to another, wirelessly, and without a middleman (see asterisk above!) like a bank.
Really show them how it looks. Put the phones side by side, scan the QR code, send the funds and ask them to watch how long it takes to receive on the other side.
You are the bank!
Keep your funds secure. Now that they have a whopping $1 in their digital bank, they need to keep them safe. Suggest that they go home, into their bedroom, shut the door, and write down their seed key carefully on a piece of paper and stash it somewhere safe… like in a safe.
They will most likely end up getting more involved in the coming weeks. It's better to start with good practices than to start poorly and make a big mistake later on.
Check back in 1 week
The look of astonishment on people’s faces when I ask them “How much is your dollar worth now?” and they go “$1.30!” — now imagine it was $100, or $1000. Check back in 6 months, now you have $3. Imagine it was 100, 1000, 10,000.
You’re not getting anything like that in a bank, or anywhere really.
Of course, crypto investing is highly speculative, and many investors still consider it gambling — and I understand why. But it has proven time and again to be a viable, yet risky, way of increasing value.
Caveat Emptor. Do not take investment advice from some guy on the net. Don’t invest anything if you aren’t willing to risk losing 100%.
I view cryptocurrency as a store of value and as an investment. I don’t view them as currencies, although I have used crypto many times to purchase items and services…. I’m in most of my positions as investments, “long term” — 5, 10, 15 years. Some things will come and go, I’ll get in and out, but I’m treating them as investments. That’s how I encourage friends and family to see it too. It’s just not there yet, as a currency.
But it feels good to be in the loop, to be an early adopter. Buy, and hold. Spend some, but hold most.
Conclusion
I’ve found that a simple, visceral example works best. When a person can see the thing working for themselves and they have actual experience operating within the system, they feel closer to it. They’re now ‘IN’ on the whole thing, they’re part of it, one of us! One of us! Then when they can see the growth for themselves, it changes everything.
They will be intrigued, and they'll be hooked.
How do you introduce your friends to cryptocurrency?
Why do YOU want your friends to get into crypto?
I give my friends some LTC since transfer cost is low
So you know the LTC trick well....lol. I do the same very thing lately. BTC to LTC to BTC for fee less issues lol. Followed, gotta respect an LTC user always
Yeah! When sending between exchanges if they have Bytecoin that is really cheap too, BCN,it is like .01 transfer fee and a bytecoin is only like .00000100 Satoshis (.0024 cents USD). Super cheap. It has 15 confirmations needed at about 2 minutes to 3 minutes each confirmation, so usually same confirm time as BTC.
Just don't do too much because there isn't much volume on some exchanges.
Very good tip, I thought about that with Bytecoin but never tried it yet. You think like me lol. What gets me is when you mine you sometimes got a bunch of little payouts you gotta move around and BTC can suck you dry right now in that game. So you got to be ingenious about how you move your funds around to your home base wallets sometimes, sucks but hopefully someone turns the damn Segwit or something on so we can get back to normal fee days lol. Great to meet you, swing by sometime....we need more self thinkers like yourself in my comment section from time to time, I like it when people call it as they see it. BCN I must look into, get the low volume issue but I nickle and dime a lot lately so that might suit me till I get this Steemit thing on the rise, thanks for that advice
Great advice .... followed and upvoted!
☝😎 @spread-trumpism (awesome name btw)
Now I have given them s dollar and they go:
How do I spend it?
Why are the transaction fees higher than a visa transaction?
Why can't I buy a cup of coffee with it?
Three very crucial questions. And the one with the best answer to these questions is the one with the winner ticket.
I would simply suggest that 'cryptocurrency' is a misnomer.. It's not 'there' yet, so don't treat it like a currency. Treat it as an investment and a store of value. Does anybody use their APPL stocks to buy coffee? Do you buy gold thinking about how you're going to buy stuff with it? Nope.
The nice thing is that if you DO need to spend it, there are quite simple ways to do it like a bitcoin debit card. But I would recommend holding onto it.
Eventually when they figure out all of the transaction fees and with higher adoption, you can use 1btc to buy that Lamborghini ;)
As it is now. Bitcoin is no longer feasible as a medium of exchange. Kinda like it's non sense to drop some flakes of gold for a cup of Frappuccino.
It could be.. But you know.. Politics.
Hey, I wrote a similar article about the time you wrote this https://steemit.com/bitcoin/@natxlaw/waking-yours-how-we-get-our-people-to-wake-up-to-sound-money-crypto-give-it-to-them
Help a minnow out!
Yep, I think you have got it absolutely spot on! You can tell em and tell em but they will smile and go yep. If your not in the game then you don't get it, you don't feel it! If you are in the game then their eyes will light up. Good idea about the mobile wallets that will make it easier just like downloading an app.
Great post man, just today I introduced my friend to crypto via steemit, he already knew about bitcoin but wasn't really interested in it. Turns out to get someone into steemit or crypto is asking then one question; "You like money?"
