Hello All

[SmoothMoose]

Hello all, I have been reading on here for quite some time now. Only decided to take a run at it a few days ago.
My question is this:
I would like to know how the community feels, one could explain bitcoin in laymen terms. I argued with my (70 yrs old) grandfather for the better part of christmas dinner, as to whether or not BTC is a ponzi. He, being old, and only mildly tech savy belives it is. Using words like block chain, public ledger, change the world, crypto-currency, only seemed to make him more confused.

How is bitcoin going to get to mainstream?
And more importantly, how are we, as a community, going to explain it to the masses?
(i dont mean here read a forum newb, i mean person to person)
Also, just for fun, I like to think of BTC as 100$ bills, and LTC as change ( im a canuck, so ltc is loonies and toonies) any thoughts?
Many thanks. Hope to get off of newbies so i can speculate with the rest of ya!

[ILelectronics]

I don't understand much about the ltc, but I agree it is very hard to explain bitcoins to people. It's just like farming for your own crops but digitally, your investment is in the machines and miners you use and the more you invest the more currency you get out of it, or crops. Except it is all digital, not physical which bothers people when you try and explain bitcoins.

[SmoothMoose]

Ya I tried something like that. Like basically, your "miner" is "paid" in BTC. He couldn't get over satoshi tho, he figures, and he made a good point, that satoshi is gonna make a killing, because hes at the top of the pyramid,which he is and he will. But that doesn't make it a pyramid scheme, just makes satoshi a f****** genius lol. 

[hilariousandco]

Hello all, I have been reading on here for quite some time now. Only decided to take a run at it a few days ago.
My question is this:
I would like to know how the community feels, one could explain bitcoin in laymen terms. I argued with my (70 yrs old) grandfather for the better part of christmas dinner, as to whether or not BTC is a ponzi. He, being old, and only mildly tech savy belives it is. Using words like block chain, public ledger, change the world, crypto-currency, only seemed to make him more confused.

How is bitcoin going to get to mainstream?
And more importantly, how are we, as a community, going to explain it to the masses?
(i dont mean here read a forum newb, i mean person to person)
Also, just for fun, I like to think of BTC as 100$ bills, and LTC as change ( im a canuck, so ltc is loonies and toonies) any thoughts?
Many thanks. Hope to get off of newbies so i can speculate with the rest of ya!

Satoshi has already made a 'killing', but he hasn't spent most of it. It only a's ponzi or pyramid scheme to those who don't understand how Bitcoin works. You could argue that Banks run ponzis/pyramid scams using their twisted logic.

[SmoothMoose]

Thats where our convo got ugly, you see he's old, and he's british, and he got rooked on a really bad ponzi some years ago, something about Japanese trees lol. I tried talking about the debt cycle and the money thats backed by nothing, i even went on to explain that because someone put work in to get those coins out, they will always have value. no matter what it is, when you as a person put your time and effort into something you expect to be paid. BTC is no different. His issue, and I foresee will be most peoples issue, is that he doesn't understand the digital aspect. I suspect that until someone can adequately explain the process and the value, mainstream will be hard to win over.

[ILelectronics]

I feel like it is to our advantage that mainstream hasn't caught on yet, considering that leaves more coins for us. The thing too with bitcoins is that there is a limit to them also, there is a certain amount of them. I believe there are only 21 million, once we mine to the limit, you can't mine any more.

[hilariousandco]

Thats where our convo got ugly, you see he's old, and he's british, and he got rooked on a really bad ponzi some years ago, something about Japanese trees lol. I tried talking about the debt cycle and the money thats backed by nothing, i even went on to explain that because someone put work in to get those coins out, they will always have value. no matter what it is, when you as a person put your time and effort into something you expect to be paid. BTC is no different. His issue, and I foresee will be most peoples issue, is that he doesn't understand the digital aspect. I suspect that until someone can adequately explain the process and the value, mainstream will be hard to win over.

Haha, Bonsai trees?

Bitcoin is difficult to explain and understand, so I feel your frustration, but some people just don't want to get it, or because they can't hold it they feel it doesn’t have any real value.

[V4V]

Whats up bitcointalk

I have read tons of threads on bitcointalk but this is actually my first post.
I have done tons research and have mined cryptocurrencies. I want the decentralized
revolution to truly be the norm (within societies infrastructure).
I am so proud of how bitcoin has evolved and has become a true testament to the
theory of value.

Looking forward to becoming heavily involved within the community

v4v

[SmoothMoose]

I tend to agree to a point, i don't want the masses jumping all in right now  its too soon,they are not ready, we need the infrastructure first. But thats a double edge sword, we will need the masses if we ever hope to see the "to da moon" prices everyone gushes about. with only 21 million coins on a planet of 7 billion, eventually, if it all goes well, scarcity dictates the price will rise. imho.

[V4V]

@smoothmouse

I would have to agree with you, it most definitely is a double edge sword. The demand can definitely elevate BTC prices "to da moon" but the lack of
infrastructure can also make it come crashing down.

[WheeperPoops]

Ain't sweepin' on this but think you gotta be out just cuz it's impossible to mine about half of estimated value. Anyhow, this rocks.

[hilariousandco]

I tend to agree to a point, i don't want the masses jumping all in right now  its too soon,they are not ready, we need the infrastructure first. But thats a double edge sword, we will need the masses if we ever hope to see the "to da moon" prices everyone gushes about. with only 21 million coins on a planet of 7 billion, eventually, if it all goes well, scarcity dictates the price will rise. imho.

I don't think the masses will jump on it overnight, but hopefully it'll grow gradually along with the infrastructure and merchants.

[MonkeyDOH]

If bitcoins go up in value, more people will want to buy things with BTC

[Sigma_launch]

Hello

[BCNext.]

hello all my friends

this is a very exciting forum

[eagleEye2]

Hello,

I'm the eye of the eagel and that is enougth what you have to now about me