How would you explain bitcoin to someone?

[SquirrelJulietGarden]

There is a lot of information about Bitcoin, obviously but many of them are misleading.  So it is best to tackle what Bitcoin is not, since Bitcoin information, both facts and misconceptions, is everywhere. 

I would emphasize that Bitcoin is not a get rich scheme, although the pioneers surely gain a tremendous profit, that is because they trusted Bitcoin in the beginning when no one trusted it.  I will also point out that any person or agent who claims to be a Bitcoin company is more likely using Bitcoin to mislead people because Bitcoin is not a company nor owned or run by a company. 

Because there are good and bad, accurate and misleading resources for learning, people need to do their deep research for finding good resources. If lucky enough, they will receive good advice to accurate, insightful learning resources.

I can not know about all inaccurate and misleading resources but I can share good ones. By learning from good resources, people will have enough knowledge to realize and debunk bad resources.
Mastering Bitcoin.
Mastering the Lightning Network.
learnmeabitcoin.com
Bitcoin information & resources.
Bitcoin layer two resources.
endthefud.org
Bitcoin critiques & rebuttals.

[HONDACD125]

There is a lot of information about Bitcoin, obviously but many of them are misleading.  So it is best to tackle what Bitcoin is not, since Bitcoin information, both facts and misconceptions, is everywhere. 

I would emphasize that Bitcoin is not a get rich scheme, although the pioneers surely gain a tremendous profit, that is because they trusted Bitcoin in the beginning when no one trusted it.  I will also point out that any person or agent who claims to be a Bitcoin company is more likely using Bitcoin to mislead people because Bitcoin is not a company nor owned or run by a company. 

Good arguments. You are actually right about the second point because a lot of players in the market use the tactic of tricking people by saying that they manage their Bitcoin or get them profits using their Bitcoin and since so many people don't know much about Bitcoin and that it's a decentralized cryptocurrency, they actually trust these people and give their money or Bitcoin away and they run away with it. With the amount of knowledge and information widely available online these days, one shouldn't even need a third-person to teach them about Bitcoin and how it works, but people are just too lazy to do their own research.

With my personal experiences in the past, I have decided I will only talk about Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies or share knowledge to people if they ask or show interest themselves, because if you start the topic yourself, and then if you get out of control and start talking about how people make profits from cryptocurrencies, and if the people you are talking to decide to make investments and eventually lose money in crypto by either selling out of panic or investing in the wrong cryptocurrencies, the blame will go to you. So it's better to be safe from this.

[Agbamoni]

Boring IT stuffs is a perfect way which will also explain and give reason to why you could be on your computer for long period of time and it will avoid some unnecessary further questions. You will give someone an advise about something and they will decide to take w separate route and when it backfires them they put the blame on you for bringing the idea to their table in the first place, the best to do is just totally don't explain to them unless when they voluntarily ask for such information you give tips without it sounding as if you are persuading them to invest.

Aside from Bitcoin, anything that consists of profit and loss will always backfire on the adviser if the recipient encounters losses. This is the reality of life, which is the reason why it is better not to give financial advicer or rather add a disclaimer if you are writing an article on such a subject. Bitcoin is not a scam, nor is it a sure means to become wealthy. Most folks misunderstand the concept of digital money, the fairest form of money we will ever know, which is Bitcoin. They come with the mindset of becoming wealthy through Bitcoin, without giving it proper time.

[SeriouslyGiveaway]

Aside from Bitcoin, anything that consists of profit and loss will always backfire on the adviser if the recipient encounters losses. This is the reality of life, which is the reason why it is better not to give financial advicer or rather add a disclaimer if you are writing an article on such a subject. Bitcoin is not a scam, nor is it a sure means to become wealthy. Most folks misunderstand the concept of digital money, the fairest form of money we will ever know, which is Bitcoin. They come with the mindset of becoming wealthy through Bitcoin, without giving it proper time.

As all other markets, Bitcoin market is not an exception and it is a zero sum market in which there are winners with profit and losers with losses. It's easily for winners with profit to feel happy and consider Bitcoin market as a fair one while with losers, they can think oppositely and with them the Bitcoin market is unfair.

