Bitcoin Forum

Last week news got out that Dominica will be the first nation in the world to use Bitcoin as an official currency. Even though Dominica can hardly be called a big country, it still is a big step for cryptocurrencies in general. For all we know, children will be learning about this small country in future history and economics lessons as the nation that helped pave the way for worldwide Bitcoin adoption. Whatever the future may hold, it’s worth to take a look at some other places that could benefit from Bitcoin as well.

http://www.cryptocoinsnews.com/news/dominica-bitcoin-drop-inspire-repel/2014/08/30

But, what will happen to the public opinion if this is a failure? Any comments?

Not happening ever in Dominica! Heads of Government in the Caricom region just won't allow it.

Well it totally depends how those drops play out! If done right they may be a success. By using Bitcoin and not a proprietary new currency, they at least make sure the currency won't go bust immediately after being spread!

If the government can see green with it and instead see it as a threat to its own currency, then yeah Im sure that we will read about them in the history books are kids or grand kids will bring home.

Yes absolutely its would be a great success as well another great achievement for bitcoin and its adopters.We are talking here about the whole country getting a drop of bit means more than 60% in rough figure who are not already onto cryptos of them will surely get into cryptos.

I dont know, but i think...no.

Governments don't want Bitcoin. There's no incentive in this for the Government of Dominica to allow this or use Bitcoin. this is possibly a scam I haven't come across this article in Caribbean news. So it's more likely a scam being spread across the Bitcoin Network.

Probably not. Free money is never a good thing.

They're not going to replace their current currency with bitcoin. A group of organisations is just planning a massive, nationwide drop to popularise bitcoin.

Whatever the outcome, it's a great idea imho


How can this possibly fail? You mean no one will claim the BTC, or everyone will try to sell it for fiat straight away?

some people call me a pessimist, sceptic, etc. yet i call myself a realist. so lets get real and think up the plausible scenario

scenario 1
70k leaflets hand delivered to each house, with brief explanation of what bitcoin is, a link to where they can download a phone app and message that tells people to go to a beach location with their leaflet and someone from coinapult will send them bitcoin to the phone app that amounts to maybe $1.
part of the leaflet would most probably mention that they can also redeem the coin for FIAT by walking to the aspen assurance tent right next door.

 
scenario 2
70k leaflets littered on the streets due to an actual air drop from a plane, with brief explanation of what bitcoin is, a link to where they can download a phone app and message that tells people to go to a beach location with their leaflet and someone from coinapult will send them bitcoin to the phone app that amounts to maybe $1.
part of the leaflet would most probably mention that they can also redeem the coin for FIAT by walking to the aspen assurance tent right next door.

i truly hope that the explanation has something like:
"what to do if not interested: these bitcoins are valued between 98c and $1.02 so do not throw it away, instead speak with neighbours and friends to see if they wish to buy it from you as they may be more interested"

to atleast get some local exchanging happening between the people

I believe it really does depend on how they approach this. It can either go terribly wrong or work out really well and be a success. This is pretty much a make or break in a way for bitcoin because if it goes really well it will be given praise but if it goes wrong and does not become a success it could become the centre of a huge debate with many more reasons why it's bad than good.

This is a brilliant campaign idea. It would also adapt to larger countries like the Philippines if it is targeted specifically at such things as a disaster or children living in poverty.

What happens if it fails? Will it repel other countries from trying the same?

I am pessimistic about the drop. The ecosystem of BTC in Dominica is not built up yet. The citizens have nothing knowledge about BTC and don't know how to use it.

Bitcoin's entire history has been full of failures. But it always rises and meets the next challenge all the wiser.

A possibility for sure, in my opinion a bit bearish about how the drop will be implemented in practice and the services the island nation will be able to spend their coins at.

Not including all the internet stores of course, but in person locations.
That said will remain neutral until we see what happens.

In a way it still is nothing more than an experiment, until now a rather successful one that has grasped traction in the real financial world! In a way I'd say "just do it and try it out!" and we'll see whether or not the whole thing works out in the end!

This will fail because it's most likely the amount given will be ridiculously small. They don't have any BTC to begin with! They're waiting for people to give them the BTC which they will later redistribute.

Will be successful. Its adoption is given by the central government. The population will get to know and spend BTC. It will be set good example for Bitcoin industry.

The most fair way would be to randomly distribute public addresses to the populace. Then after the loading process (whatever means is chosen) is done, randomly distribute the private keys to be swept into spendable wallets.

What will happen whit the BTCs they get? Will they just be unused?

It would be a big step for Bitcoin but government wont allow It.

I doubt that it's going to be a big success, but it will be an interesting experiment and we will be able to see what disadvantages still need to be considered for future drops. And we can learn what still needs to be optimized in order to make Bitcoin attractive to the common public!

Read the terms. The funding for the "Bitcoin drop" is from suckers people who donate money for it. The people behind the "Bitcoin drop" aren't putting up the money.

My guess is 90% of the BTC "dropped" will never get spent, and will forever remain permanently locked in the blockchain.

I'm sorry, and I'm all for bitcoin, but this idea is ridiculous.  What's the average person going to get?  Maybe $5, so 0,011 BTC?  In general, these are fishermen and others who work for low wages, and for many people, their biggest investment is probably some sheep / goats, maybe a cow, etc.  You're going to spam the entire island via SMS letting them know they now have 0.011 BTC?  They're going to laugh at it as if it's just some huge joke, and make fun of the stupid mainlanders while sitting around enjoying dinner and drinks that night.

That's the most likely result.  Trust me, these people aren't abandoning cash for bitcoin any time soon.

And they're sure to pocket a percentage of the donations.

Interesting aspect..

You are missing the point. This even is not about these islanders starting to use Bitcoin, it s all about the event and positive marketing effect of that event. People in the rest of the world hear about, people read about it, people get wallets, buy Bitcoin, use Bitcoin. To put it differently, it adds up to general BTC acceptance and we need a lot more of that.

Ohhh, so this isn't about the 70,000 Dominicans?  We're just exploiting them for a marketing gimmick?

Phew, glad we got that cleared up.  I thought there might be some ill intentions here or something...

It's not about how much is given. I always hear that people in developing nations are ignorant and stupid. Obviously there needs to be training in how they can benefit from the technology. There needs to be a long term plan to help developing nations use cryptocurrencies. I would like to see a think tank develop such a plan.

The drop seems to me like a waste of money. That money would be better spent in a grassroots effort to educate the people about Bitcoin first by actually having some places where it could be used. Show people what it is first and make them want to know more. Starting with an air drop like this doesn't really feel like it's going to have much impact.

I do see your point, but note that the drop will come together with some educational/explanatory campaign (I hope). And it's very hard to get people interested in bitcoin if they completely don't know what it is, don't have any of it, don't know how to get it, they simply may not be interested in educating themselves. It's best to give them some small (but not to small) amount and they're more likely to seek education/information even on their own.

I agree. As said above air drops like this are generally not very successful and the people who receive the coins generally just sell them if they do anything with them at all.

Which air drops are you referring to?
I'm only aware of Aurora (other 'nation coins' were mostly scams). But this one would much different than the AUR one, for many reasons, main one being bitcoin is already established with big infrastructure, and success of bitcoin doesn't at all depend on success of the drop.

People is free to use btc anywhere they like, if they have a pc and internet.

Fiat currencies will go under, and it will not be pretty. Will people, in the internet age, fall for the fiat trap again? Possibly not. People are much more knowledgeable today and it could be that cryptocurrencies will partially replace failed fiat currencies...

Yes in my opinion.It's like showing a right track to people lost track and set them free from ongoing dilemma of conservative financial bound.