How I got my stubborn neighbour working for a central bank to adopt Bitcoin

[EarnOnVictor]

Honestly, I like to mind my business, but I got it loose yesterday evening when a co-neighbour invited all of us to a birthday party. Normal, gist went on until this elderly neighbour working for CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) as a director in one of their branches stated that people now launder money in Bitcoin thereby making it difficult for the law enforcers to trace. This is where I took it personally, else I would have been a bastard of BTT.

My first question to him was sir, have you ever tried Bitcoin before? He was like, what's my business in trying that devilish thing? I smiled, and I replied now, you are guilty of your words. How could you judge and condemn what you do not know? Why can't the so-called law enforcers stop being paper officers, gather intelligence and go digital maybe they won't catch some of the illegal flows, that's if your assumption is correct. Bitcoin is innocent of many allegations, it is just like your fiat money, it goes where you send it and is highly traceable if you have the resources and tech.

He was like, no no no, something that will just disappear from the radar.

I said it doesn't work that way, I will show you how it works tomorrow. Stop listening to the noise, act by proof and mind your own business and use your Bitcoin for the right and honest purpose. If you are indicting Bitcoin, fiat is not innocent also, or do you want to tell me that fiat is not being used for evils? So are you because of that going to stop spending money?

Look sir,  I was once like you a while ago but I only missed a huge opportunity of making millions through this mindset. It's a lie if someone tells you that Bitcoin is evil, just perceive it as money, they can use money for anything whether good or bad, but money will remain money, let your conscience judge you on what you personally use it for. Bitcoin is now in the mainstream of the financial market and spending, there is nothing anyone can do about it, they will only miss out on the opportunity. I now know so much about it, it's not bad, and don't let the sentiment of working for CBN blind you to its blessing. I'm sure that some of your colleagues are using and investing in it, only that you won't know.

Even the US government could not ban Bitcoin for a reason, it works within a network, and most of the transactions therein are linkable within the network.

The conversation later got private, and below was the concluding part I remember;

Me: Let what you use your coin for judge you sir, Bitcoin is a good investment, and not evil.
Neighbour: Are you really sure???
Me: 99.9999%.
Neighbour: Your living standard shows this could truly be positive. My son and wife have disturbed me on this on several occasions, I am only stubborn about it. I'm in...I will use my son in the US for it, he knows about it, and it is against my work here in Nigeria.
Me: Smiles, I know.
Neighbour: Thanks man...I will start with 1BTC if only you show me proof that you have a sufficient amount in there.
Me: I gat you sir...there is nothing to gain by lying to you. It's your coin, your money and yours to safely keep...I have nothing to gain or lose.
Neighbour: Okay

I couldn't believe it!!! Can you imagine like a play, I was able to convince a whole CBN man to do 1BTC? But I hope he doesn't change his mind. Even if he does, I'm proud to have stood for Bitcoin in such a situation.

[1714697056]

1714697056

[tbct_mt2]

Not your keys not your coins.
With Bitcoin you don't need collateral.
The bullish case for Bitcoin

With fiat currencies, you will need collateral to make its value. Collateral can be gold or anything used by government and central bank. Its value can be stable or can be volatile, you don't control it.
With banks, after you deposit your fiat currency there, they can use your money to re-invest into like bonds, securities and when national or global economy becomes uncontrollable worse than they expect, they will face risk of collapse just like many banks recently in the USA and Europe.

[Bananington]

Because they work in a the central bank of your country does not mean that they do not have and hold beliefs of their own or mean that they will be difficult to convince to the  side of bitcoins. Some people are working in some places even though they do not support what is being done there or the ideas held by these places, they are there simple because they need the job and the income that comes with it for their well being. I say this because you should not let the position occupied by some people make you feel that they cannot be convinced about bitcoins, if you try and it does not work, that is different from just concluding that because of their position they cannot be convinced, that is a wrong assumption.

[pawel7777]

Honestly, I like to mind my business, but I got it loose yesterday evening when a co-neighbour invited all of us to a birthday party. Normal, gist went on until this elderly neighbour working for CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) as a director in one of their branches stated that people now launder money in Bitcoin thereby making it difficult for the law enforcers to trace. This is where I took it personally, else I would have been a bastard of BTT.
(...)