Hi
Very good information
Here in korea now many people signed steemit
And they can make money
I introduce steemit to many koreans now
Maybe in this year korean 200,000 will join
Maybe we will all need to learn Korean soon :P
the korean language is easy to learn
Couldn't convince any friends, they always think it's expensive at the moment and waiting for a dip
I wish a million people will introduce cryptocurrency to me this way. :-)
nice idea thank you very much
follow me please.
thanks in advance.
I always follow those that ask, here's to your future success with the Steemit community.
thank you so much
Anytime, always down to help fellow Steemians, need anything let me know.
its really heart worming to read what you told @hatemmkh,even though am not the one,i can imagine how welcomed he must have felt...you are right,we newbies ought to look out for each other and guide and grow with each other. still a newbie my self,joined last week but don't have posts aside from my intro post. am still trying to build followers.
I firmly believe we should all look out for each other in crypto and in this community. We are all early adopters of something very powerful people feel threatened about and we need to grow with strength in numbers. Also its the right way to be, to look out for your fellow brothers and sisters is the key to any success you try to obtain. I just followed you my friend and as soon as you have something I will RESTEEM it for you and hope to gather you some followers. Just remember write from the heart, share what you love and have knowledge on and the rest will always fall into place. I will RESTEEM your intro though, tell them to say hello to our newest member...help you out
lol,thanks pal...am thinking of doing a new intro post. what do you think?
wow.....am short of words..i didn't expect to receive this much love still as a newbie,thank you sir. i promise that i will work hard on my posts.
I'm just new here and still don't know how to get some more followers
If you can help me, It will be so great.
I will do you a favor. I run Steemit Blogger Central on Facebook and Twitter. I will swing by and check out your posts and RESTEEM one for you to those pages. Usually that helps a few people out to get started. Its still young with our pages but growing a following so hopefully that will help you out to get kickstarted some.
Best advice though I can give you, mingle out there...leave great comments on posts relevant to you and make some friends along the way. Its really about community involvement here so the more you reach out there the more friends you make and the next thing you know your all looking out for each other. I will go post some of your stuff for you, I will leave a comment on the ones I choose and where I posted them to. Hope that helps
really great and kind of you.
thank you very much.
I will never forget this favor
...great post....nice and easy explanation....
Great idea.
Which part? :)
Loading the wallet on their phone and giving away BTC...
Putting it on my to-do list!
Thank you for posting!
That's a clever idea. I love to see my friends and family doing well financially, or being able to help them myself if they need it. Crypto is a great way to get there.
Absolutely. On the other side, I'm always sure to point out to them how much speculation is involved, and how much risk, so that they know exactly what they're getting into... But the potential for growth is there for sure.
Very great idea to spread the crypto adoption via a dollar from wallet to wallet in BTC. Something I think we should do with Steem as well now and then. Glad I been following you, I been looking for an article of this caliber to RESTEEM to our page on TWITTER to help spread ways to generate the spreading of crypto to the non users. Thanks for writing this.
I RESTEEMED your article to Steemit Blogger Central, you can find your post on the following pages:
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/steemitbc
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/steemitbc/
Hopefully we can free those stuck on fiat and free those using dead end mainstream social media sites, least that is my goal with the pages. Keep up the great work!
Thanks for sharing, glad you liked the article.
I'm still thinking of ways to spread Steemit as a platform itself, because I've brought about 6 people on but none of them have stayed and I have to figure out why that is and how to get people more engaged so that they'll stick with it.
Funny you mention that, I just had a long conversation with someone trying to help me devise some ways to make our page more useful to keep people more engaged to stay here. Seems we have this influx of hopeful people to get those $100 articles fast, and you and I know this is not the easiest case to obtain without a little Steem Power backing. One guy I talked with is thinking about creating weekly meetings for new users to learn how to do rise faster like a workshop but unsure if that would be effective either.
Me though, I tend to think its mostly the fact there comes work in this and not everyone has the time to put that effort in. I worked in marketing for PIVX actually so I have a taste for how to get ahead faster, I literally hit over 300 followers today and just got in here last month. I regret not joining last summer when I was told about this so trying to catch up for lost time lol. But I have the free time and determination, new users are more into this for the pass time income so we all need to figure a way to encourage that. I was thinking of a slack like hub for Steemit users, I know we got steemchat but more or less a learning center maybe.
Anyways, your article does show a use case scenario to really educate in a way that I would suspect to be effective. I have also brought some people here too and seen the same thing...give up fast.
Good point $$$ tend to encourage response. i just give positive feedback to decent and pleasant posts and it's slow but for me rewarding at my pace!
great idea and for holiday gifts maybe lol:)
Good post and good way of informing and helping friends
I have told my children and grandchildren that if they open a Steemit account, I will gift them 1,000 SP.
please can i be your adopted child or grand child...lol...newly joined the platfom though,still trying to build followers.
