What is the easiest way to explain bitcoin to a regular person?

[SeeBiscuit]

Every day that passes it seems that more and more people "know about bitcoin", but have no idea about key parts of the bitcoin space.

Key parts such as this forum itself...
Or key tools such as Electrum and Ledger.

Even the way they perceive bitcoin is completely sideways. People are too afraid to jump in because it's "too expensive" just to own one. I find that the best way to get new adopters and new investors is to explain the way that this stuff was supposed to evolve over time was made by design.

How do you guys like to explain bitcoin?

I personally like to use the penny/dollar : satoshi/bitcoin example.

One hundred pennies equal one dollar
One hundred million satoshis equal one bitcoin

Right now, one million satoshi's is only 235 dollars...
That's a lot less scary than owning one whole bitcoin, and can make the investor feel good about the position they have in the bitcoin market. Hey! They own an entire hundredth of a bitcoin. Now all they have to do is repeat that same purchase over the course of however much time and they could easily reach one bitcoin. This is especially true if they have a steady, recession proof job.

And don't give me some Darwinism bullshit because yes, survival of the fittest, but also lets get the whole world on this train now instead of later IMO lol.

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[tread93]

Every day that passes it seems that more and more people "know about bitcoin", but have no idea about key parts of the bitcoin space.

Key parts such as this forum itself...
Or key tools such as Electrum and Ledger.

Even the way they perceive bitcoin is completely sideways. People are too afraid to jump in because it's "too expensive" just to own one. I find that the best way to get new adopters and new investors is to explain the way that this stuff was supposed to evolve over time was made by design.

How do you guys like to explain bitcoin?

I personally like to use the penny/dollar : satoshi/bitcoin example.

One hundred pennies equal one dollar
One hundred million satoshis equal one bitcoin

Right now, one million satoshi's is only 235 dollars...
That's a lot less scary than owning one whole bitcoin, and can make the investor feel good about the position they have in the bitcoin market. Hey! They own an entire hundredth of a bitcoin. Now all they have to do is repeat that same purchase over the course of however much time and they could easily reach one bitcoin. This is especially true if they have a steady, recession proof job.

And don't give me some Darwinism bullshit because yes, survival of the fittest, but also lets get the whole world on this train now instead of later IMO lol.

Bitcoin is like email to the snail mail. The email bring BTC the snail mail being USD 💯. I would honestly just encourage that person who doesn’t know anything about it at all to simply do their research and point them in the right direction, personally I always tell the newbies to read The Bitcoin Standard by Saifedean Ammous

[Jawhead999]

People are too afraid to jump in because it's "too expensive" just to own one.

This is why people are having a wrong understanding, they don't have to buy one Bitcoin, but they can buy in fraction e.g. 0.005 BTC.

I personally like to use the penny/dollar : satoshi/bitcoin example.

One hundred pennies equal one dollar
One hundred million satoshis equal one bitcoin

Are you really teach Bitcoin to a regular person with this? you're teach in a wrong way because Bitcoin price isn't pegged with USD price, actually what you're explain is a stable coin. I don't think it's confusing to understand about the fractions of Bitcoin, what most people don't understand are:
1. Bitcoin isn't a quick get rich tool.
2. Exchange isn't a wallet.
3. Bitcoin doesn't help poor people.
4. The concept of don't trust, verify.

[Darker45]

I think there's a huge leap right there. I mean, you're trying to explain Bitcoin to a regular person and you are already talking about investment and 1 full Bitcoin and repeat purchase. I don't think that's how Bitcoin should be presented to somebody who is yet to learn about it. I guess it has to start with the very basic, that Bitcoin is an electronic cash, that it uses a decentralized blockchain, no owner, no president or CEO or whatever, that it could be fully owned, can't be censored, that transactions are transparent and could be verified by anybody, and so on.

[mk4]

The way I explain bitcoin to a person would totally depend on his/her personal background.

e.g. Personally, I'm around gamers a lot of times, so I explain it in a way that they can buy/sell their in-game assets without the need of risking their PayPal accounts getting banned and getting their transactions reversed because of bitcoin's trustless nature and transaction finality.

[MarjorieZimmermanGinger]

If you have the right decision, buy and hold bitcoin.

How do you guys like to explain bitcoin?

The only easiest way to explain bitcoin is by not talking about it, there is no obligation for anyone to explain bitcoin to people because without explanation bitcoin has given evidence in its journey.

Right now, one million satoshi's is only 235 dollars...
That's a lot less scary than owning one whole bitcoin, and can make the investor feel good about the position they have in the bitcoin market. Hey! They own an entire hundredth of a bitcoin. Now all they have to do is repeat that same purchase over the course of however much time and they could easily reach one bitcoin. This is especially true if they have a steady, recession proof job.

