Bitcoin and misinformation

[Nechiequ]

Bitcoin, a form of digital currency that has changed the way we view financial transactions, often comes with several misconceptions:
Some ordinary people assume Bitcoin is a fraud scheme or a form of pyramid, even though this currency is a deposit on various global exchanges.

 Understanding how Bitcoin works and the associated risks is a crucial step to avoid misinformation and make more informed decisions in its usage.

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[Hewlet]

The discussion on Bitcoin misinformation should take a two-sided analysis. The first is on the part of the people who believe that Bitcoin is a scam which you spoke about, and you can't stop them from believing what they want to believe because their belief system is a function of the information they've previously received and the best you can do is to give them the proper education regarding bitcoin investment both in the short run and also the advantage of holding bitcoin in the long run. This might change their thought process but if it doesn't, you just have to let them be.

The second part should be on the people who paint Bitcoin as a get-rich-quick scheme and also the unguided misinformation that tends to equate bitcoin to other cryptocurrencies tempting uninformed people to invest in other coin that might be scams and worse of, hodl it with the hope of it appreciation in the coming years.

[CarnagexD]

The core reason why people think that Bitcoin is a scam is a lack of understanding. Not everyone understands the concept of Blockchain, some people hear the "chain" and think it's a cycle just like Ponzi while some others find something to read meaning into. However, the most recent and prevailing reason is fraudulent activities that go on with the help of Bitcoin (You can't blame Bitcoin, it's a currency, anyone can do what they want with it be it good or bad). Today there are a lot of scams out there and it's just too much that it obscures the view of newbies. All the hacking incidents that have happened are also a contribution somehow. So, for these reasons, many people just feel it is not a straight path and that it is a scam.

Couple that idea with the fact that a lot of scammers back then are using bitcoin as a way to entice victims and that a lot of illegal activities like drug dealing, money laundering, illegal gambling or even gunrunning, with those at the helm, bitcoin's bound to be painted in a bad light not to mention that the media isn't really on bitcoin's side ever since and we would see the result of those stuff with ignorant people being closed minded about bitcoin while repeating the shit that they've heard in the media about bitcoin which is almost always negative.

[davis196]

We live in the "fake news" era, where every information can be deviated in a misleading way.
I've seen Youtubers making long videos explaining why Bitcoin/crypto is a scam in a very logical way and a lot of what they are saying makes sense. Just look at the Youtuber James Jani for example. Many people, who watched his videos about crypto will be convinced that Bitcoin/crypto is a scam. That doesn't necessarily mean that Bitcoin is actually a scam.
You could keep explaining people why Bitcoin isn't a scam. I wouldn't bother with this. I think that most people should do their own research and make their own conclusions about whether Bitcoin/crypto is a scam or not.

[uchegod-21]

Bitcoin as the father of all cryptocurrency have hard it ups and down since it came into existence, but what I observe lately is the misinformation about Bitcoin that got me worried like in this time and age, people still take Bitcoin as a scam.

I wouldn't deny that in my early days of investment, I really was unconvinced by the presentation i had about Bitcoin, which I took it as one of these fraudster trying to milk the general public as mmm did, but with time, after doing some research and finding I discovered how misinformed I was about it.

Right now most people are like me years back, they are totally misinformed about Bitcoin, the best I do for them right now is to educate them about it, which some even told me what they think Bitcoin was, which is totally untrue about it.
but in as much as am trying to share knowledge about Bitcoin to those who lack it, I don't try to force it on anyone so they won't see me as a scam.

Many people like myself too had this mindset that  Bitcoin was a scam before we took that bold step to join the industry.  While it is partly caused by lack of sufficient information or knowledge,  I believe those who have strongly refused to purge themselves of these negative mindset about Bitcoin are just scared of taking risks.  They backup their fears with negative news and rumours about Bitcoin,  soon they will realise themselves that they have been missing out on a great opportunity. There is no point imposing Bitcoin on anyone,  everyone should be allowed to do what works for them and what they are comfortable with. The aim is to earn income,  every man with his own hustle.

[Bitcoin_people]

It can be a really sad thing when Bitcoin was undervalued in the past when many people considered it a Bitcoin scam. And at that time people were misrepresenting Bitcoin, and taking Bitcoin as a negative. But those people now have a lot of knowledge and after seeing all these changes in Bitcoin, they believe that Bitcoin is actually a trustworthy currency. But currently those who don't believe in this Bitcoin but see Bitcoin as a scam I would say lack common sense. But there are many scam currencies in the market where people lose money by investing and blaming Bitcoin, actually it has nothing to do with Bitcoin. But we can say that since the price of Bitcoin is increasing rapidly and we expect good things from Bitcoin in the future, we have faith in Bitcoin.

