How many people have YOU convinced to start mining with GPUs?

[gigabytecoin]

I am up to about 3 maybe 4 people after tonight.

Convinced the lot of them to buy a 1Ghps system and I set it up for them for free.

If you show them weusecoins.com as an intro and then bitcoincharts.com and explain the mining process, it's a surprisingly easy sell even to non-techies.

Because really, who wants to be rich when all their friends are poor? Make your friends rich too, people!

(I have taken due diligence and informed them all that bitcoins could be worth $0 tomorrow, and that it's a risky investment). Nobody wants to be friendless either

[ataranlen]

Do you have any suggestions for convincing people its not Illegal? My Dad seems to think that Bitcoin is Illegal because "You're not allowed to create a currency, Its probably hacking or password cracking something, etc"

[rezin777]

Convincing people it's not illegal? Smoke a joint with them first to ease their fears. If it's a relative, drink a bottle of quality vodka before the joint.

[mjsbuddha]

I've convinced 2 people so far.

[mewantsbitcoins]

Convincing people it's not illegal? Smoke a joint with them first to ease their fears. If it's a relative, drink a bottle of quality vodka before the joint.

Yea, that ak-47 you got on the black market and paid with bitcoins may also help

[rezin777]

Real AKs in my land cost 15,000 USD plus a stamp from the ATF that says they can walk around in your bedroom any time they wish.

[SgtSpike]

I've convinced 2 people... one of 'em dropped $700 on a 6990, the other $140 on a 5850.

[Grinder]

None. I have told a good friend that there's good money to be earned, but he's too dumb when it comes to see opportunities. Generally I consider stupid to convince other people to mine, because more miners will lower my own income.

[luffy]

10 people so far by just get a 5850 to put in their main rig! nothing special but an income of at least 50$  every week (who knows where it is going
Who would say no?!
more people that know about this, the higher the btc price will get!
and the best part of it, all my friends are now pay each other with BTCs 

[allinvain]

None. I have told a good friend that there's good money to be earned, but he's too dumb when it comes to see opportunities. Generally I consider stupid to convince other people to mine, because more miners will lower my own income.

Spoken like a true banker right there. While you are correct it would also be stupid if you did all this work and spend all this money on your mining rigs and nobody start to use the currency you've mined. So it is in your own economic interest to have more people mine coins and spend them and then to tell their friend about it..etc. In other words the viral effect would pay off for everyone - especially miners who will see the value of their coins go through the stratosphere.

I personally tell everyone who I have discussions with regarding bitcoin that they too can be rewarded for helping to strength the network by mining. If they are smart they will at the very least bother to do some research, and if they are really smart they will get more into bitcoin. If they do not, that's fine, but they will be the ones BUYING bitcoins from me at $100 per coin. Life is full of good opportunities but most people are to ignorant and too "stuck in their own ways" to see them. Such is life!

[jkminkov]

keep convincing more

[vuce]

I convinced one friend to start mining, and 3 to buy some bitcoins (and they in turn have convinced a few more). One is particularly resistant and thinks bitcoin is a pyramid scheme no matter what, so I'm giving up on him

[allinvain]

I convinced one friend to start mining, and 3 to buy some bitcoins (and they in turn have convinced a few more). One is particularly resistant and thinks bitcoin is a pyramid scheme no matter what, so I'm giving up on him

Astonishing! How can he think bitcoin to be a pyramid scheme if there is no central entity or person (ie the "capstone") involved?

Ohwell..chalk another one for human stupidity..the only true infinite commodity in the world.

[maxcorrads]

I've convinced one to start mine!

[vuce]

I convinced one friend to start mining, and 3 to buy some bitcoins (and they in turn have convinced a few more). One is particularly resistant and thinks bitcoin is a pyramid scheme no matter what, so I'm giving up on him

Astonishing! How can he think bitcoin to be a pyramid scheme if there is no central entity or person (ie the "capstone") involved?

Ohwell..chalk another one for human stupidity..the only true infinite commodity in the world.

exactly. I've given him numerous articles to read on the subject to no avail. He still thinks "someone (satoshi) is making a shitload of money from us" (which obviously might be true since he got bitcoins when they were almost worthless, but definitely not in a way this guy thinks it's happening). It's hilarious, in a way

[allinvain]

I convinced one friend to start mining, and 3 to buy some bitcoins (and they in turn have convinced a few more). One is particularly resistant and thinks bitcoin is a pyramid scheme no matter what, so I'm giving up on him

Astonishing! How can he think bitcoin to be a pyramid scheme if there is no central entity or person (ie the "capstone") involved?

Ohwell..chalk another one for human stupidity..the only true infinite commodity in the world.

exactly. I've given him numerous articles to read on the subject to no avail. He still thinks "someone (satoshi) is making a shitload of money from us". It's hilarious, in a way

Hilarious and sad at the same time...

Now here is an amusing pyramid:

[Grinder]

Spoken like a true banker right there. While you are correct it would also be stupid if you did all this work and spend all this money on your mining rigs and nobody start to use the currency you've mined. So it is in your own economic interest to have more people mine coins and spend them and then to tell their friend about it..etc. In other words the viral effect would pay off for everyone - especially miners who will see the value of their coins go through the stratosphere.

If you already have a large amount of coins from when it was less popular then maybe, but then your income is coming from increase in value of the previous hoarding, not the mining. If you mine to sell the value of BTC doesn't matter, only the difficulty to price ratio. If I could convince anybody to buy bitcoins that would be in my economic interest, but because I consider that too risky myself I don't have the conscience to tell others to do it.

[allinvain]

Spoken like a true banker right there. While you are correct it would also be stupid if you did all this work and spend all this money on your mining rigs and nobody start to use the currency you've mined. So it is in your own economic interest to have more people mine coins and spend them and then to tell their friend about it..etc. In other words the viral effect would pay off for everyone - especially miners who will see the value of their coins go through the stratosphere.

If you already have a large amount of coins from when it was less popular then maybe, but then your income is coming from increase in value of the previous hoarding, not the mining. If you mine to sell the value of BTC doesn't matter, only the difficulty to price ratio. If I could convince anybody to buy bitcoins that would be in my economic interest, but because I consider that too risky myself I don't have the conscience to tell others to do it.

True, the early adopters have a much larger incentive to proselytize. Yes I never told anyone to buy bitcoins either. I did tell them to start offering their products and services in exchange for them. I also told them that they can make some bitcoins if they already have a high end graphics card (I did mention that it would be more economical for them to use ATI cards) but I never said they should go out right this instant and buy 50 Radeon 6990s cause they're going to become the next Bill Gates.

I think that maybe you'll have the clearest conscience if you told people to offer their services and products for bitcoins. This way everyone would benefit from the enlargement of the bitcoin economy.

As for miners I have a feeling that later on the mining portion of bitcoin will fade more in the background. It will become a specialized science sort of speak suitable mainly for the hardcore bitcoin geeks. The upside of this is that miners like us will naturally benefit the most from this. But to get to this stage a lot of miners will drop like flies due to the massive increase in difficulty expected before we ever get to this mature stage.

[Nythain]

Convinced my flatmate to start mining bitcoins... for ME, mwahaha. Other than that, the rest of my friends view it as fake money, a waste of time, or a scam. Sucks to be them.

[gigabytecoin]

Incredible stuff guys!

Remember, the more people who know about bitcoin, the better.

And the more people who have money/time/effort invested in bitcoin, even BETTER!

I didn't need any drugs or alcohol to convince my friends. I simply showed them the alexa graph, and the price graph, and weusecoins.com, and they were convinced pretty quickly.