perception of Bitcoin in mainstream-discussions and -media

[Kryptowerk]

As someone who's been quite enthusiastic about the tech aspect of Bitcoin for about 10 years now, here is something that's been on my mind from time to time over the last several years.

Why is it, that Bitcoin still seems to have low-interest, low-visiblity, low-trust and low-understanding in most parts of society.
Is this just my personal experience, am I way off?

Here's my day-to-day experience:

- friends that are non-crypto related (from sports, other interests or just old-school folks I've known for over a decade) just don't care almost at all about crypto. I have been talking about it a lot with them when I was still new to it for a period of maybe two years, on and off, but after a while I just resigned and don't really care anymore if they care.
- something I find "fascinating" (but also quite disturbing) is what I experienc a lot with (online) tech-media: whenever some crypto topic (positive or negative) is mentioned, most comments on the article are insanely negative and show a big lack of understanding for Bitcoin. What the heck! Are most people that ignorant (I know, the answer is YES, but still, wtf!)?
- general perception in mainstream media seems a bit more neutral, sometimes positive, sometimes negative, but for some reason I feel it does not translate to "everyday" people.
- interestingly enough I know a lot of folks with great informatics, mathematics, general IT skills that have not only skepticism but a strong distaste and almost hate towards Bitcoin. filled with ridiculous prejudices, completely ignoring the real revolutionary concept of Bitcoin.

/end of rant

/begin discussion of: is my perception way off?
- if yes, what's yours?
- if no, what could be the reasons and how to make a change? is just another decade needed? that's what I though about 7 years ago... now I'm not so sure anymore.[/b]

[Asiska02]

As bitcoin enthusiasts and one willing to accept bitcoin, we can never be on the same page as the general public always, there is always some group not liking a new technology and will do anything to create negative perception towards it even in the eyes of the public. It takes only some great interference for some of them to see the reality without falling dip to the naysaying of the haters and begin to be part of the tech revolution of bitcoin.

Bitcoin is still wide spreading and we cant all be on the same pages as others, so there will definitely be low interest, visibility, trust and understanding amongst ourselves. Even in some areas the bitcoin technology might have reached earlier, without proper educating and enlightenment of it, they could have a negative perception towards it and people from such region will find it hard and difficult to adopt.

Hoping for another decade is not at all off to me. It takes a longer time for what has come to stay forever to build its root and remain sustainable forever. Rushing to reach the peak may face flaws but bitcoin has shown a rapid improvement and growth since inception which is a good sign of prospect for the future of it.

[legiteum]

Why the negative connotations? The trick to understanding is to get out of the crypto bubble and learn more about what average Americans think.

Here's a few ideas:

1. The crypto industry spent $millions attaching itself to the, um, highly controversial figure of Donald Trump. Many here are very enthusiastic about Trump, so they can't possibly understand why that could be a bad thing, but recent polls would indicate they are only among about ~30% of Americans who think this. The rest seem to have this ridiculous idea that Trump is the most corrupt president in US history, and that crypto is just another scam for him  .

2. The crypto community's "extreme libertarianism" can be confused with... moral relativism. In other words, criminals and non-criminals are the same, aggressors like Russia are the same as victims of aggression like Ukraine, etc. It's great, they say, that Bitcoin provides a wonderfully useful product to both criminals and non-criminals alike, terrorists and non-terrorists alike, and so on. That's Bitcoin "doing its job", they say. The problem is, many Americans don't agree that terrorists should be able to have a nice way to move money around without getting caught, so when the community brags about this, they get... confused .

3. The crypto community supports CZ, but many Americans do not--and this is a very polarizing issue. To some, CZ was the victim of the previous administration's "war on crypto" and he is a totally innocent, upstanding guy. To others, he's a businessman who made his fortune by purposefully supporting terrorists groups like Al Qaeda and ISIS in order to make money. Again, you might be among the many who support CZ, but understand that many Americans have made their mind up about him.

4. The crypto industry is now the #1 political lobby in the USA, surpassing that of Big Oil, Big Pharmaceutical, etc. Many Americans feel very threatened by a gigantic industry like this buying our elections--and they are almost entirely supporting the Republican party, which only roughly half of the USA supports, which means that half of Americans would be rooting for the crypto business to totally fail.

So in summary: crime, association with crime, and indifference to crime and perpetrators of violence.  There's obviously a lot more to Bitcoin than all of these things, but the association doesn't wear off very easily...

