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Topic: The "I cannot afford 1 BTC"-Problem - page 2. (Read 3581 times)

legendary
Activity: 1288
Merit: 1000
July 24, 2017, 06:17:16 AM
#95
When I am discussion bitocin with my friends and people I meet occasionally and try to convince that BTC is something to invest into, this topic "how I can afford 1 BTC"  is always present.
From my experience, I can tell you that the best answer which can motivate people to buy bitcoin is telling them about bitcoin history and price evolution.
You need to assure them that current $2000-$3000 price is not the end of the read here and bitcoin will be much more expensive in the future, by no buying BTC they would miss a serious opportunity.
legendary
Activity: 1232
Merit: 1030
give me your cryptos
July 24, 2017, 06:06:50 AM
#94
I understand where you're coming from, and I experience this alot. People are simply stunned and in awe, when I tell them Bitcoin is $2.7k apiece. It just makes it deal near impossible to get one.

But just like how one Troy ounce of gold is $2.1k, one Bitcoin is just a unit of measurement. It should have no effect on it's users, but yet it does, because it is the default measurement and barely any services will show your balance to you in bits (or mbtc, or ubtc...).

I think it would be wise to change the default measurement by multiplying every single output by 100, making a total of 21 billion Bitcoin. This would mean that one Bitcoin would be $2.7.

Still the same value, just the default has been shifted up.
sr. member
Activity: 602
Merit: 265
July 24, 2017, 06:04:33 AM
#93
You can simply quote them the price in smaller units. The most commonly used units of bitcoin are expressed in decimal exponents such as BTC ("bitcoins"), mBTC ("millibitcoins") and μBTC ("bits"). Its not hard to explain, just use dollars and cents as an example, eventually you will break through.
full member
Activity: 184
Merit: 100
🌟 eSports ICO: 01/11/2017 🌟
July 24, 2017, 05:58:56 AM
#92
Bitcoin is not so expensive for those who know how to make good money. To begin with, people need to learn how to earn well in their own currency, and then move on to the crypto currency for a while.
hero member
Activity: 714
Merit: 500
July 24, 2017, 05:51:34 AM
#91
There are already many small units for bitcoin, I think in your problem, you can start to introduce bitcoin with mBTC unit, or actually convince them to invest in dollars and not worry about how much BTC they are getting for their investment initially.
As if they invest $100, you can sell them the idea that in very short time, their investment can grow to $120 or even higher.
So I think its just about how do you sell it, bitcoin does not have to change for it.
legendary
Activity: 1470
Merit: 1004
July 24, 2017, 03:09:27 AM
#90
Expensive is a relative word. What's expensive for others might just be peanuts for some.  And if we talk about investments, it is usually the ones who have money to spare that are able to afford to buy bitcoins even at such a high price. The lower income people can still invest by buying in fractions and if they are patient enough, one whole bitcoin isn't too hard to achieve.

patient enough? years? Smiley  BTC won't exists as it is in years and it's a high risk investment. this should be a fast return investment. how long will someone earn if he invest 200 usd today? LOL

to invest 200 usd worth of BTC, he has to send a bank wire(fee around of 40 usd) and then, IF he make any profit, he will have to pay another wire fee for withdrawal. Smiley
hero member
Activity: 714
Merit: 500
July 23, 2017, 09:26:09 PM
#89
Expensive is a relative word. What's expensive for others might just be peanuts for some.  And if we talk about investments, it is usually the ones who have money to spare that are able to afford to buy bitcoins even at such a high price. The lower income people can still invest by buying in fractions and if they are patient enough, one whole bitcoin isn't too hard to achieve.
legendary
Activity: 1218
Merit: 1007
July 23, 2017, 09:21:23 PM
#88
Hi everyone,

I have a question concerning the current high value of a BTC. I talk a lot with friends who don't know much about BTC and try to convince them to buy some too.

When I tell them about it, the same question which always comes up is:

"But since it is so expensive (2000-3000$), how can I afford 1 BTC?"

I always tell them that it is possible to buy 0.5 BTC or even 0.001 BTC. But I think this is a major problem which gets worse with the price rising even higher.

So here is my question:

Are there any plans on changing BTC to make it "look more affordable"? Perhaps introduce something like mBTC (worth 0.001 BTC / 1 BTC = 1000 mBTC) so that people have a better feeling buying something, which is not a number behind a zero (e.g. 0.025).

