The most irritating bitcoin misconception that needs explaining?

[coincoin3]

Good idea, most people really do not know what is bitcoin, too many people hold irrational beliefs Ponzi scheme.

[Mjolnir]

Most annoying misconception? If I had .001 BTC for every time someone talked about the "CEO of bitcoin," I'd be rich. Explain that bitcoin is decentralized, and doesn't have a CEO.

[slowlyslowly]

Hi
to me its that people get all confused about the numbers and it puts them off unnecessarily. Most people drop maths in high school and so anything "mathematical' as they might see it is confusing and therefore a turn off.
For example they are told some or all of the following whenever they read about bitcoin
1. there are 21 million bitcoins of which 12 million have been mined
2. large rises and falls in the bitcoin in the bitcoin 

Whenever I am explaining bitcoin to a newbie I try to put the thing in simple maths

eg for 1 above I use the number 12. I say imagine we create our own currency where the only units are whole numbers that when multiplied by another we end up with 12 . eg 12 and 1, 6 and 2, 3 and 4 . Thus we have 6 units in the whole of our currency. These can then be divided into many subparts just like 100 cents make up 1 dollar unit
 Bitcoin is the same just with a more complicated formula that means there are only 21 million not 6 units.

eg for 2 above I explain the difference between using and holding.

Using - if a retailer wants 1 bitcoin for a product then look at the current bitcoin price to buy 1 bitcoin. The retailer of course will have already done this so the 1 bitcoin price will be within a few cents/dollars of the credit card or cash price. if you want to buy with bitcoin buy the 1 coin you need then and there and then do the transaction - this gets rid of any bitcoin price fluctuations. if it does start to move the retailer will adjust the bitcoin price to future customers not you eg it may become 1.01 bitcoins to buy tomorrow.

Holding - basically bitcoin is being speculated just like shares can be. usually there is enough information about a company that its share price does not have the ride bitcoin has had ( and will continue to have). But nobody knows what the longer term settling point for bitcoin is. Since most people have little in the way of savings I say to have more than say a few percent of their savings in bitcoin is playing with fire. I also say if they are to buy to hold do not buy until there are exchanges in place in their own country that have some controls on them eg escrow/trust systems so your money does not disappear even if the exchange goes bust ( i use the travel agent analogy here)

good luck with your project - it is much needed

[GreedyBoy]

Why the idea that miners can make changes to the protocolis is so bad?

[Bitcoin For Dummies]

Who can explain why Bitcoin is not Ponzi in under 2 minutes so that even an idiot will understand it?
We are collecting good points.

[S4VV4S]

Who can explain why Bitcoin is not Ponzi in under 2 minutes so that even an idiot will understand it?
We are collecting good points.

Explain what a Ponzi is and how money is distributed,
Then do the same for Bitcoin 

[Erdogan]

Who can explain why Bitcoin is not Ponzi in under 2 minutes so that even an idiot will understand it?
We are collecting good points.

In a Ponzi, the scam is hidden from the participants. In bitcoin noone can give you a promise, the fact that there is nothing behind it is completely in the open.

That is why it is more like a pyramid scheme. Who can debunk that in 2 minutes?

[Bitcoin For Dummies]

Who can explain why Bitcoin is not Ponzi in under 2 minutes so that even an idiot will understand it?
We are collecting good points.

In a Ponzi, the scam is hidden from the participants. In bitcoin noone can give you a promise, the fact that there is nothing behind it is completely in the open.

That is why it is more like a pyramid scheme. Who can debunk that in 2 minutes?

Good point!

[Bitcoin For Dummies]

Thank you all guys, here is the result of this thread!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kImBgWDgIlA&feature=youtu.be

[Bitcoin For Dummies]

Are you happy with it?

[meawleir21]

The new very annoying thing is "dude, bitcoin just closed and announced bankruptcy" and this is the expression of allot of people who heard about MTGOX closure.

[Bitcoin For Dummies]

yeah true, but that will go away within few weeks or months
we would like to cover the "evergreen" myths first

[Bitcoin For Dummies]

ok we are probably going to do why bitcoin has value