Oddbean new post about login | logout What's the best argument you've used to get a friend on board with BTC? My friend is getting close, but still thinks BTC is a fad...
There will always be an incentive to mine bitcoin because there is always wasted energy that doesn’t have midstream capacity to monetize. If there is always an incentive to mine bitcoin then there is no way it goes away. (Most of my successful orange pills have been those in the oil and gas space.)
The best argument is yourself. Be an example to your friend and he will understand that it is not a fad.
Mockery works. How many fads last 16 years and keep getting more popular? Some famous idiots though the Internet was a fad. Gotta customize it to the person. Some people like that Bitcoin is saving lives in authoritarian countries. Most in the US just care about their purchasing power Bitcoin doesn't have inflation
Bitcoin is the best money humans have ever discovered. Walk them through the 7 properties of money and a brief history comparing Bitcoin to gold and fiat…
"Never work hard for something that someone else prints an infinite amount of for free." "Do you think it would be valuable to have a system of money where you knew, without question, that the rules were exactly the same for every participant. No matter it a powerful government or an everyday citizen?" "Have you ever heard of a "fad" or a "bubble" that collapsed and then went on another aggressive growth phase that dwarfed the previous one 5 times in a row over a 15 year period?" "Do you think its better for money to have someone who can arbitrarily create and control every aspect of it because there's an institution in charge, or do you think it should be a public good with the same rules for everyone?" -------------------------- These are ones that seem to trigger fresh thinking in people who are dismissive about it. It often forces them to see it a different way. What tact you use though will very much depend on the framing that the person you are talking to is coming from.
The only issue with these is they require a person to at least have reached the thinking stage. So many are not there yet, but I think if you have someone not there, move along. The logic here as always with guy is perfect.
There is perhaps nothing worse than reaching the top of the ladder and discovering that you’re on the wrong wall -- Joseph Campbell
Depends on the friend, so much. But typically I start with monetary debasement with clear anecdotes (big mac price chart e.g.). I ask questions that lead them to the conclusions like "would you rather leave your cash in the checking account or invest it?" "why" Then back to inflation again and debasement. Try and tie those two things together tightly followed by Debt-GDP money printing. Then when the color leaves their face and they see the financial apocolypse on the horizon, I replace it with the rising orange sun.
Start with the purple pill and Zap them
Everybody's orange pilling is different but I've found that most people will start to think if you help them understand a few of these concepts. * Bitcoin can't be stopped. By anyone. Most people's journey is finding out all the things they thought would stop it, can't. * It's not controlled by anyone except code. No one can change the code without majority consensus. * It's just a new technology at the beginning of its adoption phase. It's being spotted at nearly twice the rate the internet was. * Our future is digital money. One is a gov controlled and manipulated currency and the other is freedom tech. lnbc210n1pnwnxw6pp5evtdeqsn7cr9kdeekys6jq5eqdpm9jnpusr3t55eawc9xxlffw2qhp5jn8sxh49usfeytuwxl2un2vf5md0m4d35v7c3nm425t3k58rdvmscqzpuxqyz5vqsp569ml08j6tq2a4e3kv7r0788tk988609708j7yqtg6g6vjflzfmuq9qxpqysgqrkag7wtsa268nfhaern392zwcdhg5utyxrrun4lxwfufuy6zkz28g4f7rpmeu5n0qvcajpwmngxvxs2hz2a93x9juxq5rdccx0a7pucqqtw4t5
A good slapping.😆🫲
The dollar is melting, and a reflection of the last few years generally gets people thinking about what the next few years might hold. Bitcoin is uniquely positioned and has fared well thus far. This is usually enough to convince someone to allocate a small percentage. However, as these things go, Bitcoin is a personal journey, so I eventually I decided to just make a website for this kind of stuff. Those that eventually do come around (and everyone will) always has a ton of questions, and a website is an efficient way to help out.
I would suggest you don’t say much more. I would instead give them the help needed to hold their hand and set up a wallet. Teach them like you would a child and make it a fun experience. Then sit next to them and send them some amount like “$5”. Then every time they open the app to check their amount. And feel excited about having something no one else can get at Then hook them up on nostr and have them feel the thrill of zapping someone and hopefully they will get zapped back. They will be hooked
Society is shaped by the tools it frequently uses. A: When society uses bad money 5 this has a far-reaching second order effects - mostly negative. B: When society uses true money it will likely have have positive second order effects. Bitcoin is the best way to take us from A to B. Embracing Bitcoin is both the right thing to do and a good ‘investment’.
the best argument for investing in a Ponzi Scheme is that most people are idiots and can't figure the scam out.
Tell your friend that if Bitcoin is a fad, it's the all-time longest running fad that's been going on 15 years. Nevertheless, your friend will eventually realize that Bitcoin is not a fad and he will either not be able to afford Bitcoin, or he will end up buying it "at the price that he deserves."
There will always be strong demand for the ability to save and transfer value in the hardest form of money, and Bitcoin is the most promising technology to fill this universal need you need to *fully* convince them otherwise they’ll sell at the first sign of trouble the most convincing full argument is The Bitcoin Standard (book)
Today's fad, tomorrow's standard. Crocs were weird. People still wear them everywhere.
That's a hard question. I have yet to orange pill anyone myself. So I'm kind of trying to figure out the question myself. 🤔
money is not a fad
For those that have had no interaction with Bitcoin, I've found a pragmatic approach that 99% of people get works well. Simply ask this question; Do you want gas, groceries, rent, food, utilities to go up forever like they have. OR Do you want them to go down theoretically forever? If the later then paycheck -->into Bitcoin. Save in Bitcoin not fiat and that's yours.
The point is holding the value of money, which you likely got in exchange by investing your time. So the point is holding the value of your time. You do not want it to slip through your fingers like dollars and euros (fiat money) do. It would kind of make your time less precious. To avoid losing value of your time, in today's financial world you can't "save" money by holding into it. You must invest. And you must know how to do that or let someone else do that for you (both of which have a cost). Because of inflation, the traditional assets pretty much lose value in the best scenario, too. Bitcoin is the best performing asset for some time now. You can save money by holding Bitcoin: see, there is no inflation. Plus, you're not probably jumping down the same cliff than e.g. index funds that would plunge in the next catastrophic financial event. Because I'm lazy, I tend to save in Bitcoin. The point is holding the value of your time.
It is. It’s just a permanent fad
Tell them "It is just like a casino and to never invest more than you can afford to lose" and then watch the magic happen.
As my ‘recovering attorney’ wife would say, it depends. Fiscal resilience, unsensorable transactions, number go up technology
