Bitcoin Forum

It is very simple to make Bitcoin mainstream, and it can be done with just a few months of work, from dedicated groups of people advertising it globally. I cant believe people didnt thought of this before,but let me give you the big one:

1) Get together a donation fund held in multisig escrow , of different trusted people, and then ask people to donate, probably 100 BTC will be enough.

2) Hire a master marketer, who can put together a simple photo ad, a facebook community page/group,  for bitcoin. The image ad should tell some basic description about bitcoin,show an url to Bitcoin.org, and to a youtube video (like this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gc2en3nHxA4), and a link to the facebook group, where people can join.

3) Distribute the funds to different pockets of people around the globe, who will use it to buy a lot of ink and paper.

4) Create tens of thousands of pamphlets, and distribute them all over the world, these dedicated people will spend all their time giving it out to people on the street.


5) Target 20-40 year old people, especially guys, and if they ask questions, tell them about bitcoin.

6) Profit, now bitcoin will have many more millions of users!

A 100 bitcoins will not take you to a million new users or are you planning to pay them a few Satoshi's for their effort? How are you going to

get trustworthy people that would take the money to print the pamphlets? What prevents the people who will be receiving these pamphlets to

distribute to just dump the pamphlets and then require payment for distributing it? We tried this before and found stashes of pamphlets

dumped in a waste bin. This will require a lot of trust, from a lot of people. { I would rather distribute it at Bitcoin meetups for people who are

dedicated to the cause. }

That is the organizers job to do it. They could wear a camera filming while giving out pamphlets to prove that they are working on it.

I just gave you the idea. Now it;s other peoples job to do it. Trust me, pamphlets are the most efficient way to advertise, if done properly, without cheating.

You support core small blocks.

So, those millions of new users fit their transactions into already full blocks where exactly?
Adoption doesn't need pamphlets, adoption needs block space.

Let's just say i have changed my mind on that. I support segwit for now.

But if after segwit gets activated, if the community agrees, then we could have a 2mb block size.

But lets just not get into a block debate here, this thread is about another topic.

Mate i get that you want to push the technology forward but i just think it is a non starter, a 100 bitcoin for a start is a drop in the ocean.  $80,000 for a global pr campaign more like $80,000,000 is needed.  sorry to be negative but i think its true.  this thing either makes it or it dosnt.  :o

No, it will get pushed by the network effect. Or maybe for concentration lets just pick 1 city.

Like a Amsterdam for example, Bitcoin is very known in the Netherlands so its a good city to start with.


Then you setup a Dutch BTC facebook group, and get all young people in there from Amsterdam.

Then you have tens of thousands of people joining BTC, who will start to pitch BTC to their friends and family ,and in a short amount of time Netherlands will fully adopt BTC.

And then other countries will join.


As simple as that.

Before we attempt to bring massive amounts of people into bitcoin we should add segwit + LN. I don't think the average joe is going to want to use bitcoin the way it is now (is mostly a better gold) because the average joe is clueless and doesn't even has a notion on storing money anywhere but their bank accounts.

Bitcoin will not reach mainstream usage status without segwit+LN, until then bitcoin will stay what it is today (an improved gold that also can be used as a currency, but for the optimal currency usage part we need segwit+LN and there are no other way around this fact).

I think you under estimate the amount of money that goes into marketing and promotion. 100BTC cannot achieve anything in most countries talkless of the whole globe. Good that someone is thinking about making Bitcoin go Mainstream

Fuck that, I have been hearing that lame excuse for 1 year now.

I have proposed an advertisement campaign about 1 year ago, and I got the same bullshit answer about " we cant get enough people we need to solve the block size".


Well guess what 1 year has passed, and we still didnt solved the block problem. So how much are we going to wait here??

I say let's roll out Bitcoin now, full power, and worry about the TX problem later.

It will at least put pressure on the network, to be more decisive. I am tired of waiting.

OP.. sorry but no

if the plan is just to get random people to buy bitcoin and the only reason is to push the price up for profit.. i have to say Hell no.
what should be done. can be done and does not require people paying a middleman(escrow) to be a markting fund manager is this:

get local people to set up their own local meetups. find out by then having their own 'think tanks' / brainstorm groups ask / think / discuss what their local community may want and need.

EG developing countries wont use bitcoin due to the tx fee alone costing as much as a chicken breast/3 lettuces.. instead they will want remittance access via face to face btc<->fiat swaps.