[RGBTC]

- friends that are non-crypto related (from sports, other interests or just old-school folks I've known for over a decade) just don't care almost at all about crypto. I have been talking about it a lot with them when I was still new to it for a period of maybe two years, on and off, but after a while I just resigned and don't really care anymore if they care.

I draw my own conclusions from my circle:

• They don't want to bother with security 
• They don't want to take even a single cent of risk 
• They have their own stable way of making money 
• You don't seem like someone worth taking seriously
• Financially, they are several levels above you.

[AmoreJaz]

- friends that are non-crypto related (from sports, other interests or just old-school folks I've known for over a decade) just don't care almost at all about crypto. I have been talking about it a lot with them when I was still new to it for a period of maybe two years, on and off, but after a while I just resigned and don't really care anymore if they care.

I draw my own conclusions from my circle:

• They don't want to bother with security  
• They don't want to take even a single cent of risk  
• They have their own stable way of making money  
• You don't seem like someone worth taking seriously
• Financially, they are several levels above you.

They have no interest because they are already doing good even without involving themselves in crypto. That's the bottomline of this. So yeah, you can't expect people to really chase their opportunities here in the crypto market. They have their own way of making their own money and they are more comfortable in that aspect.

[elda34b]

I don't pay too much attention on that front either, but my past experience didn't seem that different from yours. It's a waste of time trying to discuss it against someone with a strong prejudice either. I only follow what's the new law updates and whatnot to see how the market actually evolves. Probably won't change anytime soon though.

Funny thing is, I see crypto being mentioned here and there on various TV dramas in Asia. Sometimes on the negatives, sometimes on the neutral side of it, and so on. I can only say the exposure does it increase.

[Richbased]

Why is it, that Bitcoin still seems to have low-interest, low-visiblity, low-trust and low-understanding in most parts of society.
Is this just my personal experience, am I way off?

We pay so much attention to what the public is saying, what they are hyping and what they want people to believe.
Low-interest? Yes that's because a lot of people thinks that they can't afford bitcoin anymore because of the price.
Low-visibility? I don't think so, bitcoin has been discussed many times on the media, what other visibility does it need?
Low-trust? Yes for people that are not into bitcoin, No for those who are into bitcoin. Why can't you trust what you have in your own custody?
Low-understanding? Of course, you don't invest in what you don't understand but it is better to seek understanding of it now than regret later.

[Darker45]

Your perception and mine are practically the same.

But perhaps we differ in our reactions. I don't even care to ask "how to make a change?" It seems to me it's enough that Bitcoin is there on the sidelines waiting for anybody to finally mature and realize there's something terribly wrong with the system and they need a way out.

For me it's best for Bitcoin supporters to be passive. They could switch into active mode once somebody comes and asks questions. Outside of it, the change that we think is necessary might even sound ridiculous to somebody else, and so it's better not to kind of indoctrinate them or impose our own philosophies on them however logical they may seem.

[JeffBrad12]

I've found the perception of bitcoin is better with people who regularly send their money internationally, when they know bitcoin exist, they aren't hesitating to use it and avoid high fee enforced by SWIFT for international remittance, on the other hand the people who hate AI usually hate Bitcoin for some reason LOL. I think they just hate new things that aren't provided by government.

- interestingly enough I know a lot of folks with great informatics, mathematics, general IT skills that have not only skepticism but a strong distaste and almost hate towards Bitcoin. filled with ridiculous prejudices, completely ignoring the real revolutionary concept of Bitcoin.

Dunning-Kruger effect? it seems some highly educated people can't accept the fact that bitcoin is invented by anonymous.

[Antidote47k]

I think one of the main reason for this is probably the initial negative talks surrounding bitcoin during its early days, there was a lot of scrutiny on bitcoin and most feedback was negative in the media. People usually don’t evaluate technology from first principle, they come to their conclusions mostly based on what they hear and see in the news and whether it could solve any problem in their lives.
You can’t really appreciate something you know little about, but once you see it, you can’t unsee it. The same was the case for me, I used bitcoin for quite a long period without actually knowing what self custody was and the benefits, took me a while but once I got into it, I was so impressed by the concept and I never saw it the same again.
And there is a difference between awareness and understanding, today a lot of people know about bitcoin compared to 10 years ago but do they truly understand it? Knowing is one thing, understanding why it was created or the problem it’s solving is another thing. If someone’s only exposure to Bitcoin is headlines about hacks, scams, or price crashes, it’s not surprising that they develop a negative impression without ever understanding what Bitcoin actually is or why it was created.