[michellee]

It's normal that the average person is often misinformed about Bitcoin. They don't want to take the time to look for more information about Bitcoin. And they also follow other people's invitations without checking them first. However, if they look for other information, they will see that investing in Bitcoin is true.

This is what scammers are doing to attract the attention of people who want to invest in Bitcoin. And people think that Bitcoin is a program introduced to them by scammers. Even though Bitcoin has nothing to do with these programs, this makes people think that Bitcoin has cheated them, even though it is the scammers who cheated them.

If they weren't lazy to look for other information, they would see that investing in Bitcoin could be a long-term investment. They no longer need to join other investment programs. And they only need to buy Bitcoin regularly using the DCA method and save the Bitcoin. That is more than enough so they don't need to follow price movements that could worry them.

[krishnaverma]

Bitcoin as the father of all cryptocurrency have hard it ups and down since it came into existence, but what I observe lately is the misinformation about Bitcoin that got me worried like in this time and age, people still take Bitcoin as a scam.

I wouldn't deny that in my early days of investment, I really was unconvinced by the presentation i had about Bitcoin, which I took it as one of these fraudster trying to milk the general public as mmm did, but with time, after doing some research and finding I discovered how misinformed I was about it.

Right now most people are like me years back, they are totally misinformed about Bitcoin, the best I do for them right now is to educate them about it, which some even told me what they think Bitcoin was, which is totally untrue about it.
but in as much as am trying to share knowledge about Bitcoin to those who lack it, I don't try to force it on anyone so they won't see me as a scam.

Some people spread misinformation about Bitcoin for their own benefits but there are reliable sources like this forum itself to cross check everything. You should always do your own diligence before making any investment. Same applies to alt coins. There are so many alt coins and there is so much benefit in spreading misinformation about them that a lot of people actually do that. But you should have the judgement to filter reality from crap.

[Aanuoluwatofunmi]

Bitcoin as the father of all cryptocurrency have hard it ups and down since it came into existence, but what I observe lately is the misinformation about Bitcoin that got me worried like in this time and age, people still take Bitcoin as a scam.

How many of them have taken their time in making research about the true identity of bitcoin, are there no scams in fiat currency, when we heard of something, it's a good thing to push forward in making research about it to know how how true it is, the mistake most of us do is that we only acted hastily on any information reaching us without taking our time in making research about them to know wether they are true or not.

[bitzizzix]

The main reason why many people think Bitcoin is a scam is because they do not understand it and also have no knowledge about Bitcoin and that is already a classic reason. Actually it was their fault because at that time they did not take the initiative to do research, and after they found out that Bitcoin was not a scam, they regretted it but it was too late.
So, forget the past even though many people are now aware of it and don't waste your time investing in Bitcoin, do it now before you regret it a second time.
And this is the journey of Bitcoin that ultimately they will trust Bitcoin and get involved, and this will continue and ultimately Bitcoin users will continue to grow and also grow as time goes by.

[Tuturtinular]

Right now most people are like me years back, they are totally misinformed about Bitcoin, the best I do for them right now is to educate them about it, which some even told me what they think Bitcoin was, which is totally untrue about it.
but in as much as am trying to share knowledge about Bitcoin to those who lack it, I don't try to force it on anyone so they won't see me as a scam.

Of course, I have also experienced that when I told my friend about bitcoin, he thought bitcoin was a scam and it didn't make sense if the price was so expensive. I tried to explain but since he doesn't know anything about bitcoin, I'd better leave it at that because it's hard to explain to people who aren't interested in bitcoin.

I can't force someone to like bitcoin or recommend they invest in bitcoin. I think gradually they will realize for themselves that bitcoin is a valuable asset. Bitcoin is becoming more popular every day so I think everyone will eventually know about bitcoin

[Youngkhngdiddy]

If it were me, I wouldn't take the time to explain bitcoin to anyone, let those who consider it a scam continue with that thinking. I would only give time to people who really want to learn about bitcoin and focus their time on their investment.