EG silicon valley and developed countries will look at daily use and making btc payments more user friendly (NFC smartwatch/wristband hardware wallets)

EG tourist area's will want merchant/exchanges (bureau de change)

where each area should concentrate on developing the infrastructure of bitcoin. and then.. and only then start advertising the SERVICES and UTILITY of bitcoin in their area.. not just the 'speculative profits' of investing on the hopes of continual deflations as just a reserve currency

best quote their is.. the movie field of dreams
"if you build it they will come"

there is no point asking people to come into bitcoin if there is not much utility to see in their local area. the trick is to make bitcoin functional in the area then people will naturally come towards it.

if all you care about is an end goal of a larger fiat price. then you are not a bitcoiner but a fiat speculator

Interesting proposal, so you propose a more local/decentralized approach.

Yes I could agree, each locality knows better what they need Bitcoin to use for and what are the penetration poins where Bitcoin can be inserted.

Well yes I agree with that, but we can still setup a donation fund and distribute them to these local communities. I hardly doubt people in africa have enough money to spend on ads, but other people could help them, to organize bitcoin there and have a big stronghold in africa for example.



I completely agree. However the problem is the funding. There are many talented entrepreneurs and programmers out there who would build stuff, but dont have the funding for it.

That should be done first. Like some soft of crowd funding website (which has been attempted before) but with strong verification requirements to eliminate 99% of the scams.

I tend to agree. What good is mass adoption if we can not handle it? If you want to start the rocket, then pull out the breaks first. To many users with no clue at once could be dangerous. 

First take a look at every single bitcoin's alternatives and their marketcaps, already a successful and multi billion economy.
Some services need to provide their unique products only accepting bitcoin.
Make it so when someone selling stuff online accepting bitcoin doesn't wake up in the morning and finds out due to price drop he/she not only didn't profit but lost from pocket as well, this could be achieved by automation trades and exchanges like no matter the price you will always pay equal to fiat amount in bitcoin and the seller will get the fiat equivalent to current btc price in matter of minutes in their bank accounts.

Advertising in different sites with the most traffic and daily visitors is one of the best options anyone could think of, because if I don't know and not aware of something even exists then how can I use, follow and contribute at all?

im sorry to say this again.. but

stop drilling for a money grab.. remember bitcoin foundation.. it didnt work

also befor getting obsessed about a money grab. you need to have some basics of WHAT people are donating towards.. not some flimsy story of 'helping expand bitcoin' but some actual structure, data, statistics, idea's knowledge.

it does not cost anything for people to go to meetup.com or set up an 'event' on facebook and tell their local community about it.
EG
"BITCOIN MEETUP, local cafe, anyone interested to get involved is welcome to come"

setting up a slack or IRC with a bot that has a chatlog is not a big thing either so that people can discuss their findings more centrally.. infact they can even use the local sections of this very forum to formalise plans.

then they can discuss kickstarters for their projects by outlaying a plan of action and naming who is involved and how it will work.

things like this dont take larg capital to setup nor months.. it can be done for free/dirt cheap and in hours/days..

Why the hell would 100BTC need to be put in escrow or donated by people? Here's a better idea, everyone reading this take 10 sheets of paper and print out a big bitcoin symbol on it. Scatter them , put them up on sign posts, whatever. People who keep seeing bitcoin everywhere will be interested.

Going for groceries? Ask if they accept bitcoins.

Booking a flight? Ask if they take bitcoins.

Filling up the car? Bitcoins accepted here mate?

Tweet about bitcoins.

Tell all your friends about bitcoins.

Wear bitcoin goggles and a leopard print thong and run down the street yelling I love bitcoins!

These would all result in everyone around you knowing about bitcoins.

You are saying that as if I were begging for money there? No I want others to do it, I just revived this idea.

The bitcoin foundaion was reportedly corrupt, and it was badly done.

It can be done much better with a transparent multisig escrow fund.


They are all corporations that decide these issues at the top level. It's not like you walk into a supermarket and you can convince them to accept bitcoins.

I know the manager of a local corporate supermarket, and his hands are very tied. All orders come from above, his job is basically just paperwork and interacting with workers. But all the business policy decisions come from the CEO.

At least this guy is thinking. How more suggestions and less criticism.

Cause we know it's much easier to criticize then to actuality do something. I support this like I like to to support all good and quality ideas, check how this guy do that:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1744821.0 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1744821.0)
There is people who actually so something about promotion, and what OP said is good but require some investment. I can't afford all that, I need to work for lousy paycheck, and I don't earn thousands with bitcoins. This is for people who had most benefit from btc and for people who earn a lot every month.

It's true, big community will make more problem.

just addition. I think we need some semInars because in a seminar, people can ask more and listen the explanation of bitcoin because I think not every people like to read. and sometimes a few people will throw pamphlets. I sometimes see that. so it will be effective to tell them eather than ask them to read.

yep meetups, start as a gathering of a dozen
seminars are for groups of dozen-100
conferences are for 100-more

this is the way to get the word out locally. by discussing it in your area and learning and starting projects locally.
these things dont need large funds upfront. they can be self funded.

