Bitcoin Forum

Okay, so a relative of mine who has never heard of Bitcoin in her life was asking me exactly how it worked. I tried explaining, but I'm not entirely sure she got it (or she was just refusing to comprehend what I was saying -- she does that sometimes). I suppose I could show her a few of the same videos I watched when I first heard about Bitcoin, but I'm not even sure she'd even really watch them. Any tips, guys?

To getting her started, I would suggest you to help her download a thin wallet client, show her how to receive and send bitcoin payments, and help her make a wallet backup. :)

It is not easy to understand how bitcoin works technically, but for a general user, you don't really need to understand it that thoroughly.

Here is how I would describe Bitcoin to someone who hasn't heard of it before but has a fair understanding of how computers and applications work:


Obviously, I left out some information and oversimplified some others, but I think that's more than enough information to start with. A beginner can learn more about Bitcoin on his/her own more easily from that point on.

Save cryptography, mining and everything else for later on.

Its not easy to explain  bitcoin protocol to someone new . but if the person who's asking the question has some IT background he might get it after few attempts to explain it. History of bitcoins (http://historyofbitcoin.org/) is very well designed website to explain bitcoin history to someone.

 Last month a friend of mine asked me similar question as he's preparing for competitive exams and bitcoin is trending all over the world so I explained him and was successful to explain bitcoins usage as currency but when it comes to mining its not that easy... its gets more and more confusing as they try to relate it with gold mining or mining of other precious metals , so it took me 3-4 days to explain it to him how exactly its done.

That's part of the problem. She has absolutely no technical background and I have trouble explaining technical topics to people who don't even know that a combination of "turn it off, turn it back on" and "Don't download that software unless you've actually heard of it and make sure you download it from the official website when you do" can solve a lot of computer problems. But thanks for the tips, guys.

Well said.

Mining is the last thing people want to hear about. Once they already hear all the good stuff. Tell them about the other side of it :)

Explaining how bitcoin works to other people who doesn't know about it is hard. You must try explaining her the general idea on how bitcoin works and why people use it. If she wants to learn something more, try explaining how it is obtained and all the other technicalities involved. Then to make her more interested in bitcoin, try giving her a dollar or two for her to spend or keep.

Show him the bitcoin video first then only explain, it should be easier.

Thanks for the informative posts everyone! I'm learning a lot

I like to explain the whole mining situation like this...

people get 'paid' to record the transactions of other people.

making 'blocks' takes all the transactions from the last agreed upon event (another block) packages that shiz up and signs off saying... hai guys, this shit happened over here...
but to package up and sign off on those transactions they have to generate a fancy bomb looking ass stamp that gets even more intricate over time that everyone else is cool with...

that is why when a block reward is given... they also receive the transaction fees!

but then you gotta tell em that nowadays nobody on their own can be as artistic as required to generate those fancy looking stamps... they gotta get a whole room full of monkeys to work on their own part of it of the stamp

Buy her a dinner or nice trip to abroad with BTC and she will think of Bitcoin other way :)
I tried several times explain to my wife what is BTC, but before you do not spend any BTC for her she will not realize exactly thinking of you as some mad hacker :D
BR ;)

To get someone into bitcoin, you will need to explain how money is created and why the system is evil.

Tell him, "It's money of the future, if you don't read about it now, you will need to educate yourself later"
or
 "It's money of the future, if you don't read about it now, your kids will educate you when they learn about it in schools"

Install a wallet for her, let her try to receive and send coins  :) That way is the most easy to understand it. She would understand a little bit about bitcoin from that, just enough to send/receive. If she is interested she will look up all the technical specifications on the web: decentralized networks, cryptocurrency etc.
If she wants to know more you could show her the paper, videos etc;

I have the same problems when my friends ask me WTF is Bitcoin and i have problems to explain it. There should be easy to read guide to bitcoin out there. Videos are simply not enough in details (3 min video can't explain me much).

The "pizza story?" Did I miss this one? Do tell. (And I like the faucet idea. I heard through the grapevine that there is such a thing as "faucet rotators?")

That is the greatest bitcoin trade of all time lol. :D

Long story short, a bitcointalk user "laszlo" spent 10000 bitcoin (yes it is 10K btc) for a pizza in May 2010.
The original thread: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=137.0

ROFL I bet laszlo is regretting that! I sure hope he/she got some darned good pizza.

I tell to people that BTC is a diamond inside of a rock.
The more people try to "break" that rock and take the diamond out, it becomes bigger ( rock, difficulty )

It always works

Hi,

just say: IT'S BETTER  :D

now seriously, I'm quite successfull saying that bitcoins vs fiat are same as e-mails vs classic post office and it works.




no, he don't. I've caught him online some time ago, and he wrote he enjoyed his pizza, thats all. Immediatelly after that post one member sent him 1 BTC. :),  very nice gesture.

I believe you are talking about the following post. :)

Just tell them its e-money and you buy stuff online using e-money instead of money. Then slowly explain more if they are interested.

Maybe don't tell how it works. Instead, tell what you can do with it.
Average person don't need nor want to know about technical side of thing, so don't demand it from them.

When talking to someone who seems interested in Bitcoin I normally give them as many links as I can find that lead to great information.

I do the same with a youtube link saying watch this shit lol.

Exactly.
Seriously, how many of us knows how international wire transfer and television works technically lol? :D

I want to buy a pizza with 1 BTC ,then 10 year later find out pizza was worth 1 million cash.  ;D

Lol, i wish I had a bitcoin, i only have 0.01  :'(

Whatever you do don't forget to show them all the positive press Bitcoin has gotten and how much respect it is gaining all over the world as people try and understand it.  Explain the potential it has to grow mean profit for those that hold Bitcoin.

Thanks for the tips guys. I've nearly got my relative convinced if I can just get her past the fact that it's what she calls an Internet "gimmick."

yeah same happens to all of us, when my friend explained it to me i didnt get it. He pointed me to the short introduction bitcoin and i went from there.

5 bitcoins for pizza loll. that pizza must have some hot chick aka escort ready to please as well.

0.01 bitcoin is like $6.3 now, which you may be able to get a small to medium size pizza in some places. :)

Yes, try this: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=700054.0 (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=700054.0)
It's proving pretty effective so far.

tell your friend a time traveler from the future came back in time and taught an unknown team of software developers how to code bitcoin and launched it.

Just tell them it is online currency and store it nicely as you would lose your money just like in real life..

Well the video's on youtube will be your best bet. People are just to lazy to read. I find the videos of James D'Angelo the easiest for people to understand.

Find the video's here : http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgo7FCCPuylVk4luP3JAgVw

A mix of basics and more complex aspects of bitcoin and cryptograpy are explained. Those are the video's I use to get people to understand and grasp the principles of crypto currencies.

Enjoy