We can not change them or decide their thinking about the market but the market is itself, Bitcoin is Bitcoin with its network's strong security, very good decentralization, massive adoption among thousands of cryptocurrencies that are main solid contributors for its survival and success. Fair or unfair, it's you and the others think about Bitcoin but Bitcoin is simply itself and continues to roll over the future with more new Bitcoin blocks.

Get wealthier or poorer, it's how people do it and it's not responsibility of Bitcoin as it has grown up very well over years in technology, adoption, value, price and trading volume. Who are intelligent and clever enough would have gotten richer with Bitcoin by being early adopters, investors and holders, yes if they could hodl, they would have been richer a lot.

https://hodl.camp/

[DeFi-Ants]

100% Holding is a seriously flawed idea. period (more below)

As all other markets,....

....Who are intelligent and clever enough would have gotten richer with Bitcoin by being early adopters, investors and holders, yes if they could hodl, they would have been richer a lot.

https://hodl.camp/

Anyone with even modest math skills can quickly and easily learn from the repeated history of brutal bear markets for BTC and related crypto. People who sell at least a moderate portion of their stash when a rally has "obviously been getting extreme" - and buy back at much lower prices - will eventually be owning much more Bitcoin than simple holders.

How would you explain bitcoin to someone?
The above ideas can be a great thing to explain to a newbie, especially if you care about them and their future.

[retreat]

Aside from Bitcoin, anything that consists of profit and loss will always backfire on the adviser if the recipient encounters losses. This is the reality of life, which is the reason why it is better not to give financial advicer or rather add a disclaimer if you are writing an article on such a subject. Bitcoin is not a scam, nor is it a sure means to become wealthy. Most folks misunderstand the concept of digital money, the fairest form of money we will ever know, which is Bitcoin. They come with the mindset of becoming wealthy through Bitcoin, without giving it proper time.

When most people want to learn about Bitcoin, the first thing they think about is how they can make money quickly. They think that if they invest a certain amount of money in Bitcoin, it will multiply in a few months because the content they watch on their reels tells them so. That's why I'm always cautious and limit myself to discussing and advising people to invest their money in Bitcoin. If someone asks about Bitcoin, I'll tell them about it, but I avoid discussing its potential profits because I don't want to be blamed if they lose money investing in Bitcoin.

[Agbamoni]

When most people want to learn about Bitcoin, the first thing they think about is how they can make money quickly. They think that if they invest a certain amount of money in Bitcoin, it will multiply in a few months because the content they watch on their reels tells them so. That's why I'm always cautious and limit myself to discussing and advising people to invest their money in Bitcoin. If someone asks about Bitcoin, I'll tell them about it, but I avoid discussing its potential profits because I don't want to be blamed if they lose money investing in Bitcoin.

Theoretically, Bitcoin can improve your finances if approached the right way. But in practice, so many things are involved to benefit from Bitcoin. There are several ways to benefit from Bitcoin, ways that are well known in the world, but it involves the most suitable strategy in that direction. If an investor wants to be successful in a bitcoin investment, they will have to use the right strategy at every point in time. Many folks mistake life-changing opportunities for quick schemes to get rich. Bitcoin does not guarantee instant profit, but it guarantees future profit if done the right way.

[Son Of Blockchain (SOB)]

 I'll simply tell anyone that very interested in knowing about Bitcoin that's it's a decentralized digital currency with a good investment opportunity that can offer financial freedom to anyone if they hold it for a longer period, I believe that knowing it offers financial freedom if done the right way would cause anyone to pick interest to invest in it.
 Then I'll further explain that the price of Bitcoin shouldn't hinder anyone from investing in it. Some people still feel that they can't invest cause it's meant for the rich, they don't really understand that they can invest according to the amount that can be allocated to their discretionary fund, it could be small but consistently, and still make good profit if they can maintain it for long-term.

[Bigthraex]

I'll simply tell anyone that very interested in knowing about Bitcoin that's it's a decentralized digital currency with a good investment opportunity that can offer financial freedom to anyone if they hold it for a longer period, I believe that knowing it offers financial freedom if done the right way would cause anyone to pick interest to invest in it.
 Then I'll further explain that the price of Bitcoin shouldn't hinder anyone from investing in it. Some people still feel that they can't invest cause it's meant for the rich, they don't really understand that they can invest according to the amount that can be allocated to their discretionary fund, it could be small but consistently, and still make good profit if they can maintain it for long-term.

