A local crypto project at my university to attract newbies

[1miau]

Currently I’m trying to build up a little crypto project limited to my local university in Germany. I’ve launched it just a few days ago and will have a look if there is any demand and if it’s possible to manage it the way I’ve planned it. Increasing the number of people using Crypto is always a good goal and I’m willing to put some effort into it to arouse interest of Newbies for crypto.
The project will not be that big and managed in a decentralized way by several members of the project. I’m planning to pick some valuable members to be admins there and help me managing the group when they have gained my trust. The number of admins will depend on the total number of users, if there is not enough demand, I would be able to manage it with another user which I trust and know from another site.

How will it work?

Everyone will be able to join or leave the project whenever he/she wants and spend time how much is available. During examination phases time can be very limited and there will also be a point when my time gets limited due to study work. Everyone how it’s comfortable for them, it’s a voluntary and decentralized project.

The main part will be exactly the thing why many people are scared to take a try for crypto: making mistakes because they don’t know the tech, the details and how to use it. I will present some known topics which are important for Newbies before they start:

- general facts about BTC and crypto like history, what is BTC, how is it working (mining) and which other cryptocurrencies are existing
- list of known beginner mistakes
- possibilities to store crypto safe like sorts of wallets and best exchanges
- risks and opportunities of other crypto investments (ICOs) or better how to avoid getting scammed by them
- additional things like privacy and a short overview of different altcoins

An important point will be to present not much technical stuff at the beginning to avoid confusing new users but some tech for those who are willing to look at it. A short conclusion of how Bitcoin is working (mining should be enough for example). If someone is interested to have more knowledge about tech there will be also interesting things.

Joining the project will be completely without risk, no need to invest existing money, that’s another point to make it beginner-friendly. There are quite a few ways to earn a few BTC without risk and I will list popular opportunities. I’m sure many people are scared of losing money because of the picture drawn of Bitcoin in the media which I deem as an important factor why people don’t trust BTC because they don’t know it.

I’ll also encourage new users in our group to suggest new topics to discuss if they found interesting ones.

The target group is huge – over 40,000 students are member of the university here and I’m very confident to attract some of them joining the project. It will offer a great opportunity to gain knowledge about crypto and as well as owning the first Satoshis. I hope that many of them will be thankful that they get to know about the crypto space and joined – back in 2019
When it’s going fine, it’s also possible to expand our project to other universities but first, I have to see if it works.

Of course, it will be possible to participate anonymous, only requirement will be an e-mail address and a Telegram account because the majority of the project will be managed in our German Telegram group (which is not built yet).
I’m curious how many participants are willing to join, if there is no demand, I’ll discard the project but I don’t hope so. I’ve distributed a few posters and will distribute some more during the following days. Yet, I haven’t received any request, but there are holidays right now.


I think it’s worth a try to encourage other people to do a bit research about BTC and try it. The main reason to stay away is just fear of doing something wrong because they don’t know how to use it yet.


Feel free to post good suggestions or improvements. I'll look how the project is proceeding and make adjustments if necessary.  

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[joniboini]

Can I know why you talk about KYC disadvantage and XRP? I mean, that's kinda a 'heavy' topic, and it's still being debate in the crypto 'industry'. I think you should instead list about interesting topics that they can learn further (including heavy politics), so, instead of talking about that subject, you can list subjects that's controversial or at least interesting to read further. For example:
- KYC dilemma.
- Crypto exchanges practice in general (wash trading, etc)
- How to get crypto without investment (like bounty)
- STO & ICO, etc

[theyoungmillionaire]

Good Project

I am a firm believer that education is the key to spread awareness about bitcoin or cryptocurrency.

I have read one article that will help you on starting your project,  it is from Start or join a group or cause.
I will just mention some points that might help you along the way:

•   Organizing your structure. Once you’ve got your people together, you need to think about how you can structure your group. One of the best ways to organize a group is by levels of involvement. Who to trust as your group admin or your generals will depend on their level of awareness towards bitcoin or cryptocurrency.

