Topic: Bitcoin and misinformation - page 7. (Read 1197 times)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

Bitcoin is a pioneer, but misunderstanding persists. Isn't it worrying how quickly perceptions can be skewed? The persisting misconception that Bitcoin is a scam reflects the fight against financial ignorance. Many start with your cynicism before adoring bitcoin. As you said, education is crucial.

Engaging the misinformed requires enlightenment and acceptance of their position. Offering knowledge without being harsh is difficult. Presenting Bitcoin's risk and reward, volatility, and inventive roots can open more eyes. You may connect with financially curious people by portraying Bitcoin as a decentralized movement rather than a money.

As you educate, examine each coin's tangible asset and intangible ideology. By discussing Bitcoin's philosophy and mechanics, you may help people overcome their financial despair. Every mind opened contributes to educated public discourse.

people years ago thought it was not real money(2012-2015). so showing them that you can buy things with it is an easy convincer.
so showing someone spending bitcoin = pizza delivery was the easiest(of many ways).

back then it was easier to get merchant adoption. i personally convinced many merchants to start accepting it. but the thing that has become annoying to them merchants in more recent years is the $1+ tx fee
having a customer pay $1 tx fee. then the merchant has to pay another fee to move or spend. makes merchants think its not a good idea(for money) compared to fiat.. so i stopped the merchant adoption game. too much resistance/headache for little productivity..

yes there are subnetworks promoting cheap fees. but those have so many bugs and flaws and bottlenecks they too are not secure or fit for purpose to promote as the other means to expose merchants to.. (new subnetworks need to be build from fresh learning from old subnetworks mistakes)

these days bitcoin has transitioned from being money to being asset (from spending to investing) so you have to show the well known institutions that not only sing bitcoin praise. but also are really involved in it. not just investing in the coin. but setting up services and getting their lawyers to apply to the regulators to show its not just a fad but something serious

so right now bitcoin is settling into the realm of utility as an investment vessel of peoples store of wealth..

the whole misinformation game other play in promotions of old subnetworks as solutions was something i had to unravel and reveal as a plot to get people to leave bitcoin. the "bitcoin NFT" meme ordinal junk was another one. making sure contacts i knew didnt fall for those crap schemes, and so far they are listening to stick with actual bitcoin hoarding and avoiding the silly games pretending to be bitcoin next gen things

I guess it's enough to do your part and let them do the rest. You tell them about Bitcoin but if they insist that it is a ponzi or any kind of scam, then don't argue with them. Just let them do their additional research and verify for themselves whether Bitcoin is indeed a scam or not.

I have also encountered people who are hard to convince. It's usually because they are already biased against the idea of Bitcoin. They already have assumptions. I don't want to exert too much effort just to win them over on Bitcoin's side.

Every new concept , especially when it's linked to investing and fund, often face initial resistance before being accept as legimate. Typically aged people are mostly less familiar with new technology and doesn't want to take risk in new things. I remembered that once when bike was rate in our area , old aged people hesitated to ride sitting behind with the thinking that it is risky to set eventhough they rode bicycle daily.

Now with the accessibility of internet, everyone could easily research about btc. One can discover how many companies, services now embrace btc. calling Bitcoin scam nowadays is just showing ignorance of people.


You are doing a good job to teach new people about btc. you should first learn deep history and why people need btc. It's will help you to teach properly. Moreover you can learn all those questions which a newbie maybe ask you. No need to force anyone as this is not ponzi scheme which will give you fast profit but after some times nothing will come into your hands

It's just the rhetoric of those who don't like BTC and it's natural they don't understand. In fact, currently many eyes are on and BTC does have high appeal and is able to attract people who are worried about the direct control of national banks and any government.

What is certain is that if you are patient, users of this currency will get different benefits from traditional currency users, even when we drink coffee on the go if we have invested and we don't need to think about instability now and in the future if we play long term.

Addressing Bitcoin as a "Father" or a "King" is somewhat nonsense for me.
I mean why address it like it's a person or what? Father of crypto? I can't help myself, but to laugh. Anyways I will not focus on that one because I agree with what you said that misinformation in the internet is at it's peak right now.

There are still newbies out there who are still getting scammed because of misinformation. There are newbies out there who look Bitcoin as a scam because of misinformation. There are still newbies out there who don't want to invest into Bitcoin because they believe that it's a scam. Why? Because they absorbed information from the wrong so-called gurus, or influencers whatever you want to call to them.