My brother and I are trying to drum up some interest here in Portland. In 2 weeks we plan to host a real-world treasure hunt with a paper wallet hidden somewhere and some cryptic clues. We'll see how it goes.
Good idea
Well, I didn't give them money, I bought beer with the money that I earned on cryptocurrency and told them about it :)
Two of the three have started to use a server at work for mining :)
Hi @jamtaylor
I am quitte new to al these cryptocurrencies, but I am actually getting the hang of it. Bought some Ether, Bitcoin, Dash and Gulden. Gulden is actually doing pretty well the last days. I am trying to explain my girlfried what this whole thing is about and I am sending her this article (and some others) to explain it to here. So, thank you for writing this.
Also as an alternative wallet for Android I can recommend Coinomi. Even a noob like me can use it very easily :)
Upvoted, followed and resteemed!
Have a nice day and remember... GoCoconuts ;)
I applaud anyone who can convert even a single person into trying crypto. I've given up after telling all my friends about Bticoin, Steemit etc. Kudos.
Try the dollar approach and see what happens. It's like magic :P
my dear the best way to motivate is to reinforce,work hard on your cyrpto accounts and let them see how much you have earned over a small period of time,am sure that will give them the edge.
Its kind of bad and funny at the same time but that is how friends get friends to try smoking or drinking or other wrong things hehehehe, Warning Cryptocurrency may or may not be habit forming and or addictive
Come on just try one hit, this one's free ;)
EXACTLY, I know Im not wrong
Hi jamtaylor good post..i gave a friend $10 in btc last august afte he downloaded his wallet he now has $45. Thats the magic of internet money and keeps getting better. Upvoted. Follow me back
Nothing encourages a person to join crypto more than "here's some free money go figure it out if you wanna have it"
But as the transaction fee of Bitcoin has been getting increasingly more vulgar. I think personally I would give them an alternative. Maybe I set up a "crypto advocacy fund" and get a few litecoins or Zcash to get them going.
I agree on the Bitcoin, it's increasingly problematic until they find those solutions they desperately need.
This is a really good advice! I've been wanting to introduce some of my peeps to crypto, but they just can't grasp the idea. This way, they can just observe how their $1 grows in value so fast - they don't have to know how it works, but it'd be stupid for them not to invest more seeing how fast it grows!
@jamtaylor This is an awesome way to bring ppl on board the cryto yacht....awesomesauce!
Resteemed! 👈😎
Ok so I have this down....but need to find some friends first lol
Excellent! Thank you!
I have found Jaxx on the App Store. It has many poor reviews from people saying that it is sexy but unstable and takes huge transaction fees.
What is your reading of this, please?
You can change the default transaction fees in the settings. Keep in mind that they are not the ones taking the fees but it's a fact that right now the higher fees are being processed quicker by the miners — you can do a small fee and get stuck for 3 days (it has happened to me) so I just use a higher fee and have funds confirm quicker.
In terms of it being unstable, I've found that if you are not on a stable network (3G, 4G, wifi etc) it can be sluggish.
But overall I like it a lot.
Thank you for this. I'm yet to make my first transaction and want everything to be right. Candles, rose petals on the pillow, reliable wallet etc.
Hahaha I hope you have a good first time.
Wow! That's was explained well and makes it very easy to understand. Where were you the last 5 years of my life?
nice idea way to enlighten your mates...here in Nigeria,people are still a bit skeptical cos of many online scam that have come and gone. but the wise ones are really going for cyrpto,cos its the future and the future is now...nice post jamtylor.
what's the fee for you to send them $1 in BTC though?
I don't really think about it to be honest, it's more for the effect so I don't mind paying. You can use a different crypto instead of Bitcoin, though. Something that doesn't have the crazy fees that BTC has right now. Just make sure it's a very popular one.
I tried sending my friends a Litecoin or some Dogecoins. Showed them how easy it is. Then lose their interest anyway.
One if my friends received 5 Litecoins from me 2 years ago. Lost his recovery phrase even though I told him NOT to :-)
I gave up on telling my friends what crypto is. They all know I'm into it and if they are interested in it they can ask me. :-)
Hello @ ! I'll share/resteem all your posts if you can follow me and
resteem too my future posts ,you're the best ,thank you and hope we'll
help each other ! I wish you have the best posts !
Hi there ,do you want to follow ALL THE BEST NEWS & VARIOUS POSTS on
the web ? Follow me and you'll receive my daily & quality posts ! Thank
you ,see you later STEEMERS !
This is a good way to get flagged on here.
this post is definitely superb! I will engage my entire family and circle of influence to join! Great reads @jamtaylor , thank you ;)
En mi caso uso DOGE, con ella practican con las billeteras, mueven la moneda, y hasta se aprende a invertir con trading: bajo costo y comisiones
super económicas.
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I think it's about time I set up my crypto currency bit coin wallet. Any suggestions please post a link to a website that will help me with that @briandenver