Haven't you overreacted there a bit? It doesn't sound like he was bashing Bitcoin in that statement.. If you don't link your identity with your bitcoin address in any way, then tracing it back to you would be impossible, so he wasn't wrong there. As for using Bitcoin for money laundering - I don't think it's a good tool for that (depending on the local laws I guess). Laundering does not mean hiding your money, but making illicit proceedings appear legit, so using Bitcoin alone won't help here, as you'd still need to be able to explain where did you get all those bitcoins from.

[Wiwo]

I couldn't believe it!!! Can you imagine like a play, I was able to convince a whole CBN man to do 1BTC? But I hope he doesn't change his mind. Even if he does, I'm proud to have stood for Bitcoin in such a situation.

Nice and commendable of you to have defended what you believe in Bitcoin and as we all know we have several aspects to Bitcoin ranging from having the capital to owning a substantial amount of Bitcoin which in this case you said the man is willing to put down 26k+ if he doesn't change his mind on the long run, and also if he will be willing to invest the time in building knowledge and gaining the fundamental understanding of the subject matter.

Adopting Bitcoin is good but what I don't like is exposing my financial status and sources of income, of course, I have stable work and do Bitcoin as a side knowledge-building and investment choice, and within the long term the reflection will be more financial freedom, And as a banker, your number may be exposed to a lot of risks so it's a good thing he said he will introduce his son in the US to it, and I am sure the son will be more exposed to decentralized financing and other financial tools available on the Internet such as Bitcoin.

[macson]

At first i thought your conversation with your neighbor ended in a big argument lol but it seems that it didn't at all, i read your conversation with your neighbor from the start and it seems that your neighbor is a person who is easily provoked but is careful in taking a stand.  anyway, do not be surprised when hear that people from banks do not believe in and are against bitcoin because indeed they feel that bitcoin and the cryptocurrencies that are currently spreading are a big threat to the continuity of the bank's business. 

after you introduce bitcoin to him, it's a good idea to also remind him about the volatility of bitcoin prices and never sell when the market is bearish, then recommend the best and safest personal wallet that he should use.

[GiftedMAN]

Good effort Op in defending Bitcoin once again this level of Bitcoin promotion through private talks and engagements will help to change the mindset of people towards Bitcoin especially those working with the central bank of Nigeria who don't want to hear about Bitcoin adoption in Nigeria.I hope you trust your neighbor to that extent before informing him that you are a Bitcoin investor because some people can report you after hearing that you trede Bitcoin which has not been legally accepted in the country Nigeria so next time don't make yourself very open so you won't risk your own safety and remember not to force it on anyone especially those who are Bitcoin haters.

[Dr.Bitcoin_Strange]

Anyways, the man is not to blame; he's basically the old-school kind of man, not concerned about the new technologies, but it's good you never hid the truth from him. Well, if it's ever possible, I believe everyone should be told the truth about Bitcoin because there are a lot of misconceptions about it. Look how the man thinks Bitcoin is evil; even the fact that he works with CBN, who are in charge of controlling money, he just can't relate to it that even the money we talk about is being used to commit a lot of ill-conceived activities. The use of money, both faith-based cash and digital currency like Bitcoin, to commit illegal activities is inevitable; it can never be totally eradicated, and the only way to do so is to stop the illegal activities first.

One thing most people fear about Bitcoin is its price volatility and instability, but Bitcoin cannot be stable. That's really why it's a store of value as well, because if one holds his or her Bitcoin for the bull market, they sure will get some profit, but when the same person holds a huge amount of money for like four years, they will be surprised that the value of the money has even reduced, and even the added interest will not mean anything. It's good you changed her perception of Bitcoin.

[Doan9269]

I couldn't believe it!!! Can you imagine like a play, I was able to convince a whole CBN man to do 1BTC? But I hope he doesn't change his mind. Even if he does, I'm proud to have stood for Bitcoin in such a situation.