I think another thing you should mention is that understanding Bitcoin takes time and patience. Begginerd should not focus profits or expect profits immediately rather they should focus more on learning. Consistency, patience and basic knowledge is important given that the market is volatile. Beginners needs to understand both the risks and opportunities involved. They should also be educated that bitcoin is not a get rich quick scheme and that long term decisions often pay off.

[Dunamisx]

It is what we know that we can be able to extend towards others and impact on them, bitcoin is not hard to learn, we may only need the procedures to how we can go about it and platform like this to be guided on some information that is required of us to know, it is an open network and there is nothing hidden under this network that should prevent others from learning, so based on what we know is what we can as well give to others as knowledge impartation.

[Akbarkoe]

It is what we know that we can be able to extend towards others and impact on them, bitcoin is not hard to learn, we may only need the procedures to how we can go about it and platform like this to be guided on some information that is required of us to know, it is an open network and there is nothing hidden under this network that should prevent others from learning, so based on what we know is what we can as well give to others as knowledge impartation.

If explaining about simple bitcon is quite easy, but explaining the whole bitcooin is not easy especially when talking about technicalities, ordinary people will not understand quickly.
What I realized when explaining to someone must have a certain level to explain, you must know in advance your interlocutor because it will make it easier for you to explain bitcoin to them, so you can classify certain parts that are easy to understand and those that are difficult to understand quickly.

[red4slash]

It is what we know that we can be able to extend towards others and impact on them, bitcoin is not hard to learn, we may only need the procedures to how we can go about it and platform like this to be guided on some information that is required of us to know, it is an open network and there is nothing hidden under this network that should prevent others from learning, so based on what we know is what we can as well give to others as knowledge impartation.

Actually for now I don't think we need to talk too much when it comes to bitcoin because we only need to provide references and other people who want to learn can explore further because now the times are different and we don't need to talk too much to convince just give them understanding and let those who are curious explore further.

This is what I always do now, not that I don't want to convince others but sometimes what we say is sometimes seen as the main focus even though we are only bridging but there are some who end up being too fixated on what we say and when the situation does not match expectations then certainly they will consider us as a fraud and this I have felt before and I don't want to feel that again.
So for now I only provide some references to those who want to understand bitcoin and let them explore and convince themselves without any coercion or encouragement that I do.

[cxtreenal]

Well, such a rookie question but I am looking for some new ideas to explain about bitcoin and why they should have bitcoin in the simplest way possible, because 90% of them will not be interested in learning the whitepaper if they don't get the concept of decentralization and how central banks are ripping the people with money printers.

So no need to talk about price and share any technical source, just plain and simple, how would you explain Bitcoin to someone briefly?

For example, you are depositing your excess funds in a bank for a small profit. Maybe you are considering additional security. Banks entice you to deposit money in the bank because the government directly monitors those banks through the central bank. But did you know that the value of your cash is gradually decreasing?

Every fiscal year, the government prints fiat to meet the excess monetary demand, resulting in inflation and the depreciation of the cash funds you have.

Decentralized Bitcoin is a store of value and no person or institution controls the value of this asset, it decreases or increases with demand and the negative impact of inflation is very low. Compared to keeping cash funds in the bank accumulating Bitcoin will protect your excess cash funds from depreciation.

[Findingnemo]

the government directly monitors those banks through the central bank. But did you know that the value of your cash is gradually decreasing?

Every fiscal year, the government prints fiat to meet the excess monetary demand, resulting in inflation and the depreciation of the cash funds you have.

Just to correct you, banks are not controlling the central bank, they might have some say but it is an individual body like the court and who is in the power of central bank is the sole decidor of how much money they are printing, and what are the policies needs to be changed according to the currency economic situation and so on.

[Sammye3]

Well, such a rookie question but I am looking for some new ideas to explain about bitcoin and why they should have bitcoin in the simplest way possible, because 90% of them will not be interested in learning the whitepaper if they don't get the concept of decentralization and how central banks are ripping the people with money printers.