•   Key organizers and core group members. Generally, the people who have been around from the start and have lots of enthusiasm take on the major roles. In the case of a school, a teacher or another member of staff may be involved as a key leader. These people will usually be heavily involved in the main projects of the group, such as organizing meetings, events, volunteers and campaigns.

•   Executive and coordinating roles. These people will generally be the leaders and representatives of the group.

•   General members. These people will participate in the general discussion and attend meetings. They may want to move into coordinating or organizing roles later down the track, or get really involved in a specific project.

•   Supporters. These people may not be actively involved in the group, but will help you get your message out there. For example, they might sign petitions, send emails, attend events or donate money.

•   Keeping up the enthusiasm. It’s often tricky to keep a group inspired and excited about your cause. There are a number of things to avoid or watch.

Check if you’re overloading someone, if someone is given too much information in a short period of time, they can burn out and may leave the group. Make sure you regularly check that you’re not loading the same people up with all the information, all the time. Reassure them that they can discuss any issues or concerns at a group meeting or in private with core group member.

•   Ask around. One of the easiest ways to find out what organizations are out there is to ask your friends and family. There’s a good chance that someone will be able to put you in touch with the right people.

•   Keep an eye on the media. If a group is promoting itself (and its cause) you may find them in the newspapers, television or radio. Also, look for posters and flyers advertising events or publicizing an issue, often they have contact details that will put you in touch with a key member of the group.

In addition, I suggest that instead of using telegram group, you can use discord.
In discord you can create your own server, you can create text channel and voice channel there.

Examples:
Text Channel


Voice Channel

You can create music voice channel just for the chill or audio books (bitcoin-related books). If you have meetings you can just go to Meetings voice channel.

Creating staff channel and modlog will help you on monitoring actions in your server and chat with your core leaders privately.

View image

You can also invite bot to automate the sever.
Example:
Welcome Bot


If you want some auto roles, make sure to set 10 or 15 minutes’ delay before sending messages. It will give them ample time to read rules and other information you want them to know before chatting.

View image

See you around.

Good luck!

[1miau]

Can I know why you talk about KYC disadvantage and XRP? I mean, that's kinda a 'heavy' topic, and it's still being debate in the crypto 'industry'.

I've not written about these topics yet but I thought at least about an article regarding KYC. Most issues arise when people are not aware how things work in crypto and identity theft through KYC scams is a big problem if someone is not aware of it. Mainly such things like to protect your personal data and don't send it to every shady ICO / Exchange (I would generally recommend to avoid handing out personal data to any third party since big exchanges can also be hacked (and were also)). Of course, there are far more reasons why most KYC processes make no sense don't matter if it's for the sake of the customers, the company or money laundering but that would be another wall of text here. 
I'm still not sure if I'm going to write an article about risks of investing in XRP, most likely I will just link some good ones in German language. Like you've said it is very complicated to understand (at least XRP) and it would be for advanced users.

Most articles are not written yet completely and the total number will depend on the time I have to write them.

I think you should instead list about interesting topics that they can learn further (including heavy politics), so, instead of talking about that subject, you can list subjects that's controversial or at least interesting to read further. For example:
- KYC dilemma.
- Crypto exchanges practice in general (wash trading, etc)
- How to get crypto without investment (like bounty)
- STO & ICO, etc

Yes, that's a good compilation. The basics will be enough to give it a start. 

I am a firm believer that education is the key to spread awareness about bitcoin or cryptocurrency.

+1
That's it, especially for very technical things like crypto. It's always the same when you try something new: at first you don't know much about it but if you get some advice it will help understanding things better.

I have read one article that will help you on starting your project,  it is from Start or join a group or cause.
I will just mention some points that might help you along the way:

[...]

Very good article and I'm surprised how close it comes to the steps I took so far. I have set up some rules (around 10 pages, I tried to keep it short but still informative) and most points are already included like some core team members managing the main stuff, admins for the group and normal members. Everything is possible to scale up (if necessary). And of course a welcome message. 

In addition, I suggest that instead of using telegram group, you can use discord.
In discord you can create your own server, you can create text channel and voice channel there.
[...]

