“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

- Edmund Burke

Education Alone Will Not Increase Bitcoin Adoption - Let’s Get Serious and Focus on What Matters

- If you could place your “best bet” on a goal to increase Bitcoin adoption, where would you focus your energy? What would your goal be?

- Are bitcoiners ready yet to switch from a NGU mentality to seeing bitcoin for what it really is and that Bitcoin is true freedom money and more?

- Is it finally time to realize that bitcoiners can help to advance adoption by focusing more on what matters? And what matters boils down to behavior change.

Consider these points -

1. Need to identify a priority goal to focus on AND recognize that Bitcoin adoption ultimately boils down to changes in behaviors and mindsets

Currently, there is a lot of activity occurring in the bitcoin world, which is exciting to see. However, it is clear that the majority of actions are not focused on outcomes, such as bitcoin adoption — let alone on having agreement on what success actually looks like for adoption. What is successful bitcoin adoption - how to measure?

To advance Bitcoin adoption, it is critical to first develop a clear aspiration or goal. Then, specify what behaviors and mindsets must change or shift to adopt Bitcoin. The more specific, the better - e.g., ‘A “no-coiner” purchases their first satoshis’ or ‘A Bitcoiner uses btc to purchase that infamous cup of coffee’ or how about ‘A bitcoiner transfers btc to cold storage’.

Answer this - have you been able to go through the cold storage process and verify it worked without breaking into a little bit of a sweat? Admit it - it can be terrifying. Complexity is no bueño for behavior change as it takes simplicity to change behavior.

2. “Price is a measure of adoption”

Price in any fiat currency, including USD is a limited, proxy measure of bitcoin adoption at best. Off the top — the volatility fluctuation and geographical differences alone make price an unreliable measure of adoption. Also, the value of Bitcoin should be based on its inherent properties and not on its exchange rate against fiat currencies.

One Bitcoin should have the same value regardless of its exchange rate against fiat currencies. More nuanced measures for MoE, SoV and UoA could include the number of Bitcoin transactions, the number of active Bitcoin wallets, number of ATMs, the adoption and growth of the Lightning Network, the hash rate and network security of the Bitcoin network, and the number of merchants and businesses accepting Bitcoin as payment. And Bitcoin is all about separation of state and money - its value is not tied to the policies nor economic conditions of any particular country. So why measure adoption in fiat?

3. “Education is everything”

Education is critical - I agree - it helps to raise awareness, which is needed as a first step to effect change, but education is not everything when it comes to adoption. Communication nor education alone reliably change behavior. Bitcoin Beach and Bitcoin Jungle show this - both required more than education to get people to first become aware of, buy, and then use bitcoin. If it were only about education or informing people about Bitcoin, then why don’t we send out a mass email with a set of educational links? Why doesn’t everyone quit smoking already given all the education there is about how bad it is?

The El Salvadorans and Ticos weren’t just sent a set of educational links and podcasts. Each had a community of dedicated bitcoiners and they used a lot of proven change techniques for adoption. They had infrastructure development (wallets to use, merchants accepting bitcoin etc.), tailored comm campaigns, onboarding training sessions, social support and incentives, too. The initial focus was on making Bitcoin as “easy as possible” for the people.

I am proposing that more efforts like these “pilots” should be done and scaled out - but only better - based on what has been learned already. Recognize that while a key component, education alone is not sufficient for effective behavior change. Rather than using #StudyBitcoin, we should advocate for the outcome-focused #BuyBitcoin instead.

Bottom-line :

My bottom-line points are: 1) Bitcoin adoption can be achieved more rapidly with some focus on a clear adoption-related goal, 2) Human nature and societal/cultural aspects must be considered to design approaches and pilots to increase Bitcoin adoption, and 3) It is possible to help advance bitcoin adoption when the right blend of committed Bitcoiners come together for a shared purpose and focus.

And so, the first step to advance btc adoption, is to answer “What is the next best bet? What is a clear goal to help increase Bitcoin adoption?”

#adoption #BTC #Bitcoin #Bitcoineducation #Education #Plebchain

How about this.... no property tax or land tax at all.

Singular tax of Idk some fixed value to all citizens, regardless of their income or property.

Hmmm. How about motorcycles instead? Like those larger overprotective ones.

That way you keep the speed and less volume on the streets.

it's not about what but why.

the question is WHY do they want to replace cars with bicycles and trains ?

because they see us as CATTLE.

they want private jets for themselves and bicycles and buses for us.

in doing so they reveal themselves as the enemy and anybody who pushes this crap either works for the enemy or an idiot.

I tried to use Reddit 3 times today and got censored every. single. time.

1. Submitted my buttcoin.me site to /r/Bitcoin and it told me my submission was removed by moderators with no specific reason given.

2. Tried to comment on the /r/buttcoin thread about my project but I was banned there a decade ago. Created a new account and commented but it got shadowbanned.

3. Tried to converse with an /r/buttcoin moderator who was posting typical buttcoiner trash on /r/ethereum only to find out entire thread got removed.

Reddit is such a waste of time.

Dont get me wrong, because I hate seeing what happens, BUT….

#Telegram should NOT have been closed source!

If you’re pro free speech & privacy, then STOP making yourself a centralized target.

These “aUtHorItiEs” can now put pressure on him to open a backdoor by putting a gun against his head.

He kept himself a target and now he has become one.

Same thing applies to everything, shitcoins, freedom tech, anything really…

If you’re #centralized, it’s either comply or die.

#Satoshi is one hell of an example on how to do it right.