I don't want it to become something like a "discount looking currency". But it's a psychological problem, that people don't like to buy only a part of something or (as in this case) often don't know that they can buy less than 1 BTC.

To say "Well, the people who don't know better shouldn't buy anyway" seems to be the wrong approach on the way to mass adaption.
People talked about this back in 2014 and the overall answer was that we can show it in different denominations but overall it really doesn't matter and there's no point trying to change it because it opens up a whole new can of worms, compared to what it would "fix". If people don't understand that Bitcoin is divisible, and highly divisible, and they don't have to buy a whole Bitcoin, then they probably shouldn't be getting invested in the crypto at all. They should have a better understanding before anything is pushed through.
sr. member
Activity: 602
Merit: 253
July 23, 2017, 09:18:26 PM
#87
It is a bit hard when it comes to convincing people to use/buy bitcoin.
Also, those mindset is typical actually.

First ask them, how much money they are willing to invest?
We could just started from a really small amount. Tell them try to use a small amount first,
let them understand how the market goes, the prices and how to get profit from it.



hero member
Activity: 840
Merit: 516
July 23, 2017, 09:05:03 PM
#86
Will earning $2500 a problem for anyone ? Will you buy your wedding ring for one full ounce of gold or some fractions of ounce ? Bitcoin is a currency like PayPal or some other foreign currency, you may go buying it (for what ever prices ) and will spend it (for same value) to find the benefits of using BTC payments which may not available with other payment systems. Now tell me why we need to worry about price levels of bitcoins ?
I agree with you, mate. Bitcoins are just another digital currency that’s offering world better opportunity of exchanging money as compared to fiat. Just like paper money, it’s a mode of buying and selling things. Bitcoins are digital sound money that’s bringing people closer from all over the world. Yes! We need not to worry about the value of bitcoins even if they dump. All know that soon the prices recover.
newbie
Activity: 56
Merit: 0
July 22, 2017, 06:43:24 PM
#85
To say "Well, the people who don't know better shouldn't buy anyway" seems to be the wrong approach on the way to mass adaption.

But people shouldn't be buying bitcoins without having a reasonable understanding of it.  Bitcoin is still effectively an experiment and, if it continues to succeed, will take decades to mature.

I dislike the huge, de-facto standard unit but if we adopt smaller units we should do so because it makes Bitcoin easier to use, not so that we can trick people into buying.  If anything, discouraging such buying is the one redeeming feature of the unit.  It's an opportunity to explain the bounded supply, the importance of it, and discuss debasement, money printing, and inflation versus deflation.

People shouldn't need to study economics to use money, but I wouldn't recommend uncommon stores of value to people with no interest in economics just as I wouldn't recommend uncommon operating systems to people with no interest in computers.
full member
Activity: 588
Merit: 128
July 22, 2017, 05:59:10 PM
#84

"But since it is so expensive (2000-3000$), how can I afford 1 BTC?"

Answer is simple:
1. Take loan
2. Sell ur car
3. Sell ur house
4. Sell ur kidney

There you go Smiley u have whole BTC.
There are millions of people with no idea what they are doing in financial world. You cannot educate them all :/

Yes you can't educate them all and when you just like always convincing them hard to invest bitcoin they'll hear you like a scammer Grin
Let them the one who approach you that they want to learn or invest bitcoin because when you force them to this and they'll just end up to nothing you're the one they will blame. So leave them alone and be more rich.
hero member
Activity: 1008
Merit: 510
July 22, 2017, 05:34:04 PM
#83
Hi everyone,

I have a question concerning the current high value of a BTC. I talk a lot with friends who don't know much about BTC and try to convince them to buy some too.

When I tell them about it, the same question which always comes up is:

"But since it is so expensive (2000-3000$), how can I afford 1 BTC?"

I always tell them that it is possible to buy 0.5 BTC or even 0.001 BTC. But I think this is a major problem which gets worse with the price rising even higher.

So here is my question:

Are there any plans on changing BTC to make it "look more affordable"? Perhaps introduce something like mBTC (worth 0.001 BTC / 1 BTC = 1000 mBTC) so that people have a better feeling buying something, which is not a number behind a zero (e.g. 0.025).

I don't want it to become something like a "discount looking currency". But it's a psychological problem, that people don't like to buy only a part of something or (as in this case) often don't know that they can buy less than 1 BTC.

