30 second elevator speech

[cbeast]

Bitcoin has a steep learning curve. Most of us here understand the fundamentals of the technology even if some don't understand cryptography. I called in to a radio talk show and tried to quickly explain what Bitcoin is about. I realized that there are very complex meanings to the terminology we toss about.  How do you explain Bitcoin to civilians before they roll their eyes and walk away?

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[Raoul Duke]

You meant elevator pitch, not speech

And Bitcoin can't be explained like that. There's too much to explain in such a short time span.
But the only way I know that explains Bitcoin in less than 15 sec. and will convince most people is:

Bitcoin is  a way to transfer money from A to B with no banks or government controlled institutions involved.


The problem resides on converting fiat money into Bitcoin...

[BitPay Business Solutions]

"Bitcoin is the most efficient form of money transfer ever invented.  You can send money like you send an email, to anyone, anywhere in the world at anytime, without going through a bank.  Would you like to try it?"

[phatsphere]

in my eyes, using the e-mail analogy is one of the best ways. it's wrong from the technical standpoint, but for the average user it's a good example. they all know what a traditional letter is and that it takes a day or more to transfer it. also, it involves real paper. e-mail takes seconds, involves no paper and you also don't have to go out of your home to do it.
of course, online banking tries to close this gap, but it still takes some time for the transfer to actually happen.

[wareen]

One of the more tricky parts is to make them understand that Bitcoin is not just another Paypal...

[Gabi]

And that it's not a scam...

money+internet=ppl think it's a scam unless there is a famous bank or something behind it

[Coinabul]

Send money for free*, internationally, and receive it faster than bank wire. No fees for anyone.

*essentially, in reality, less than a penny.

[Vince Torres]

The first ten people I told about Bitcoins thought it was a ponzi scheme, it took me around half an hour each to convince them it wasn't.

[deltanine]

"It's like cash for the Internet.  Now shut up and buy some before you're a dinosaur."

[beckspace]

I'll give a try.

"Bitcoin is a currency invented in the Internet. They have value because they are difficult to obtain. There will be just 21 million bitcoins in existence. The system is decentralized, with no single point of failure. It is designed in a way that take advantage of what the worst hackers in the world knows best (crack hashes), and use that power to secure all the transactions."


As the matter of fact, 30 seconds is not enough time to talk about satoshi, deflation, fiat money, gold standard, cryptography, PGP signed messages, silk road, austrian economics...

[FreeMoney]

Just mention it like they should already know it then answer the questions they ask.

[cbeast]

Just mention it like they should already know it then answer the questions they ask.

The producer asked me what bitcoin was. I just started babbling about cryptocurrencies, decentralization, and deflationary liquidity. She put me on hold and never came back.

[beckspace]

Just mention it like they should already know it then answer the questions they ask.

Good one! I'll try that.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

I think the solution lies within this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qp0HIF3SfI4

No need to watch the whole thing and, for those who've viewed it before, re-view it again starting at 2:00, or skip to 4:05 where I feel the answer lies.

[ineededausername]

civilians

So we're soldiers? xD

[FreeMoney]

Might be a little weird to do it cold, but if you want to get bold you could try to buy coins from random people. Just be like "I need some bitcoins, do you know anyone?". You'll get like 100% nos of course, but you'll up exposure and it's just odd enough an interaction you'll probably get a solid % googling it later. And it'll help them understand right away that bitcoin isn't a MtGox(tm) product, you can buy it from your peers on the street.

[FreeMoney]

Just mention it like they should already know it then answer the questions they ask.

The producer asked me what bitcoin was. I just started babbling about cryptocurrencies, decentralization, and deflationary liquidity. She put me on hold and never came back.

Well, lesson learned I guess.

Think about what you would say to someone asking what a dollar was. Would you mention the FED and targeted inflation and details about the dead presidents portraits?

[Vandroiy]

What it took for me:

"Bitcoin is a digital, decentralized currency with strictly and permanently limited supply. It is fully international and has an active user base."

This is all it should take for an educated person to become extremely excited. It might be enough to change the world. Oh, and yes, it's a currency, just legally it isn't for whatever reason.

[Phinnaeus Gage]

What it took for me:

"Bitcoin is a digital, decentralized currency with strictly and permanently limited supply. It is fully international and has an active user base."

This is all it should take for an educated person to become extremely excited. It might be enough to change the world. Oh, and yes, it's a currency, just legally it isn't for whatever reason.

"Bitcoin is a digital, decentralized currency, transferred via peer-to-peer, without borders, with a growing user base. Want to buy some (or, how many do you want)?"

May still need edited by a versed wordsmith and in e-prime, thus communicating an experience.

[BitcoinRedLight]

"Like Western Union via email and almost no fees."




Let them ask the questions.
Answer basic questions with simple answers.
When the questions stop, that is as far as they are ready to go.

Don't pitch the 'currency' to someone who is clueless.
Pitch the transfer of money between private parties using some free software.


Nobody has to hold Bitcoins. i.e. Dollars-->Bitcoins-->Dollars
Boom. Done.

The raison d'etre of Bitcoin is TRANSFER MECHANISM,
NOT
DEFLATIONARY
CURRENCY.

Most guys who are holding hefty chunks of Bitcoins want the
deflation-to-the-moon-currency argument made
so that they rapidly get more wild-eyed
speculators back on board
then cash out.

It's true.
It's also pretty basic human nature.
But it's bad for Bitcoin and bad karma for themselves.

Now, having said that, as more people see the utility
of this transfer mechanism,
they will have the disposition to hold it for longer periods of time.
And in that sense it develops, organically, its currency value, investment status.

But that is way beyond most people. They just want to be able
to move THE MONEY THEY KNOW with as little hassle as possible.

Bitcoin facilitates that.

The "store of value" pitch is a loser. IF people come to that belief then let
them do it out of their own experience with Bitcoin.

Because the world we increasingly live in is characterized by one thing more
than anything else - uncertainty!

So don't promise certainty when, in fact, you cannot. And everything
in people's daily life is telling them that 'certainty sellers' are total
con-men, frauds or idiots.

People are trying desperately hard to make rational decisions in an increasingly
insane environment. DON'T BE, OR EVEN LOOK LIKE, AN EFFING HUCKSTER,
which you immediately will if you hype Bitcoin as investment or start
talking about it as if it were gold.

Bitcoin is not gold; it's code.

In short, the only "certainty" that a newbie needs is a sense that
it is extremely unlikely that the entire Bitcoin system will crash
during the few minutes they use it to send money to Aunt Harriet.