Honestly, I have to admit that I don't know Discord very much and never used it. I have heard from it, but it's very unpopular here in Germany what I know so far (at least in my city). Out of 100 people 2 are using it, so my estimation.
If there are many users interested to have a Discord channel I can imagine to implement it (with a dedicated admin who has more knowledge than me regarding Discord  )

The main issue I expect are the barriers that people won't join if I use Discord as main channel (and I'm not familiar with it). Right now, new participants have only to send a mail, receive a welcome message and a few instructions that communication will be done on Telegram. So, they have only to install Telegram and they are members of our group (my experience is that already 25-30 out of 100 people have Telegram).
I hope it's not a too big barrier, only time will tell.

See you around.

Good luck!

Many thanks!
And also many thanks for your great reply! 

[buwaytress]

Hello OP!

Just for my curiosity, do you expect the medium of communication to be in English? I'm in a neighbouring country (where they say the language is a cousin of yours) and almost everything that's local (or even those claiming to be international) tend to be in the local language. Which, by all means, is great, but seeing some of the Bitcoin discussions happening in my own mother tongue, I can't help but feel the essence of ideas or even technicalities are lost or even misrepresented simply because of language nuance.

Sharing my own experience: other than the academic aspects, do spare a thought for the social and practical aspects people tend to overlook, for example:
- tech guys tend to overshadow or dominate discussions. Make sure moderators (offline and on) are able to observe to ensure the newcomers are taken care of
- fintech discussions tend to be male-oriented and in some cases, the resulting style or even content of discussion leads to exaggerated machismo. Not everyone's cup of tea
 

Can I know why you talk about KYC disadvantage and XRP? I mean, that's kinda a 'heavy' topic, and it's still being debate in the crypto 'industry'. I think you should instead list about interesting topics that they can learn further (including heavy politics), so, instead of talking about that subject, you can list subjects that's controversial or at least interesting to read further. For example:
- KYC dilemma.
- Crypto exchanges practice in general (wash trading, etc)
- How to get crypto without investment (like bounty)
- STO & ICO, etc

Actually, I think KYC is an important topic - privacy is not only an aspect of Bitcoin, with GDPR here people do need to know their rights. I'm curious why OP would talk about Ripple specifically though... it's not nearly as interesting as almost any other alternative currency in the top 10 now.

[1miau]

Hello OP!

Just for my curiosity, do you expect the medium of communication to be in English? I'm in a neighbouring country (where they say the language is a cousin of yours) and almost everything that's local (or even those claiming to be international) tend to be in the local language. Which, by all means, is great, but seeing some of the Bitcoin discussions happening in my own mother tongue, I can't help but feel the essence of ideas or even technicalities are lost or even misrepresented simply because of language nuance.

Hi 

Language for communication as well as for articles is planned to be in German but I will also include some texts written in English. Like sharing links of good articles posted on Bitcointalk or other websites. Most topics I posted here so far are available in German and English whereby I think the German ones have more quality because of the language barrier.
I agree that translations also from English to German can affect the meaning but for me it's actually other way round that I'm more comfortable to describe difficult things better in my own language.
However, if the members of the project tend to like more articles in English, that should be possible, too.

Sharing my own experience: other than the academic aspects, do spare a thought for the social and practical aspects people tend to overlook, for example:
- tech guys tend to overshadow or dominate discussions. Make sure moderators (offline and on) are able to observe to ensure the newcomers are taken care of
- fintech discussions tend to be male-oriented and in some cases, the resulting style or even content of discussion leads to exaggerated machismo. Not everyone's cup of tea

Personally, I like it to keep things simple and especially for crypto related content it's better to avoid overfeeding new members (like you said). I'm still very new to crypto (joined in 2018 without much prior knowledge) so I hope to know a bit where to add content and what's important to cover in articles. Someone who joined back in 2011 would explain things different because the surrounding stuff also changed (in my opinion).

If there should be problems I reserve the right to ban members like in ICO shitcoin groups. No FUD 
Just kidding, I hope everyone will be interested in a discussion understandable for everyone.