[hmbdofficial]

~snip

I don’t think your perception is actually off, why I said so is because most people outside bitcoin circles only get to hear about bitcoin during the bull market when people are in profit, or the downside when most people are panicking, or even during exchanges failure or wallet compromise, just like the case of COLDCARD recently. they rarely spend time to learn and understand the protocol and how it works and that is why their opinions will be based on on headlines instead of facts.
Like there are people that are actually good technically but still are skeptical about bitcoin, I don’t blame them because being good at programming or IT doesn’t mean that they understand the consensus model, monetary system, until they learn it. That is why most of them dismisses the idea without even understanding what decentralisation fixed supply really is.
I also think that bitcoin has a communication problem, it is easier to explain number go up than proof of work, self custody or why con censorship resistance is valuable, most people don't appreciate those properties until thay actually need them.
However, all this didn’t stop its adoption over the years just that it’s slower than early bitcoin bitcoiners expected. Because changing how society thinks about money is actually a generational shift and not just like a software upgrade. The best way to change mind will not be through debating with people but building useful tools and allowing bitcoin prove itself over time.

[OsaiEmma]

It seems to me it's enough that Bitcoin is there on the sidelines waiting for anybody to finally mature and realize there's something terribly wrong with the system and they need a way out.

Speaking strictly from my own experience, a lot of people (those around me) have already figured out the system is messed up, but the issue is on how to actually escape through Bitcoin. Bitcoin can't provide you your daily or monthly income, you basic and secondary needs, you have to be under the system to get that (speaking for someone who recently wants to get into Bitcoin); the only ones who can live comfortably with Bitcoin are the OGs those that have started accumulating or mining for up to or more than a decade ago, and they even need to be within the confines of the system to do that.

So I don't think there is any escaping the system with Bitcoin, you just have to exist with it while reducing its impact and effect with Bitcoin. Bitcoin is more like a shield than an escape.

/begin discussion of: is my perception way off?
- if yes, what's yours?
- if no, what could be the reasons and how to make a change? is just another decade needed? that's what I though about 7 years ago... now I'm not so sure anymore.[/b]

Well, from my POV, it's way off  

On a more serious note, those around me really do want to invest in Bitcoin, but they do have the issue of patience and capital. If I tell an average earner to invest in Bitcoin, after explaining it all, the mechanism, the potential etc, there response will be to hold on until they've made enough capital to invest. Meanwhile, the well to do are already pouring in a lot into it, at this point it seems the rich are just getting richer.

[Hewlet]

- if no, what could be the reasons and how to make a change? is just another decade needed? that's what I though about 7 years ago... now I'm not so sure anymore.[/i][/b]

Patience is something that is gradually going extinct in our todays society and an average person can not relate with anything that requires them putting in an amount and having to wait for long. this is not to say that the worth of bitcoin is just in it investment potential, it is just that overtime, the discussion has seriously shifted to how profitable investors are and when newbies comes in and don't see this profit and when outsiders only know the current price of bitcoin relative to it past price, they tend to easily loose interest in it.

when you search bitcoin on the media space that contains an average mind that is a bit naïve about bitcoin, what pops up on your feed is usually not as encouraging as the truth that an investor that is on a forum like this is exposed to. you rarely sees a clear distinction between bitcoin and an altcoin or meme coin. before the difference is not too obvious, when some of these altcoin fails, the general believe is almost like bitcoin is just one of them and with that you tend to see a lot of people shying away from being interested in bitcoin.

This is partly the reason why we can still say that bitcoin is still new. as long as in the street, people can not make a clear difference between bitcoin, altcoin and a meme coin and sees what is applicable to one as what is applicable to all, we are going to continue seeing a larger population of people that are still uninterested in bitcoin not because bitcoin is getting any worse but because some of these new coins that comes up and fails are having a tail on bitcoin.

[aoluain]

is my perception way off?

From my experience I think your perception is similar to mine.

Generally -

People get interested when there is an ATH but are reluctant to get involved because they
are either aware that there will be a CRASH (bear season) and or they just cant get past
the VOLATILITY aspect of the market.

People are comfortable with the FIAT system which is marketed as being there for them,
and they are unaware of the manipulation through inflation.

Most people lack financial education.

I have been there aswell with friends, same experience, they are still not in Bitcoin so I have
ceased all talk of Bitcoin.

As regards mainstream media, unless its local news the global news is mostly one sided and
being positive about Bitcoin doesnt have an audience because of the above