It's pretty common nowadays especially when you're a newbie that you will experience the same thing you experienced. The good thing about you is that, you did your own research yourself, and saw that everything, or at least most of what they said to you was false. Those fraudsters will try to milk those newbies as many times as they want until they don't have money left. As long as there are newbies, there will always investors who will get scammed.

Well, educating them is the way to go, but be careful with the information that you're sharing to them because there might be times where what you're sharing to them are wrong. I guess just continue with what you're doing, and thanks for sharing the correct information to newbies out there.

I guess it is to be expected, specially when a new technology like Bitcoin comes along as it is the first time that we have witnessed crypto (although we have something prior and it gave Satoshi his inspiration). And with that, it's human nature to be afraid of what's new as we resists change, specially the fiat and the banking system. They see crypto more of a threat, but for us it's a alternative.

And Bitcoin is still fairly young to begin with, so there is going to be a learning curved, and there will be negative things that we will here from it's detractors specially in 2017 when it was one of the best year for Bitcoin as people around the world was very curious at the same time there are a lot of attacks. Nevertheless, we will continue to march in the next 10 years or so and I don't think that those misinformation will be enough to stop this revolution.

Do you think it was easier back then to convince a pizza or fast food guy because they saw you paying in Bitcoin every time and one day wondered how in the heck are you purchasing so many things with it?  They do appear to get more interested if they see a real event occurring.  If they see some body paying with Bitcoin for instance.  Other wise, Bitcoin is just another subject for discussion to most of them it seems.

I find difficulty attempting to convince those around me today.  Even if I tell them established institutions are riding the Bitcoin wave as well.  The skepticism is still the air and it does not seem to get a lot better than it used to be.  It could be us explaining and having much different capacities of explaining and convincing too of course.  Country of origin as well.  Different experiences.  Different cultures.

I disagree with you on this. There are situation that you people will look at you as a scammer even without you having a conversation with them talk more of forcing them to invest. I believe you may have come in contact with an Internet fraud that offered you 1000x profit that make you feel that the only we people can see you as a scam.
Just as Dr.Bitcoin_Strange, said in his example, in some villages or town there are people who are educated and yet uneducated on others things like bitcoin, with there vast knowledge or long time study they believe that whatever you tell them when you are not highly educated as them is rubbish. This kind people may consider as scam when you talk about something like Bitcoin to be a money that is not visible.
In some areas whatever the population is not aware of is generally considered as scam when introduced to them  because of ignorance. So is not only when you try to force people to invest that they can consider you as a scammer.


Wow that's quite different I never imaged that placing an order for pizza can be a convincing point. Maybe that's because you're in a city that is exposed or civilized, well over here I can't find where to buy stuffs with Bitcoin. The only place I have see that they accept Bitcoin is a furniture shop where  sofas are sold in wholesale.

Bitcoin is scam.
Bitcoin is dead.
Bitcoin is polluting the environment and harmful for the Earth.
Bitcoin does not have any value.

Misinformation can be debunked.
5 Resources to teach Average Joe about Bitcoin
Debunking the "Bitcoin is an environmental disaster" argument
https://bitcoincleanup.com/
https://endthefud.org/
Bitcoin Mining Council Reports

I can relate to this because this is what I also experienced in some of our locals here. It's just sad because they are the ones who are saying it's a scam or saying some negative things when they don't even have any knowledge of Bitcoin.
For me, this will continue especially bull run is fast approaching, and a lot of scams or hacks will involve Bitcoin and some people will start blaming Bitcoin for it.

Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it. Bitcoin isn't going anywhere.

If you want to spread the word, then you will have to accept the consequences that you are going to be tagged crazy, a scam, or a cheat. That's what people who believe in bitcoin get when they're trying to talk to people about bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. It's something that isn't welcome by any means, but any new idea tend to get met with hostilities and instant discrediting of information unless you show them 'actual' results and real-world scenarios.

It's not you who's missing on the benefits and all the good stuff that bitcoin brings, anyway. At least, you shared the knowledge and you shared the possibilities. It's up to them to grab or believe it.

A person will only look as a scammer if they forced people into investing to Bitcoin, or they exaggerate the presentation about Bitcoin like getting 1000x profit in just a short period of time or making use of the previous market profit that is not applicable today.

If a person is only spreading information about Bitcoin, its technology and how it can help the economy without stating the possibility of profit and investment, listeners will never label or see it as a scam.   Let them know about Bitcoin and let them discover it themselves that they can also invest in Bitcoin.  This way, we are not touching the sensitive area of influencing them to spend money and invest in Bitcoin, they should find it themselves and let them be the ones to ask us about Bitcoin and profit.