You can't blame him due to the nature of his work, they would have been oriented against bitcoin since the financial apex institution he works with is the one in control of every other banks and are the same people who established the law that all banks should not be involved in anything related to cryptocurrency as against their ethics as financial institutions, but also i think there's more need to emphasize on the aspect of bitcoin being a p2p network, how he can make use of a decentralized cold storage for privacy, he may actually finds it more interesting if this aspect were cleared and his fear from avoiding his work place know about his involvements in bitcoin will be secured along way.

[Issa56]

Honestly, I like to mind my business, but I got it loose yesterday evening when a co-neighbour invited all of us to a birthday party. Normal, gist went on until this elderly neighbour working for CBN (Central Bank of Nigeria) as a director in one of their branches stated that people now launder money in Bitcoin thereby making it difficult for the law enforcers to trace.

You should have asked him if people don't launder money with fiat currency and why are they not tracing them, the only bad thing people do say about bitcoin is that it's use for illegal activities, but those illegal activities have been in existence before bitcoin was even created so which currency where they using then, government officials make people believe that bitcoin is the only currency that's used for illegal activities and fiat is pure.

My first question to him was sir, have you ever tried Bitcoin before? He was like, what's my business in trying that devilish thing? I smiled, and I replied now, you are guilty of your words.

Most people don't even get to know about bitcoin before they jump into conclusion, they just listen to what people around them say and they listen to what government feed them on the news and they will also start spreading bad news about bitcoin. Most of them do think Bitcoin is a scam, because how will you be spending a currency that you can't see or touch, I believe this is also a reason why people are scared of bitcoin, but most of them don't really understand what bitcoin is all about, and the main reason why government is scared of bitcoin is because they can't control it.

I couldn't believe it!!! Can you imagine like a play, I was able to convince a whole CBN man to do 1BTC? But I hope he doesn't change his mind. Even if he does, I'm proud to have stood for Bitcoin in such a situation.

I don't know how you managed to convince him but it's not all about buying bitcoin, did you tell him the risk associated in bitcoin investment, did you teach him how to properly protect and store his bitcoin, did you tell him how to properly secure his private key, because if he those not know about those things mentioned above, he might end up losing his bitcoin. If he can lose his bitcoin, then he will confidently say it to you that bitcoin is a scam, but he won't know the mistake is from him.

[Woodie]

Thinking about crypto..a part of me believes bitcoin isn't for everyone...it has a target market like all things in the world. And being a digital currency,  it will be more appealing to millennials than the older generation, but seeing how you handled the the bad name bitcoin has out there was a great salesmanship from you and hope the banker genuinely bought in on how bitcoin can be good...Besides the money laundering sticker bitcoin always gets, if someone is trying bitcoin for the first time most likely it will have a money trail because its moving from fiat to crypto which should be a starting point to get these guys giving crypto a bad name...and all things equal money laundering will always exist,  be it bitcoin or fiat because someone has put everything on the line and ready for whats coming.

[Stedsm]

Anybody working in the banking sector nowadays is easy to be convinced for btc, that's because people know that currently they can't trust the banks due to what happened with some huge banking names recently, so even those in the banking sector can easily be convinced about crypto to be the most safe haven asset they can park their funds into.

[Sanitough]

I couldn't believe it!!! Can you imagine like a play, I was able to convince a whole CBN man to do 1BTC? But I hope he doesn't change his mind. Even if he does, I'm proud to have stood for Bitcoin in such a situation.

You can't blame him due to the nature of his work, they would have been oriented against bitcoin since the financial apex institution he works with is the one in control of every other banks and are the same people who established the law that all banks should not be involved in anything related to cryptocurrency as against their ethics as financial institutions, but also i think there's more need to emphasize on the aspect of bitcoin being a p2p network, how he can make use of a decentralized cold storage for privacy, he may actually finds it more interesting if this aspect were cleared and his fear from avoiding his work place know about his involvements in bitcoin will be secured along way.

You’re right on this. He is just a victim of misconceptions about bitcoin especially that he works for fiat and not for cryptocurrency. But I believe this should not hinder him to know the truth and continue to miss opportunities just because he works in a central bank. In the end, when everyone around here is up to bitcoin, I don’t think he’ll stay dedicated to fiat and won’t jump for the opportunities that bitcoin has to offer. I guess he just needs to balance himself, enough that he can see both the positive sides of fiat and bitcoin.