It's scarier trying to talk about bitcoin to the uninitiated, people who are curious about bitcoin will inevitably create their own portion of knowledge, thus will try to learn to understand bitcoin as an investment concept. In most cases the advice will be of no use to those who do nothing, because the risks and fluctuations of bitcoin will bring them to a stage of incompetence.

Anyone can buy bitcoins in any amount, but very few people want to do it slowly to start buying, because of greed and wanting to get rich quickly from the investment being made. So it ends up in financial turmoil at a level of stability, especially in times of recession and inflation, investments have stages to apply and do not represent any amount to run, because adjustments need to be made to control risk under any circumstances.

[xSkylarx]

I just explain to them only the tip like it is still fiat but its decentralize meaning no one is controlling it and still you can use it to buy and sell things as a payment method but it is like gold that it increase its value overtime and whats the best is it's digital you can bring it anywhere and any amount. Most of the people ive explained to this are just workers in government and my friends which they understand.

[Nrcewker]

Bitcoins aren’t rocket science to be honest, you can easily make a newbie understand about it, by just simply explaining about investment and returns. And creating a wallet is like easy like opening a Facebook account. Just create a wallet, buy the Bitcoins, store securely in the wallet, and after getting some profits, sell it. If you know basic maths and how the economy of the country works, then using Bitcoins won’t be any problem.

[franky1]

this is the non techy, first conversation explainer..

bitcoin transactions are like cheques

each cheque(transaction) shows
- the funds origins: bank routing number/sortcode/account(utxo)
- the destination 'to:' (output)
- the value to spend
- a signature to authorise the spend

bitcoins signatures are better then cheque signatures because its based on complex math done on the transactions details and a secret passphrase which combine to a unique signature(not revealing the secret) which can prove only the true owner of the origin funds could have signed it

these cheques(transactions) are collected into batches(blocks) where each batch(blocks) has a reference id(blockhash) of the previous batch(block) those batch linking(block chaining) them together

instead of a central bank clearing the cheques people around the world confirm and verify the blocks via alot of complex math, and everyone else on the network double confirms the blocks of transactions meet rules that everyone agree's. thus everyone has the same agreed data

.. if they are interested to learn more about the intricate details then you can send them to the forum or give them links to the more technical stuff of each part..

as for buying spending economics

its like most things
gold is measured in ounces on the market. but people buy/sell jewellery, electronics by the gram
meat/vegetables are measured in KG on the market. but people buy amounts measured in grams/pounds
oil is measured on the market as barrels. but bought by the litre

[lovesmayfamilis]

An ordinary person should have at least some knowledge of what the Internet is. Sometimes even that becomes a problem. But fortunately, there are fewer and fewer such people every year, and if people can read, then the network is full of resources for different levels of understanding. I don't think you need to explain anything yourself from the very beginning. Let the person first understand that he needs it, and after reading some of the resources that advise him on education, he should definitely have questions that you, OP, can explain in detail.
For me, this is the simplest and most resource-intensive process, since there is nothing difficult about self-education; you just need to support a person along this path.

[dzungmobile]

Easiest way to go step by step
Tip or airdrop them bitcoin; guide them how to send it, to sell it, and buy it as well. To do this, you have to teach them how to get a wallet. If they are interested in, continue to teach them making backup and recover a wallet.

Teach them about non custodial wallet at their first day is better than custodial wallet. You won't have to convince them to change from custodial to non-custodial.

History says it.

Why we have Bitcoin faucets.
Why altcoin projects have airdrops that are not allowed in Bitcointalk.
Giveaway threads are not allowed

[Upgrade00]

I personally don't teach people about Bitcoin. I give resources they can use to learn after giving a quick overview, I can as well help to answer any follow up questions they have, in the course of their research. This way, they do the learning themselves and chose to stay interested or not.

<snip>
Are you really teach Bitcoin to a regular person with this? you're teach in a wrong way because Bitcoin price isn't pegged with USD price, actually what you're explain is a stable coin.

Not sure what you're trying to say here.
Drawing similarities between familiar concepts like USD to explain how fractions in Bitcoin works is totally fine and can help the learning process. It has nothing to do with pegging or stable coins.

[EarnOnVictor]

Anyone who could be sceptical about Bitcoin, trial and the past good testimonies should be able to convince them. Bitcoin is not new/strange, so the burden of how to propagate it is light, you should first learn about it to have experience and the experience will guide you on what to tell others.

The goodness of the coin is not far-fetched everywhere, and the internet should be a very good reference point for you.

Also, this article should guide you and the intending Bitcoiner better: Gaining Bitcoin Trust (Get Informed)

[Hispo]

If I had to explain Bitcoin to someone who does not know much about cryptography or technology in general, I would try to say that it is like having a bank account with the huge differences that it is not one single entity which holds your "anonymous" spending record, but rather thousands of voluntaries around the world who keep a copy of them (so there is no practical way for one single person to change your balance) and nobody can print or generate funds out of nowhere and censor one's transactions.