EG price of a coffee, then as things get professional, price of a entry fee to cover the location hire for the day/weekend.
where the ticket sale or coffee sale covers the costs.

it also does more than just a pamphlet. it inspires idea's gets people forming projects, businesses, plans.  

start small and free. as a meetup, once a week/month what ever you choose, advertise it for free meetup.com and local sections of forums you think are best suited.
use a free location like a cafe/bar for a small group..

then as things expand then self fund via the group you have

I don't think this would work out in the way you think. If you think about it one would need much more than 100 BTC to launch a global campaign. However, if more money is donated we can organise things to get attention from the media. We could also advertise on buses and television. However, I don't think pamphlets are enough for such a campaign.

no , im not done accumalating yet, im sure alot of people arent either. we gotta  collect as much as we can before these dumbmother fukers turn into smart motherfukers. thats when im done. seriously tho , at some pt  within a decade the masses will figure this shit out.  one big sheep will  lead them into crypto land. stop talking about bitcoins to outsiders , bitcoin sells itself.  u gotta treat this like fight club.

Why do you need to spend real money just to promote a currency (Bitcoin)? When we can have a free promotion just by people or owners of companies willing to accept it into their businesses. Also this is not a fool proof plan. Donating Btc with that amount is really hard for people not to steal it even if you are the most trusted person alive. The idea is not feasible actually.

We have a "buddy" system at our local weekly meetup. You invite a new person to the meetup every week and you buy some beers and have a informal discussion about Bitcoin. The 1on1 approach usually fail, because people think it is a scam, when people approach you 1on1.

So we keep it informal, and we speak about every day things and then someone start the discussion on Bitcoin. We only take people who shows interest, after you talked to them about Bitcoin before. It cost you 1 or 2 beers to invite someone new into the circle. The network grows bigger every week. If you skip a week or two, nobody blames you, shit happens.

Any donations for our "Buddy Beer fund", is welcomed. ^smile^

the biggest question that I see you forgetting is what kind of people do you want to bring in using bitcoin?
there is only two ways:

1) more speculators who come in, invest, price goes up, they dump as fast as possible to get their fiat out, rinse and repeat. we do not need that and it only makes things worse when they lose money because of being inexperienced.

2) more real users, and try to advertise bitcoin as a currency ?
this is not going to work either just by "spreading the word". people need to want to spend bitcoin and right now they do not want to do it. they want to hodl until they get rich and dump.

the questions you need to ask yourself are these:
how many bitcoin users are there now?
how many of them are willing to spend bitcoin not just hodl it as an investment?
how man of them have lifted a finger to be able to spend bitcoin? for example have you, yourself ever send an Email to any services out there requesting them to add bitcoin payment option? 90% of the users have not.

p.s. and there is issue of block size too.

To bitcoin become a mainstream just need to Apple start to use bitcoins in their apps  :D

In addition to this list of way to make bitcoin mainstream in the media and most acceptable, is radio or television program show how bitcoin work. I have seen Educated people who did not know what bitcoin is, other seen bitcoin and other crypto currency as a payment processors and not as a currencies. Individually, we should also try to advertise bitcoin and other crytocurrencies in our areas, explaining it to people around us and teaches them how bitcoin work, the idea behind it and how bitcoin will resolve most of the financial issued the world is facing currently.

They already have AplePay, however i agree with this idea big company must start accept bitcoin in order to bitcoin become a mainstream, but i'm not sure those companies such aple or google will accept bitcoin they might create their own payment gateway rather than accept bitcoin. Well people are just want to hold their bitcoin and dumped it when the price is increase,is it just me who thinks that bitcoin is only a tool for people to get profit rather than using them as payment method.
anyway i agree with op's idea we need to advertise bitcoin to show people that bitcoin isn't a bad like media always told.

Unfortunately, the chances for bitcoin to be used by Apple and added to their app store is really little because they already have Apple pay that's now advertised everywhere and it seem that they're really serious about this one and going to make this as popular as paypal and getting used for worldwide. They're just not going to throw their own services into trash can for the sake of another thing which they don't really get into.

Nice idea but too complicated too achieve imo, all we need is bitcoin on every local news such as when Pokemon booming world wide.
Too many bitcoin news on Facebook, YouTube, or online platform. We need to convince more big stores to accept bitcoin payment.