Furthermore, as you also said, you also considered bitcoin to be a scam and then you realized everything. So let's let people approach bitcoin that way, we need to give people and bitcoin more time. There is no need to rush to force people to do things they are not ready for or do not need.

   wish I could just scream NO at anybody who ask this question and tell them how Bitcoin is going to change the world. I will first start with features of Bitcoin. It is Easy Fast Secure Works 24*7 Decentralised Permissionless Then I will tell how it is better form of currency.It has limited supply. Unlike Fiat currency, only 21 millions Bitcoins will come to existence with the startup cryptocurrency investment company where you get double of your invested cryptocurrency.  No central government or organisation have monopoly over it. Only Federal Reserve reserves the right to print the US Dollars and on their own wish. You either buy or earn Bitcoins.You do not need permission of any bank or card to transact in bitcoins.
  it is excellent medium for exchange of goods and services It can be used to maintain accounts It is fungible. Moreover people like Bill Gates and John McAfee endorse Bitcoin. Then there are people like Andreas Antonopolis who works as evangelist for Bitcoins and make people aware about How Bitcoins is going to change the world and is not a get rich quick scheme.I would discuss about the poor condition of the world’s economy. Countries like Venezuela and Zimbabwe are on the brink economic meltdown. Bitcoins can give them freedom to transact again with the money which has value and not a piece of paper.Lastly I would tell story about immigrants in western countries and how expensive and slow it is for them to send money to their family. With Bitcoin is cheaper and faster way to send money back home to your parents, wife or kids. But I also know that nothing is permanent. With good there comes evil. Bitcoins has its own share of problems.

[kryptqnick]

It's good that the op is trying not to push too hard, so that people don't see the op as a scammer.
People can have false information about Bitcoin, but, to be honest, I think it's way more than just Bitcoin. Education often does not include learning how to fact-check information, how to spot suspicious things, how to judge reliability of information, etc. Then there's also a lack of logical thinking skills, such as being able to make nuanced distinctions. For example, Bitcoin is not itself a scam, but many people pushing for Bitcoin can actually be scammers. If people use guilt by association instead of carefully sorting different information, it can lead to many mistakes.
I believe it's crucial for basic school education to transform and start consistently providing critical thinking skills to help people navigate the world in a better way, and those skills would help reduce the amount of Bitcoin misinformation as well.

[jeha2015]

Bitcoin as the father of all cryptocurrency have hard it ups and down since it came into existence, but what I observe lately is the misinformation about Bitcoin that got me worried like in this time and age, people still take Bitcoin as a scam.

People who think Bitcoin is a scam are of course due to a lack of knowledge about Bitcoin. There are many people who take advantage of their ignorance to become victims by luring them to invest in Bitcoin to get bigger profits. Even though what they are offering is not bitcoin, it is just another crypto but in the name of bitcoin. This often happened in my country several years ago.

Our only job is to teach them about the science of Bitcoin so that they don't make a mistake in choosing an investment. If we have taught them, let them make their own decisions, we don't need to force them.

[Twentyonepaylots]

The time has passed when people could believe that Bitcoin is a scam.

While there a small population that still believe that bitcoin is a scam, that only proves that bitcoin is great at attracting open minded people.

The reality imposed by Bitcoin through its strong presence and overcoming all the great difficulties it faced, especially by governments, proves that Bitcoin is not a fraud and that it is here to stay.

Well bitcoin has been a huge controversy on financial stance from people and its government, while bitcoin offers decentralization government want to disrupt it because it is simply against their system.

Therefore, you do not have to convince people that Bitcoin is not a scam. Let them discover that for themselves. When they see Bitcoin reaching astronomical numbers and that large institutions begin to accept Bitcoin and invest in it strongly, then they will know the truth. But they will regret it at that time.

Bitcoin does not care about being on top or being cared about, its purpose is to be a currency, which is not happening at the moment because we are using it as an asset, so let's not take a grudge to people who see bitcoin differently.

[Miles2006]

The honest truth here is let them think what they want to think, let them say trash about bitcoin because it doesn't even affect bitcoin so I don't see any reason you convincing anyone about bitcoin when the person is not willing and ready to learn. Sometimes the people talking trash about bitcoin saying bitcoin is a scam spreading false news about bitcoin  is either bitcoin stands as a threat to them or their business. The funniest part is when blogger or influencer spread false news about bitcoin people who are not educated will decide to listen to this information.

[Drawesome]

The funniest thing is that no one sees the financial system as a SCAM, which it clearly is. It's a shame, but a major obstacle in adoption is this kind of reputation that makes the average Joe run away.

[ZAINmalik75]

Right now most people are like me years back, they are totally misinformed about Bitcoin, the best I do for them right now is to educate them about it, which some even told me what they think Bitcoin was, which is totally untrue about it.
but in as much as am trying to share knowledge about Bitcoin to those who lack it, I don't try to force it on anyone so they won't see me as a scam.