#bitcoin prediction for August 2024

$btc will go up forever

Understanding Inflation - A Short Explanation

You need to understand the rate of inflation alone is not enough. That lower inflation rates doesn't equal prices going down at all, even a little bit.

Year one, inflation at 8%, a 1 dollar item is now 1.08

Year two, inflation at 12%, a one dollar item from year one, is now 1.21

Year three, inflation at 14%, a one dollar item from year one, is now 1.38

Year four, inflation goes "down" to only 3%, yay we win right?, A one dollar item from year one, is now 1.42.

Inflation is now "low" but the price is cumulative as is the true inflation. The true inflation rate here over 4 years is 42%.

The TV will say "inflation is going down", it isn't a lie, it also isn't the truth. Not to mention what happens if you get a "bad year" next, say just going back to 8% in the next year.

1.42 x 1.08 = 1.53

In year one 8% was 8 cents on the dollar, in year 5 it is 11 cents on the dollar of the previous year. And a total of 53% over 5 years.

Now do it on everything you buy and have to pay for, food, energy, housing, clothing.

Inflation is an at will unregulated tax on every thing you own, buy, sell, etc. It makes the income tax seem benevolent.

If you read this far you now understand the problem more than most so called "economic experts". Those who didn't read this far are likely wondering why things are so bad if the TV people say inflation is down.

Is it possible that Elon's algos try to NPCize us on X?

Has he given in to political pressure?

I'm being heavily deamped at the moment, no doubt about it.

Nostr seems to be the future

Telegram always glowed like a honeytrap to me. It masquerades as privacy/freedom tech, but it is not so.

To your last point about where to allocate capital: Invest in content creators and/or users who migrate to freedom tech. The lack of algorithm-fueled dopamine hits will leave the average user bored and cause a loss of interest. Engagement, zaps, interesting content, and easy onboarding will make a "normie migration" far more likely. Nostr is currently a giant circle of jerks pontificating about bitcoin, crypto, and like this post, freedom tech. Platforms like this need content creators who bring diverse ideas and opinions to create real conversation. Sponsoring (paying) content creators whom you may disagree with, but who already have a following, to come on protocols like nostr will drive a network effect of engagement and adoption.

And hey, you may get more #bitcoin adoption while you're at it.

All are collapsing onto the USD now because it's most politically resistant.

It's still not worth shit.

Collapse upon collapse. Clear the deck.

USD 🤕

#Bitcoin FTW

The average social media user can't even manage a password and has been trained for a decade that it's as easy as hitting the 'reset password' button to regain access to an account. With Nsec gone, it's going to be very hard for these people to understand. We have to make it as easy as possible. If they have to watch a video on how to do it, we've already lost them. God bless those who are building and trying to figure this out with the least amount of trade offs possible.

A lot of people still think of censorship-resistant open networks as a fallback, only necessary after they’ve been arbitrarily silenced or deplatformed by an algorithm or a content moderator whose name they’ll never know, but the time to put in the work to build your audience and establish your unbreakable social graph is before any of that happens.

GM ☀️ PV 🤙

#Bitcoin payments are irreversible

A #Bitcoin transaction cannot be reversed, it can only be refunded by the person receiving the funds. This means you should take care to do business with people and organizations you know and trust, or who have an established reputation. For their part, businesses need to keep track of the payment requests they are displaying to their customers. #Bitcoin can detect typos and usually won't let you send money to an invalid address by mistake, but it's best to have controls in place for additional safety and redundancy. Additional services might exist in the future to provide more choice and protection for both businesses and consumers.

Despite RFK ending his campaign, I’m hopeful that there’s an emergent groundswell of independent political voices in the U.S.

Voices that are heterodox, non-monolithic, beholden to neither of the two ossified existing parties.

And I hope this leads to a politics with less theater and more real human interaction; less doctrine and more ideas.

Americans are a deeply innovative people. Our country’s founding itself was a tectonic innovation in governance.

Back then it was the tyranny of a distant monarch. Today we live under the tyranny of the two-party system and the ubiquitous media machine that supports it.

There’s a frontier beyond this paradigm, though, and I hope we can find a new frontier in our politics, too. Something more than merely recycled Reagan or FDR.

It’s why I feel so strongly about #bitcoin. Because it aids in the subversion of this paradigm. Same with #nostr.

Other than education, I’m not sure there’s anything in America more in need of innovation than our politics.

I see glimpses of something new, whether it’s Vivek walking around talking to everyone, even passionate detractors, impromptu and unscripted, without handlers or teleprompters.

Or RFK, taking on big pharma, crusading for clean food, healthier lifestyles, and a detoxified world for our children, and doing it all while a massive, coordinated censorship campaign sought to banish and discredit him into obscurity.

I occasionally even see some of it in a guy like John Fetterman who, after his hospitalization, has made the radical decision to just say what he thinks, haters be damned, party marching orders be damned.

I don’t agree with any of these people on everything. But that’s perfectly okay. And that’s the point.

What I want to see is a politics of PEOPLE, warts and all, debating ideas; not of vast machineries producing newer vessels for the same shit.

We are a nation capable of generative, even revolutionary heterodoxy. We awesomely, transcendently weird. But we’ve allowed our political imaginations to atrophy on a 24/7 diet of mainstream media, algorithms, and the virtue-signaling regime that makes us all self-censor.

Polarization went from being a temporary bug to being fundamental. Grievance is now both a business and an infinite regress. Activism is a profession.

If you listen closely you can hear the song of the trapped who has grown to love its cage.

But I’m hopeful there’s a rumbling of something new on the horizon.