[Hyphen(-)]

OP You have worked hard to persuade a CBN staff member who was warned to avoid Bitcoin due to the Nigerian government's reluctance to legalize it. As a result, the CBN staff has no right to publicly invest in Bitcoin, but they must be interested in Bitcoin investing because they are aware of how transparent Bitcoin transactions are.

Anybody working in the banking sector nowadays is easy to be convinced for btc, that's because people know that currently they can't trust the banks due to what happened with some huge banking names recently, so even those in the banking sector can easily be convinced about crypto to be the most safe haven asset they can park their funds into.

This is true because even bankers want financial freedom, but they stick to their centralized banking system due to the nature of their job and their unwillingness to lose it.

[Distinctin]

You don’t need to convince him to adopt bitcoin because that is against on his job description. However, it’s a good thing that you were able to defend bitcoin based on his negative assumptions about it. That way, he will be more open to research about bitcoin and the benefits it gives to all its users and investors. Because when the whole world is already adopting bitcoin, people who work in banks should start to worry that they might be wrong in their assumptions and that they should not easily judge bitcoin just because the government is against it.

[OgNasty]

The best way to convince someone familiar with the banking system to adopt Bitcoin or at least give it a shot is to put them in a position where they need to choose between making an international money wire or sending Bitcoin. When they have to choose between cheap and immediate vs expensive and a wait time, they will make the right choice.

[Yatsan]

What's the point of doing so?  I get it, we all want to encourage other people to also engage in this industry but the idea alone that some people are quitting, should already be a warning to not convince others to do so. Let them find their own curiosity. Also, I have experienced encouraging a friend of mine before but unfortunately, I was the one blame for his loss and there are even worse scenarios from other people who also tried doing so. Point here? It is okay to share the knowledge but always think of the consequences. Let's say you managed to get him involved in this industry. And happened a market price crash which caused huge loss on his assets. Ofcourse it would be easy to just say 'hold' but how would he feel? Not all people can tolerate risks.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Goes a long way to prove to us that alot of people out there who are anti bitcoin do not truly understand what bitcoin stands for, it's rather  unfortunate though, for they wallow in ignorance and this cost them alot of money without them even knowing it.

But me here though, I will never try to convince anybody about bitcoin, I can stand up for bitcoin anywhere, but will never try to convince you to invest in it, thats your personal decision to make, I've convinced alot of people before who tend to end up seeing me as bad person when the price of bitcoin drops, and takes a bit of time to go up, so for me, I will tell you all the benefits of bitcoin, on the technological aspect, but wil never go the investment side of it.

[Nheer]

He was like, no no no, something that will just disappear from the radar.

This is a common opinion concerning bitcoin. prior to becoming enlightened, I had the same thought as well. Nowadays, people just make assumptions without ever checking to see if they are accurate.

I couldn't believe it!!! Can you imagine like a play, I was able to convince a whole CBN man to do 1BTC? But I hope he doesn't change his mind. Even if he does, I'm proud to have stood for Bitcoin in such a situation.

You did well, and I am impressed by how you pushed for bitcoin and were able to raise someone's understanding of it. It's awful how some individuals immediately assume that bitcoin can only be used for illicit purposes based on what they have heard, and some even think that it's a Ponzi scheme.

. I say this because you should not let the position occupied by some people make you feel that they cannot be convinced about bitcoins, if you try and it does not work, that is different from just concluding that because of their position they cannot be convinced, that is a wrong assumption.

Nicely put, individuals frequently become frightened by others' position and make unjustifiable conclusions as a result. No matter where they work or what position they have, if you can communicate with them, you can convince them as well. It's comparable to how you might fall for a woman who is completely out of your league and eventually win her heart.

[dansus021]

It is great if you convinced your neighbor to buy 1 Bitcoin but you must know the consequence because if those 1 BTc price plummets you might be one person to hear all the angry and sadness and maybe can hurt your relationship.

If I were you I will tell him that needs to learn more about Bitcoin and always do your own research before investing.