Bitcoin Forum

I wrote a beginner's guide to Bitcoin. It goes right for the bit that really matters -- the real meat-and-potatoes that all the other nonsense happens around. If you can't get things quite straight in your head, this intro will help.

It starts like this:

Forget everything you've heard. Bitcoin is complicated like magic is complicated. It's not. But things are told to you in an obscure way, amidst a lot of distracting nonsense, which leaves you bewildered.

[...]

...and continues here: http://medium.com/@majc/the-real-magic-of-bitcoin-82476c2fb40b (http://medium.com/@majc/the-real-magic-of-bitcoin-82476c2fb40b)

It is interesting approach!  I like it. You should be proud of yourself

I enjoyed this article, good job on writing this.

A lot of my friends say its just "magic money" and dont take serious Bitcoin, its hard to explain to computer illiterates it seem  :(

There are people who just aren't born to deal with technical stuff, we can't be really mad at them, haha.

Good! Thank you.

Ha, they might be right! ;)
Just tell them what the real magic is. Point them to this post and see if it works.

Edit: I think this belongs here...

real magic of bitcoin = financial freedom  :P

You're not wrong.

But if you get in too late you have as much as freedom as being poor in fiat  :'(

I enjoy the financial freedom, but Im having trouble eventually getting the bit coins back into my bank account, does anyone have any suggestions?

Yeah, this too, the little bitcoin I have im scared to withdraw some in fiat form because ive heard histories about how the bank account of the person that tried to withdraw got frozen.

With more and more merchants accepting bitcoin, we will be able to spend our bitcoin to buy whatever we want (soon hopefully) and won't need to sell them for fiat. :)

Until that time has come, I will use localbitcoins if I need to sell my bitcoin. :)

Previously, everyone was thinking about the cashless payments as magical money, because people can't feel its physical form, but now the times change and cashless payments became mainstream long time ago

we are still on 2nd phase of bitcoin, still not late ;D
many newcomers will become bitcoin adopters in the future :P


we still need newly adopted who buy some bitcoin
if there's a lot merchant and bitcoin spender, it will make sell pressure on market

Well, if bitcoin becomes that popular, those merchants may keep part of the bitcoin payment (rather than selling it right away), and they could pay their employees and pay their bills with bitcoin. :)

Nice guide.

What your guide emphasises is that Bitcoin is not at all like old money but a niftily combined accounting system which anyone with coins can update

We need this kind of perspective to see what a paradigm shift this represents.

It just needs a tipping point to be reached in understanding and adoption will soar.

Ah a very Fresh look at it. I liked the "While every bitcoin in existence remains unmoved, bitcoin-ownership moves around as freely (and directly) as a quarter in the street. But there’s a big difference: the transferability of bitcoin-ownership is much better than a quarter in the street." part.  ;D

Well done, I will add this to my "Explain bitcoins to Noobs" Bookmark.  ;D

 

Yes, although I would add this pathway too:
Tipping point in understanding --> Growth in development --> Tipping point in slickness --> Growth in adoption.

Good development follows good understanding (of what we're really developing).

Good! Thank you. Spread it around!

What are everyone's thoughts (or votes) on what to write next?
A solid explanation of wallets/keys makes sense, but after that?

(Edit: the confusion around intrinsic value seems to come up a lot in offline discussion...)

Forget the get-rich-quick stuff (forget what KimNam is selling, and yunkie is buying).

It's a circus.

When a person gains a shitload of cash by stumbling into it more-or-less accidentally (and for nothing), that is not financial freedom. That's dumb luck. Right time, right place, jackpot, good for them.

When a person gains a new useful ability with their finances -- when they're suddenly able to do something with their money that they couldn't do before -- that is financial freedom. And that's not dumb luck. In fact, there's a whitepaper (http://bitcoin.org/bitcoin.pdf) which states exactly the kind of financial freedom Bitcoin is designed to give to people; exactly the kind of financial limitations Bitcoin is designed to overcome.

It's in the very first sentence of the Abstract, and the very first paragraph of the Introduction. Szabotoshi Nickamoto, it would seem, conceived of Bitcoin with the second kind of financial freedom in mind. (See OP for details).