To say "Well, the people who don't know better shouldn't buy anyway" seems to be the wrong approach on the way to mass adaption.

My advice is to ask them how much money they are willing to invest in Bitcoins. If they say $500, then tell them they can buy $500 worth of Bitcoins which is currently about 0.2 Bitcoins. Regardless of how small that seem, that 0.2 Bitcoins may be worth $1000 in a couple of years. They could double their money in a few years, so they shouldn't get caught up in buying 1 Bitcoin. The other thing you can tell them is that the longer they wait to buy, the less they are going to be able to buy (unless they time a buy in a correction).
legendary
Activity: 1470
Merit: 1004
July 22, 2017, 05:18:00 PM
#82
Nothing extra could be done in this matter except creating awareness among the people that bitcoin is further divisible into 8 units called satoshis.So no need to get worried about the high price of bitcoin.Just they could even buy 0.00000001 btc which is one satoshi.Even i faced the same problem with my friends when i introduced them bitcoins.Then i explained them that they could even buy 0.1 btc or 0.01 btc and then they got convinced.


why would you buy 0.1? what for? trading? you would better spend  time with some girls instead  Grin

how would you buy 0.1 BTC?  bank wire? the bank wire fee is more than the amount you send.

so, it's useless to buy few BTC cents Smiley
legendary
Activity: 2296
Merit: 1014
July 22, 2017, 02:47:18 PM
#81

"But since it is so expensive (2000-3000$), how can I afford 1 BTC?"

Answer is simple:
1. Take loan
2. Sell ur car
3. Sell ur house
4. Sell ur kidney

There you go Smiley u have whole BTC.
There are millions of people with no idea what they are doing in financial world. You cannot educate them all :/
newbie
Activity: 7
Merit: 0
July 22, 2017, 02:20:00 PM
#80
it's pathetic that this is an issue, but it really is an issue.

it's too late now. luckily there's enough pockets who can see past it but i do wonder how much progress is being hindered by a very simple piece of psychology.

and the people who don't have a problem with it, you're wrong and always will be.

The default notation in any wallet software could always be changed to mBTC.
But this is only an issue when you're misinformed, lack knowledge, or desire that the price inflates by panic buyers.
In my opinion, it is only useful to switch unit notations when you're spending bitcoins.

The panic buyers will be shaken out just as quickly as they bought. So this is not an issue at all.
legendary
Activity: 3752
Merit: 1217
July 22, 2017, 02:04:59 PM
#79
Stock splits are very common in share markets. For example, the shares of Apple was split 7-for-1 basis on June 9, 2014. Something similar can be done with the Bitcoin as well, although it may need forking and such efforts. Showing the prices in mBTC is not an ideal solution. And this issue is pretty serious, as I know a few guys who went with ETH since they thought that the BTC prices were too high.  
newbie
Activity: 6
Merit: 0
July 22, 2017, 02:04:33 PM
#78
Those who have a problem with the concept of not being able to buy a full bitcoin are easily encouraged to buy a portion share instead by simply saying:
When you can't afford a whole pizza. Just buy yourself a slice.

People will gain confidence in their purchases involving BTC once they actually own some. I always tell people to start small. $10 is a good entry point. Granted it's not going to make them $30 profit if BTC jumps $1000 in value. But to show how one can use %s of a whole can still be worthwhile.

If someone is looking to buy BTC but cannot afford 1 BTC, then tell them to just buy what they can afford or wait for a drop and buy at the new low price.

People seem to like over complicating the simple things.
legendary
Activity: 1288
Merit: 1087
July 22, 2017, 02:00:43 PM
#77
it's pathetic that this is an issue, but it really is an issue.

it's too late now. luckily there's enough pockets who can see past it but i do wonder how much progress is being hindered by a very simple piece of psychology.

and the people who don't have a problem with it, you're wrong and always will be.
hero member
Activity: 560
Merit: 500
July 22, 2017, 01:52:45 PM
#76
In my opinion the lack of feeling of affordability is a part of the bitcoin's aspect.

People are resisting the urge to buy something they percieve as expensive, until they see it rise in price. In that moment they see themself as been wrong - it was not expensive, and they end up buying something that they previously resist to buy. Its somewhat a psychological hack.

If that would be the other way around it wouldn't be so magical in the eyes of the bitcoin buyers.
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