Actually, I think KYC is an important topic - privacy is not only an aspect of Bitcoin, with GDPR here people do need to know their rights. I'm curious why OP would talk about Ripple specifically though... it's not nearly as interesting as almost any other alternative currency in the top 10 now.

That's true, I don't think much about XRP. The reason to write about it was because I've thought when a newbie is searching interesting altcoins and is finding an article shilling XRP on the web he might consider it as a good investment - which XRP isn't. Therefore, I planned to write a few words about it or just link an article on the web which points out the disadvantages of XRP.
Another and perhaps better idea would be a short list about the top 10 coins + selected other ones and write a few sentences about each one.

OP edited to avoid any confusions. 

[buwaytress]

Personally, I like it to keep things simple and especially for crypto related content it's better to avoid overfeeding new members (like you said). I'm still very new to crypto (joined in 2018 without much prior knowledge) so I hope to know a bit where to add content and what's important to cover in articles. Someone who joined back in 2011 would explain things different because the surrounding stuff also changed (in my opinion).

If there should be problems I reserve the right to ban members like in ICO shitcoin groups. No FUD 
Just kidding, I hope everyone will be interested in a discussion understandable for everyone.

Trust me, experience and time spent "in the space" doesn't do much for understanding. You're probably already a few rungs above the average. I wouldn't call myself the most technically savvy person but I know plenty of people who got into Bitcoin years before I did (I'm a 2016'er) who still wouldn't know how to sign a transaction, much less explain to a newcomer how to use Bitcoin.

As a newbie, I found the writings of Andreas Antonopoulos the easiest to settle into. His books are a great introduction and maybe can show you a good alternative to designing a "course". I still find them so practical even today!

Good luck again!

[1miau]

Trust me, experience and time spent "in the space" doesn't do much for understanding. You're probably already a few rungs above the average.

I hope you're right, LOL 
A key factor is reading and the willingness to learn in my opinion and that's what I'm going to tell as a main rule in my project. Without doing own research everyone would have problems to make decisions and always need someone who is teaching them everything. 
That won't work long-term.

"give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime"

As a newbie, I found the writings of Andreas Antonopoulos the easiest to settle into. His books are a great introduction and maybe can show you a good alternative to designing a "course". I still find them so practical even today!

Good luck again!

Thanks for the suggestion. Currently, I don't have the time to read whole books but if you know some useful articles available on the internet I could read it when I've some free time. Or link it for participants of my project if they are interested.

[monstercool]

It is a good project and I am one of many who know about cryptocurrency but want to know more but i dont have any clue where to start.
But I can not understand German and I get it that you can explain the difficult topics in your own language very easily but german language will attrack only those people who can speak german.
I wanted to learn and know more about crytocurrencies how it work and what to do but i need the basic foundation which i am lacking

[KingScorpio]

Currently I’m trying to build up a little crypto project limited to my local university in Germany. I’ve launched it just a few days ago and will have look if there is any demand and if it’s possible to manage it the way I’ve planned it. Increasing the number of people using Bitcoin is always a good goal and I’m willing to put some effort into it to arouse interest of Newbies for crypto.
The project will not be that big and managed in a decentralized way by several members of the project. I’m planning to pick some valuable members to be admins there and help me managing the group when they have gained my trust. The number of admins will depend on the total number of users, if there is not enough demand, I would be able to manage it with another user which I trust and know from another site.

How will it work?

Everyone will be able to join or leave the project whenever he/she wants and spend time how much is available. During examination phases time can be very limited and there will also be a point when my time gets limited due to study work. Everyone how it’s comfortable for them, it’s a voluntary and decentralized project.

The main part will be exactly the thing why many people are scared to take a try for crypto: making mistakes because they don’t know the tech, the details and how to use it. I will present some known topics which are important for Newbies before they start:

- general facts about BTC and crypto like history, what is BTC, how is it working (mining) and which other cryptocurrencies are existing
- list of known beginner mistakes
- possibilities to store crypto safe like sorts of wallets and best exchanges
- risks and opportunities of other crypto investments (ICOs) or better how to avoid getting scammed by them
- additional things like privacy and a short overview of different altcoins

An important point will be to present not much technical stuff at the beginning to avoid confusing new users but some tech for those who are willing to look at it. A short conclusion of how Bitcoin is working (mining should be enough for example). If someone is interested to have more knowledge about tech there will be also interesting things.

