We have a challenge for adoption in the terminology we use.

Imagine you’re trying to tip a restaurant server or bartender who has never used bitcoin before.

Do you say:

“Can I tip you in bitcoin?”

“Can I tip you with sats?”

“Can I tip you with Lightning?”

Something else?

If you say “bitcoin” you take the chance of triggering an bias response, such as:

“No thanks, I don’t understand crypto.”

“Didn’t that whole thing just collapse?”

“I’m just getting by, I need real money.”

Etc.

If you don’t say “bitcoin” you then have to explain what sats/satoshis are, what the Lightning network is, why it’s faster than sending on-chain bitcoin. Before you know it, you sound like a crazy person trying to give an speech on economics, technology, and decentralization to someone who absolutely has no time for that.

And if you do succeed in convincing them to download a wallet and receive their first tip, the next question is usually, “How do I cash this out so I can actually use it?”

How do you approach this problem?