More than a month ago, I bought one of the Royal Canadian Mint's "
$50 for $50" coins. Essentially, this series and
its likesake are marketing gimmicks to induce Canadians like myself into buying the Royal Canadian Mint's more premium offerings. The gimmick works like this: you order one of these coins and you pay the legal-tender value: no tax, and the Mint pays the shipping cost. Of course, the intrinsic value of each coin is way below the face value; none of them are loss leaders. The Mint's legislature-granted privilege of seigniorage ensures that the net profit margin on each coin is nice and fat.
But from the standpoint of the
consumer, it's a pretty enticing deal. Because each of these coins are legal tender, each of them in effect comes with a money-back guarantee
that's executed by any branch of any bank in Canada. The banks have to take 'em at face value because they are legal tender.
That's one of the reasons I said "what the hail" and bought one. But a week after
mine arrived, I got an idea...
The Secret Behind Fiat: Legal Tender Plus Force Of HabitYes, fiat has a huge advantage because it's legal tender. But it has another huge advantage: people are used to dealing in it. Even if they're convinced that fiat is the Devil, a large majority will stick with the devil they know.
This is the secret behind the network effect: people stick to what they know out of habit. Some visionaries will jump at a better solution once they see it and learn about it. But the large majority won't, simply because the familiar has the advantage of being predictable. Amongst ordinary folks, that predictability is a powerful inducement to sticking with the "old ball and chain."
This barrier, although formidable, is not insuperable. But the trick is, in my humble opinion, to gently ease or nudge people out of ordinary fiat-and-credit. Once they get used to the idea that there are other ways to accept payment, then their minds will slowly open to a better alternative. But as long as they're stuck in the familiar old rut, they won't.
Beer Expedition: Boy, Was I Close! So...earlier tonight, I loaded up the empties and brought along enough Canadian fiat to the Beer Store that's run by the Government of Ontario. (Yeah, Canada's that kinda place: at least, many provinces of Canada are.) But, I also brought that $50 coin along. Since I'm a
known drunkard valuable regular, I I thought I had a serious shot at using that $50 coin to pay for my suds. I had my patter all prepared: "$50"; "Royal Canadian Mint"; "legal tender", etc. All cunningly crafted to push that magic button in we Canucks' minds: "In co-operation with the Government of Canada..."
And I was close! The clerk I handed it to did hesitate, but he was well on his way to letting me spend the thing. He asked a senior colleague (
de facto manageress), who thumbs-downed it, but the outcome was teetering on the edge for a time. Had I been lucky, I could have bragged about using a
non-standard albeit legal tender means of payment instead of fiat or credit card to Buy Beer. From a government-owned chain, no less.
Nudging Them Softly With My SongOkay: I admit that I came (and come) across as an evangelist for the Royal Canadian Mint. But with people stuck in the rut of habit, you have to start somewhere. It's either this or something that's so recognizable that it might as well be currency - like a Starbucks or Wal-Mart gift card. Or, even,
Canadian Tire money.
In marketing lingo, what I tried tonight is called "qualifying." The idea is, to get a list of people who either bite for a mainstream-compatible entry-point or at least warm up to the idea of transacting in an unfamiliar way. Some, like that senior employee at the Beer Store I went to, will simply thumbs-down. People like that are basically destined to be late adopters: they like staying in the "tried and true" rut. But some others are more open-minded, although they do need to be subtly nudged over time towards accepting cryptocurrency. The latter, though, make for a nice "qualified" list of people for more explicit evangelization at the appropriate moment.
I know that my little experiment is very weak sauce compared to Evangelism 1.0, but it is a different way to swing people around to accepting cryptos as the mainstream's future. It advantage is that it has a shot at slowly swinging around people who prefer the safety of the familiar. People who cling to any FUD because what the FUD really tells them is that they're smart when they stick to their old familiar habits.
Presented for your inspection...and if you don't mind, I'm starting to get thirsty.