I believe those are good enough points of introduction to someone who does not know anything about Bitcoin, if the person shows any grade of interest and asks me for more information, then I would go further and talk about seeds, keys, wallets, miners, etc. Otherwise, they can do their own research when they feel like it, Bitcoin is not for everyone, after all.

[Djan18]

You can tell the basic gist of it, that aluta without a central bank or a single administrator, which can be passed from user to user in a peer-to-peer network and if a person is interested, he or she will start to learn

[Bananington]

How do you guys like to explain bitcoin?

Everybody must have noticed a method that works for them, for me I know that people like to use new things that they believe are better, I noticed this recently so I explain bitcoin to regular people as an improved payment method, and that always gets their attention first better than explaining it as something that you can invest in to get money. That always gives the vibe that it is something dubious since there are very schemes like that. After people understand and see the improvement that bitcoin has brought then I introduce to the aspect of bitcoins that still hold profit by buying and just keeping it.

[panganib999]

Every day that passes it seems that more and more people "know about bitcoin", but have no idea about key parts of the bitcoin space.

Key parts such as this forum itself...
Or key tools such as Electrum and Ledger.

Even the way they perceive bitcoin is completely sideways. People are too afraid to jump in because it's "too expensive" just to own one. I find that the best way to get new adopters and new investors is to explain the way that this stuff was supposed to evolve over time was made by design.

How do you guys like to explain bitcoin?

I personally like to use the penny/dollar : satoshi/bitcoin example.

One hundred pennies equal one dollar
One hundred million satoshis equal one bitcoin

Right now, one million satoshi's is only 235 dollars...
That's a lot less scary than owning one whole bitcoin, and can make the investor feel good about the position they have in the bitcoin market. Hey! They own an entire hundredth of a bitcoin. Now all they have to do is repeat that same purchase over the course of however much time and they could easily reach one bitcoin. This is especially true if they have a steady, recession proof job.

And don't give me some Darwinism bullshit because yes, survival of the fittest, but also lets get the whole world on this train now instead of later IMO lol.

I personally use an analogy that bases itself with what the person is most familiar of. For example, I had a sneakerhead in my friend's circle ask me about bitcoin and how to invest in it, being the informed friend that I am, I made things easier for him by putting it to a language he can easily understand. The explanation goes a little like this.

"Say, you're a shoemaker (miner), everytime you make a full Jordan 1 shoe, you get paid accordingly (mining rewards), so it only makes sense to invest on a powerful shoemaking tool (mining rig). That's how bitcoin mining works. however, just like with shoemaking, resources for it does not come infinitely (limited supply of bitcoin), so the less resources there for making shoes (less bitcoins to be mined), the more expensive it will become." That's basically how mining works.

"As with bitcoin investing, suppose that you are a sneakerhead (investor), not that you aren't right now. You own and resell shoes but a lot of them aren't really flipping for expensive prices, then you come across a certain jordan variant that could go for a high price or a low price, depending on the season (bitcoin's volatile nature and the bull and bear market), that's basically bitcoin investing."

That's pretty much how our discussion went. I implore people to make things easier for the people who ask them so they don't go back and forth.

[Finestream]

I think there's a huge leap right there. I mean, you're trying to explain Bitcoin to a regular person and you are already talking about investment and 1 full Bitcoin and repeat purchase. I don't think that's how Bitcoin should be presented to somebody who is yet to learn about it. I guess it has to start with the very basic, that Bitcoin is an electronic cash, that it uses a decentralized blockchain, no owner, no president or CEO or whatever, that it could be fully owned, can't be censored, that transactions are transparent and could be verified by anybody, and so on.

I also don’t see it working as what OP trying to explain especially to a regular person. Personally, I would explain first how volatile bitcoin is, that it could pump or dump its value anytime, unlike fiat that has always its mostly fixed value or price. And bitcoin is a digital currency that you can anytime use it through online transaction provided that the merchant also accepts bitcoin as a mode of payment. And definitely, bitcoin is not a get-rich-quick scheme, it’s a long term investment that needs proper management, as well as it can be a currency too.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Your method of explaining bitcoin to new comers I believe is the general method, one hundred million satoshi equal to 1 bitcoin is a popular and by far, the most easy to understand method for  bitcoin newbies.

And even after making the new comer understand that they don't have to buy one full bitcoin at a time, I also tell them that with as little as so so amount(in my local currency), they can't own their own bitcoin, and I believe that with such clear and detailed explanation, they are no longer scared of buying bitcoin anymore.

[BlackHatCoiner]

- So what's this bitcoin you're talking about?
- Bitcoin is a currency, exclusively accessible via the Internet, which in contrast with regular currencies, isn't minted by a central bank or a government but by the network collectively, has a predefined schedule of inflation, is free for all to access, cannot be stopped or censored, and is basically a new kind of money.