So no need to talk about price and share any technical source, just plain and simple, how would you explain Bitcoin to someone briefly?

The first thing anyone should know about bitcoin is that it is digital money used as payment means and also an investment entity. There is mo need to male it look so complicated because that is what scares most beginners away from investing or even trying to acquire knowledge of bitcoin.

Bitcoin is not meant to look complicated or too difficult to understand. Don't explain with the idea that bitcoin is financial freedom because the expectations as a beginner could ruin them. Bitcoin is patience and consistency not a get rich quick scheme.

[Cgrexp]

When most people want to learn about Bitcoin, the first thing they think about is how they can make money quickly. They think that if they invest a certain amount of money in Bitcoin, it will multiply in a few months because the content they watch on their reels tells them so. That's why I'm always cautious and limit myself to discussing and advising people to invest their money in Bitcoin. If someone asks about Bitcoin, I'll tell them about it, but I avoid discussing its potential profits because I don't want to be blamed if they lose money investing in Bitcoin.

Theoretically, Bitcoin can improve your finances if approached the right way. But in practice, so many things are involved to benefit from Bitcoin. There are several ways to benefit from Bitcoin, ways that are well known in the world, but it involves the most suitable strategy in that direction. If an investor wants to be successful in a bitcoin investment, they will have to use the right strategy at every point in time. Many folks mistake life-changing opportunities for quick schemes to get rich. Bitcoin does not guarantee instant profit, but it guarantees future profit if done the right way.

Bitcoin should be seen as an asset that has long-term potential and should never be seen as a way to get rich quickly. When someone invests with a long-term plan, they should not only focus on buying, but also have patience, risk management and mental control. Otherwise, there is a possibility of making wrong decisions due to fear of market volatility. It is true that it guarantees profits in the future  but it is not 100% certain . so we should have realistic expectations. Many people have improved their financial situation in the past  but none of us can say for sure that it will happen in the future. That is why it is said that we should invest with money that will not affect our normal life even if we lose it. Investors should have a trading mentality because if we do not control our emotions and do not manage risk in trading, there is a possibility of failure in the strategy. Therefore, Bitcoin is a risky asset, but it has potential. We should enter into investment with realistic expectations because whenever someone expects more, it is not possible for him to make rational decisions.  Therefore, realistic expectations are more important in the long run, not dreams of quick profits.

[HelliumZ]

Before I explain Bitcoin to someone, I want to show them a difference between the current price of Bitcoin and its past price to prove why they should invest in Bitcoin.
One of the unique features of Bitcoin is that it is not controlled by anyone, which makes it completely independent of inflation.
I would explain to someone that if you have to keep money in the bank, then over time that money will decrease in value due to inflation, but if you invest in Bitcoin and hold it, it will increase over time.

[Churchillvv]

Bitcoin is not meant to look complicated or too difficult to understand. Don't explain with the idea that bitcoin is financial freedom because the expectations as a beginner could ruin them. Bitcoin is patience and consistency not a get rich quick scheme.

Right now in the current situation we find bitcoin I would prefer to explain bitcoin to someone as an asset just like every other asset and investment, the best way to go about it to invest in it in the long run just like you would invest in every other investment. In more you invest, the more you make profit because bitcoin is not longer in the past where you can invest little you can gain more, it’s now expensive and requires you to buy more to earn more.

[BitDiscussion]

Bitcoin is not meant to look complicated or too difficult to understand. Don't explain with the idea that bitcoin is financial freedom because the expectations as a beginner could ruin them. Bitcoin is patience and consistency not a get rich quick scheme.

Then why it is like that? But that only justify its benefits. Besides, it is not new and experts have done their best to make BTC not intimidating to the newbies, like they create an attractive logo and make the wallet or exchange simple to use. They as well put guides there using also simple words.

[mohdadeeb]

Bitcoin is a digital currency that works without any bank or government controlling itIt allows people to send and receive money directly over the internet using a secure system called blockchainEvery transaction is recorded publicly which makes it transparent and hard to fakePeople use it for online payments investing and transferring money globally