Joining the project will be completely without risk, no need to invest existing money, that’s another point to make it beginner-friendly. There are quite a few ways to earn a few BTC without risk and I will list popular opportunities. I’m sure many people are scared of losing money because of the picture drawn of Bitcoin in the media which I deem as an important factor why people don’t trust BTC because they don’t know it.

I’ll also encourage new users in our group to suggest new topics to discuss if they found interesting ones.

The target group is huge – over 30,000 students are member of the university here and I’m very confident to attract some of them joining the project. It will offer a great opportunity to gain knowledge about crypto and as well as owning the first Satoshis. I hope that many of them will be thankful that they get to know about the crypto space and joined – back in 2019
When it’s going fine, it’s also possible to expand our project to other universities but first, I have to see if it works.

Of course, it will be possible to participate anonymous, only requirement will be an e-mail address and a Telegram account because the majority of the project will be managed in our German Telegram group (which is not built yet).
I’m curious how many participants are willing to join, if there is no demand, I’ll discard the project but I don’t hope so. I’ve distributed a few posters and will distribute some more during the following days. Yet, I haven’t received any request, but there are holidays right now.


One of the distributed posters


I think it’s worth a try to encourage other people to do a bit research about BTC and try it. The main reason to stay away is just fear of doing something wrong because they don’t know how to use it yet.


Feel free to post good suggestions or improvements. I'll look how the project is proceeding and make adjustments if necessary.  

so everybody has to learn about bitcoin, if best, the children in school should also learn about it so the profits of the bitcoin miners are better? right?

the incentive to install as much as possible pointless calculation power and of course making the Bitcoin whales as rich as possible, no reason that has anything to do with usefullness for all and the greater cause.

regards

[1miau]

It is a good project and I am one of many who know about cryptocurrency but want to know more but i dont have any clue where to start.

The forum is a good start if you are planning to search for different things. Here are many interesting tutorials / guides, someone made a detailed list here: [GUIDES] on Bitcointalk. Index thread (until there is a dedicated subforum?)

Or another list, but shorena was not very active lately, so the list is a little bit outdated: [Overview] The one thread to link them all

If you have a more specific question you can ask in Beginners and Help of for very technical questions in Bitcoin Technical Support

But I can not understand German and I get it that you can explain the difficult topics in your own language very easily but german language will attrack only those people who can speak german.

Yes, it's a local project limited to my city and I'm not sure yet if it works. It's still possible to expand the project but it depends on whether enough people are willing to be admin and arrange things. So for now it's only local.

I wanted to learn and know more about crytocurrencies how it work and what to do but i need the basic foundation which i am lacking

For the basic question the two links posted above are a very good read and hopefully you'll find what you're searching. 

[orions.belt19]

Hey, I suggest you look into this site or this thread to add to your teaching material. You may be able to use some of the videos or guides mentioned there. Its condensed into various topics so it's easy to navigate. There are some books and news sites also cited on the website which you can use. I think you'll find most basic topics which a first timer crypto-user should get there hands on/should know about.
You can showcase some of the documentaries to the members of your project, I sometimes understand better by watching videos so this may be of help for those who are able to learn better through visual aids.

Kudos to your project, mate. Hope it works out. 

[1miau]

Hey, I suggest you look into this site or this thread to add to your teaching material. You may be able to use some of the videos or guides mentioned there. Its condensed into various topics so it's easy to navigate. There are some books and news sites also cited on the website which you can use. I think you'll find most basic topics which a first timer crypto-user should get there hands on/should know about.
You can showcase some of the documentaries to the members of your project, I sometimes understand better by watching videos so this may be of help for those who are able to learn better through visual aids.

Kudos to your project, mate. Hope it works out. 

Thanks, very useful tips for my project. It's a huge list where I'll find good content for sure, I didn't know that there is such a site. Thx for sharing