I strongly agree with franky1's opinion. In my country there is a very active team of people working in this direction. Every 3-4 months they organize meetup to educate and inform people about bitcoin. Furthermore, every month small teams of bitcoiners regardless of their age meet each other in order to exchange views about bitcoin. On the other side is very difficult funding events and donations are not always sufficient.  

to all those writing that grabbing random people, to get them interested in buying bitcoin as the goal.. then you are all just looking for a bigger fiat price to exit bitcoin.
meaning you are failing yourself, failing bitcoin and failing the people you are introducing while secretly planning your own farewell.
you need to talk about/think about bitcoins UTILITY not the damn price rise.

lets put it another way your fiat greed and fiat retirement dream can understand.

invite 2 people spend weeks telling them about bitcoins as a fiat investment, trying to tempt them into buying in big. hoping other people around the world are doing the same to cumilatively push up the price.

or

invite two people and spend weeks telling them about the business opportunities and what they can do locally(naturally they buy bitcoin, but thats not the main/end discussion). helping each other get bitcoin accepted by popular shops/stores in your location. where each store displays a "bitcoin accepted here" logo in the window. people start coming naturally to the meetups in increasing amounts. naturally growing the local bitcoin utility far beyond just 2 small inverters..

now you dont need to return to fiat because you can buy your beers, meals and toilet paper and because you are involved in lots of projects locally you can have your own income stream coming in from different places.

wasting hundreds of thousands on mainstream advertising purely for the hopes of getting a few naive 'buyers' is short sighted.. compared to getting organised and making your location "bitcoin accepted" which is beneficial for all and more long term.

and all it costs is a couple cups of coffee/beers

The proposal was nice but considering the huge amount of bitcoins involved and the money to be used for such information campaign is just very big. If I am going to implement bitcoin mainstreaming let us start by meeting small merchants in the community like your friends who have a small store, a barbershop, a small coffee shop. Start with a small group like 10 to 20 people then start by posting posters accepting bitcoin on the stalls. Its a small move with small capital to begin but if you can invite and orient at least 1 additional merchant weekly it will be big in the future.

instead of all this and wasting money start a business with a lot less than what you are suggesting.
for example starting a website like Amazon or ebay is not going to const 100BTC but the effect of it can be bigger than any advertisement you can do.

Just 100 bitcoins helping it to go mainstream is not at all possible. Compared to the paper money that's in circulation, 100 bitcoin doesn't make even a small change. As Op quoted the creation of separate URL, groups, communities will help in getting more popularity but it won't help to mainstream.

ok lets seriousy evaluate this point as this is the point involving the kickstarter/fundraising reason


imagine getting an american to stand in the street for 8 hours a day. ($7.50minwage/h = $60/day) ink and paper for say 500 pamphlets ($40)

so $100 to hand out 500 pamphlets(20cents each)* to totally random people.

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imagine you want a 30second tv advert, in the simplicity style of showing someone buying something like they would with applepay.. but bitcoin instead.. would cost you $350k to feature it during prime shows like 'the big bang theory' which is for techno-geeks. viewer numbers make it cost 2 cents per viewer.

imagine though. how many people actually take notice of adverts if that advert is only shown once..
usually an advert needs to be shown several times to actually get people to take note.. so again expect 20cents* for someone actually receive it in their conscious mind.

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*this 20cents a person is not the cost to get people interested. but just the cost to get to a point someone has properly read/viewed it. the uptake of demand for more info beyond this is usually only 1% or less..
meaning the costs are $20+ for an interested party to seek out info

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knowing it can cost $20 to get someone moderately/significantly interested
be creative.
go to forex, stocks, commodities, investments and money business forums/chatrooms. (free) and TARGET the real demography that would be interested..

hang around coffee shops next to finance businesses, credit unions, retailers around lunchtimes when you know the finance employee's have their lunchbreak

dont waste $20 so easily per person.

not only that, it's a problem of the bitcoin, yeah I know it must soon be done from administration of. but I think the thing to do is to do promotion for bitcoin, it will make bitcoin become popular and mainstream

This is the most important thing to do, if there are more people who use Bitcoin because of certain features it has, it automatically pushes the price up, as opposed to more people investing out of pure speculative interest.

What I'm saying is that by attracting more people who actually make use of Bitcoin has a more stable influence on the price and it's far better to promote use case scenarios as opposed to only talking about the value.

Fuck that, the media has always portrayed bitcoin as something negative only used by criminals.

Better leave them out of this, or they will portray Bitcoin as something ridiculous used by extremists.

We need to show that bitcoin is used by normal people, because people are idiots and you have to tell them like they are 5 year olds.

While a lot of this isn't a bad idea, the thing is it is simply not easy to put something like that together (even if you're working with some considerable amount like $700k) and for a lot of people, they simply don't care whether or not someone gets something like this, it'll be something cool you might get a few hundred to a few thousand users with, but a lot will likely just use it for cash and then leave the Bitcoin economy. Getting them to join isn't as simple as this, although a lot of the marketing ideas might be worth something.