We often compare the evolution of Bitcoin with the early days of the Internet. But there is a subtle difference.

The Internet allowed you to do things that were impossible, or at least extremely difficult, to do without it.

Bitcoin is just another type of money, yes, it is better, but as a privileged westerner my government fiat has no major barriers or issues.

When doubters saw that you could send a photo to somebody on the other side of the world instantly with the Internet they were hooked.

When doubters see us paying for stuff instantly, it doesn't get the same wow moment.

The value proposition of Bitcoin is more subtle, just as compelling, perhaps more so, but it takes time and effort to see its value, unlike the Internet where one cat JPEG can change your mind instantly.

Yes, I did use the cat JPEG metaphor in an ironic way 😂

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Those cats are knot fun for some

I think the 2 big wow factors for me are instant payments with self sovereignty and of course store of value. Both very much needed but maybe not the huge revolution that the internet provided? Connecting to BBSs before web pages were even a thing. Web pages were to make it easier for normies..

All analogies and comparisons are inherently somewhat incorrect or inappropriate

All generalities are wrong, including this one 😂

For westerners it’s mainly useful for

1. shopkeepers who pay through their nose in credit card fees

2. Store of value for everyone

That doesn’t match (for obvious reasons)

Probably why it’ll take the west to adopt ₿ much slower?

The reduction in fees is particularly compelling for many merchants I feel.

It doesn't matter where you live or what fiat currency are you using. All of them are going to zero in bitcoin terms. Some probably faster than others but all have the same fate.

You're probably right tho, people living in countries with terrible money have a better incentive to get bitcoin than Westerners who think they have it easier.

If you watched my podcast with nostr:nprofile1qyf8wue69uhh2mtzwfjkctf38g6rsdpcqy2hwumn8ghj7etyv4hzumn0wd68ytnvv9hxgqpqheqkxm37d5h7n8sx2gqdez5sxnu39qrylhxnnd66dxpu4e2ufyysfg47xc he had that exact issue.

He lived in a regime where the money was hyper inflating and banks could just take it and you couldn't send money abroad.

When he moved to the west, he forgot about his Bitcoin because he didn't need it anymore:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QlzBeBKXIRk

Indeed! I didn’t need anyone to open my eyes to the hypotheticals. The hypotheticals were already reality there.

Good episode. Glad to see a Persian perspective over bitcoin.

I've been searching for something like bitcoin for a very long time. Funny enough, I've started also because it was really hard to send money abroad from Easter Europe. The bank lady wanted to call the police, she thought I was a hacker. 😂

This *should* be all the wow that's required. It's just too easy for doubters to uncritically dismiss it as a scam rather than putting in any effort to understand.

Putting Bitcoin aside, I find that most people are too lazy to even consider trying to figure out for themselves why fiat prices keep going up. They seem to think that 'inflation' is just a law of the universe.

Agreed, it should be, but mostly people focus on the fewer down lines, not the many more up lines.

I'm not sure why?

Also agreed, indifference is also the enemy.

It’s also because we now have the Internet telling us how bad bitcoin is 😅

That's true!

Oh, the irony 😂

It’s a constant battle. I love asking myself the very general question/s of “How and why does something become mainstream in use?” It’s get quite deep after a while 😁

Are you using your Blackberry to write your notes down?

Yes and with fat thumbs 🤣

😂

It is pretty amazing: Of my friends who are still skeptical about Bitcoin (which is almost all of them), I don't think I've ever heard "hey, I saw Bitcoin's on the rise again!" All I get is "didn't Bitcoin just crash to like 50k?"... and I'm like "Dude, you do realize that the last conversation we had about Bitcoin was when you pointed out a 'crash' to like 20k? I'm looking forward to you telling me about the next 'crash' to 150k."

I stopped that line of attack by responding

"No, it's still up from $625 a coin" 😂

“It’s too expensive” is the most common one now amongst my friends. 🙄

Oh no, let’s not go back to BIP 177 😂

👀😅

I actually show them a little side pot. Said I bought at £62k two months ago and it’s now £78k, then I ask them if their fiat savings account did better? Sometimes works 😅

Nice 🤙

Your response is WAY better.

... especially since my response proves entirely ineffective when they can never seem to remember our previous conversations.

My neighbour playfully ridiculed me back in 2017 when my coins had dropped from $4K to $2K, he hadn't remembered that I'd bought most of them at $625, but I didn't say anything back then.

These days we have a mutual neighbour who is in her late 70's. She is constantly fascinated by Bitcoin and asks me questions all the time.

He doesn't enjoy listening in.

I think it's only hubris that is preventing him buying now.

He's a nice guy and we get on well, but I tend to avoid discussing Bitcoin with him these days.

Bitcoin is on a “need to know’ basis

I didn't know I needed to know until 2016 😂

Good man

You need to have some, you know? 😂

lol

Nice insight. Yeah so disrupting the mail services, at the click of a button, was such an amazing 10x moment, that you coulnd't not love it

Re Bitcoin - speak to anyone that has lived in a place with poor financial services, they don't need to be told twice about Bitcoin. Very much a case of "financial priveledge" for those of us in the "West"

Agreed 💯

The wow moment is “memorize these words and you can flee authoritian regime with your life savings”

Few understand!

Yes, or if you can't remember those words, this:

https://www.borderwallets.com/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wHQrvCGVkTw

1. Deez

2. Nuts

3. Deez

4. Nuts

5. Deez

6. Nuts

7. Deez

8. Nuts

9. Deez

10. Nuts

11. Deez

12. Nuts

You don't need a seed phrase these days 😂

I'll give it to Jack anyway.

Imagine the incentive structure that develops in a model like this.

😮 “I cant access my wallet, can you help”?

🤑 “Yes, yes we can, I see it had $900,000 dollars on it—no seed phrase, no problem: we use a percentage of balance approach as there is more risk involved for recovering more funds, shall we continue with recovery”?

I think 30% fee is fine 😂

In theory, anything less than 100% is fine.

yikes! Does anyone actually use this?

Just memorize the 12 words. It's really not that hard. But also, keep a physical copy somewhere as a backup. There are better ways to make sure they can't be used without some additional information. For example, just inscribe your passphrase(s) in an OP_RETURN. 😜 If someone happens to stumble across your 12 words - good luck to them also stumbling across your passphrase(s) amongst the rest of the blockchain.

You mean pussy JPEG

Sure, why not 😂