I was expecting to read some facts, figures, or information that you think is the wrong one that we as newbies get to learn. But you were simply stating the heading in extended words without any real story behind it. We all got the idea of BTC wrong. It's not because we or I were misinformed, it's because we did not give ourselves proper time to educate ourselves. We thought it was a quick-rich scheme and all we had to do was do this and that to earn it.

But if we look at the the past, we realise that we are our own enemies because if we have given ourselves some time to read about it and get some sense of the market, for example, how it works and how we can get benefit from it, Then we might get a huge amount into our hands.

Other than this, most of us were latecomers, so we won't say anything about information or misinformation, but now I am glad that you are cooperative with others, even if you are are just new to this platform with 10 activities.

[thecodebear]

The core reason why people think that Bitcoin is a scam is a lack of understanding.

^^ That right there.

Anytime someone says Bitcoin is a scam, a fraud, a ponzi, a pyramid, is somehow bad, is going to zero, has no value, has no use, or anything like that, it is simply due to a deep lack of understanding.


Most people who have negative views about bitcoin fall into one of these cateogries:

1. They read a negative article(s) about bitcoin and all their beliefs around Bitcoin are based on what other people who lack understanding said.

2. They are skeptical about any investment that makes people a lot of money so by default they look at Bitcoin's success as an appreciating asset and they literally just can't fathom its growth trajectory so they assume it is some sort of scam.

3. They think bitcoin is bad for the environment because they don't understand how mining works and they likely read a negative article about mining written by someone with a lack of understanding of mining.

4. They think Bitcoin has no utility simply because it isn't yet generally used to buy things, and they don't understand that that use case comes later in its adoption and there is no reason to expect it to be used to buy things yet.

5. A politician or someone who gets their bitcoin news from politicians who thinks Bitcoin is bad simply because it is outside the control of governments.

6. They personally got burnt by getting into Bitcoin during a bull run and selling at a loss on the ensuing crash, because they didn't actually know what they were doing when they bought it.

7. They are confused about the different between Bitcoin, Crypto, and websites/exchanges in the industry. Because they conflate all these things they think when a hack occurs it means Bitcoin was hacked, or when something was a scam it means bitcoin is a scam, or if something went out of business or did something illegal it means Bitcoin is illegal or collapsed.

8. Simply not understanding volatility and Bitcoin's 4 year market cycle. Every single cycle most people assume Bitcoin is dead after the crash happens. Every single time they are wrong, but every cycle they keep thinking the previous peak was the final peak and the latest crash was the final crash that will keep going. It's just very short term thinking because they don't have any understanding about Bitcoin's value, they literally think its just some investment scheme so when it crashes they think oh that's it, it's done.


The common factor in all these area that they simply don't understand what Bitcoin is and the value is provides. I'm not even talking about understanding blockchain and how it works. I'm just talking about a lack of understanding of the basic value of what it means to be good money and why Bitcoin is extremely good money, as well as not understanding the market cycle and the general adoption path of such a thing.

[Zlantann]

I wouldn't deny that in my early days of investment, I really was unconvinced by the presentation i had about Bitcoin, which I took it as one of these fraudster trying to milk the general public as mmm did, but with time, after doing some research and finding I discovered how misinformed I was about it.

Due to the popularity and reputation of Bitcoin, it is common to see scammers hide behind the coin to defraud unsuspected investors. They will always tell people that they are buying Bitcoin meanwhile, they are been introduced to shitcoins or a Ponzi scheme. People need to know that there is no connection between Bitcoins and altcoins but in some cases, people are deceived that they are similar. I would have joined the Bitcoin train a long time ago, but these scammers scared me away from the crypto space.

Right now most people are like me years back, they are totally misinformed about Bitcoin, the best I do for them right now is to educate them about it, which some even told me what they think Bitcoin was, which is totally untrue about it.
but in as much as am trying to share knowledge about Bitcoin to those who lack it, I don't try to force it on anyone so they won't see me as a scam.

Getting correct information about Bitcoin is not as difficult as it used to be in the past. Now you can always verify the details you get because there are many genuine websites or media platforms where one can access Bitcoin education. The strength of Bitcoin is in mass adoption and this can be achieved through mass awareness programs. If you have the opportunity to tell people about this uncommon currency, go ahead and do it. But make sure they get a balanced message to avoid misconceptions.