StudentofBitcoin

bitcoin

![](https://m.stacker.news/108700)

Bitcoin is deeply misunderstood. People either think they'll get rich quickly or get scammed. Over the past 2 years, I've spoken about Bitcoin around the world with people from different backgrounds, ages, and education levels. From these interactions, one thing was clear. They don't know where or how to begin. There was no simple way to articulate their user journey!

Rather than giving a quick and easy answer for now, I wanted to share a framework that could act as a compass for their journey. Nothing to do with 'number go up' or create FOMO. Something simple to orient themselves.....the 5S for Bitcoin was born. 

**Study, Save, Secure, Spend,** and **Spread**.

If you've spent time in supply chain, manufacturing or logistics, you've likely crossed paths with the 5S (Sort, Set, Shine, Standardize, Sustain). Popularized by the Japanese (specifically Toyota). If lean manufacturing could have its 5S, why not Bitcoin? 

I wanted to capture the user journey in a manner that can be easily articulated for anyone, regardless of their experience with Bitcoin and still provide value. Is Bitcoin simply about buying and 'hodling'? Is there more to it? Of course there is! 

It's a form of money we've never seen before. Given the vast misinformation present in this space, it's vital to understand what it is to avoid any regrettable mistakes. The journey starts with learning about this technology and how to use it safely, **'Study'**. It's mentioned frequently within the space. Study Bitcoin. Learn it. 

Let’s be honest, no one’s jumping for joy when they hear the word 'study. So it’s unlikely the majority are actually going through with it. This doesn't mean you put hundreds of hours into preparing for an exam. Instead, have an open mind, be curious and ask questions to further your knowledge. Don't take it at face value; see if you can dig a little deeper. Take this step with a grain of salt because, as I mentioned, the majority aren’t going to be up for this. That said, let’s revisit this shortly to highlight its importance. 

Next up is to **'Save'** bitcoin for the long term. You can do so in three ways: buy it, mine it, or earn it. 
- Buying is relatively easy. Find someone or a service that will exchange your local currency for Bitcoin. Buying bitcoin is the simplest path to begin. 
- Mining requires you to plug in ASICs (bitcoin miners) into an affordable power source. Not an easy method unless you already know this space. 
- Earning bitcoin is doable when you can exchange your time and effort for it. There are Bitcoin-first companies that pay their team with bitcoin. Earning is the holy grail since your incoming currency is bitcoin to begin with.

Why save in the first place? Bitcoin is programmed not to exceed 21 million through a predictable issuance mechanism. A far cry from the inflating currencies worldwide.

Once you have Bitcoin, it’s important to **'Secure'** it.

Unlike traditional money, which we’ve grown accustomed to keeping at the bank. Bitcoin does not require a third party and allows you to take custody, so you have full control of it. You may have heard the adage 'Not your keys, not your coins.' If you don't control your private keys, those coins don't belong to you! There are plenty of horror stories of people losing access to their Bitcoin due to improper security measures. Be careful!

So far, we’ve touched on **Study**, **Save**, and **Secure**.

Now that you have bitcoin, it's important to **'Spend'** it. As a peer-to-peer electronic cash system, it is meant to be used as digital cash. It should be spent when possible with any business that accepts it. Even a single transaction each month, such as paying your barber or a local merchant, is a great start. 

We want merchants to receive bitcoin payments and recognize that people are willing to spend it. Otherwise, adoption as P2P digital cash will never propagate. Businesses won't take the time or interest to accept it, and this network will never reach its full potential.

The final step is to **'Spread'** bitcoin and share our knowledge with others in the community. It allows others to be part of this journey, family, friends, colleagues, etc. What do you think happens when you try to share your newfound learnings? You'll be bombarded with questions! "What do you mean? How does it work? Can I touch it? I thought it was a scam?"

If you skipped the first step of studying and learning, you won't be able to respond to these questions well, which won't provide much confidence to the receiving party. You can't spread it effectively and will likely make mistakes along the way. Of course, you can find experts to help, but individually, you won’t fully understand how to onboard someone (if that's of interest).

Something important to highlight the journey through these steps is not linear. It's more so a spiral; each revolution reinforces what you’ve learned in the past and allows you to go deeper and deeper into the subject.

![](https://m.stacker.news/108701)

I want to be clear. This isn’t meant to be a strict rulebook or to tell you the exact order of operations that need to be completed. It’s just a guideline that helps users carve their own path. Want to **save** first? That's okay. Prefer to **study** and then use? Totally fine. Don't want to **spend** or **spread** yet, no problem. Everyone is different, and so too will their bitcoin journeys. 

From a personal standpoint, the 5S has completely changed the way in which I view bitcoin. Some of the most humbling moments have come when discussing bitcoin with others and trying to simplify it without complicated words or concepts. 

Whether you're an expert or just getting started, the 5S can help guide you through your bitcoin journey. It's not a rulebook, rather a compass to find your way and help others do the same.

Which steps have you completed? Which one did you find the most challenging?

The 5 S Framework: A Compass to Navigate Bitcoin

AskSN

How much sleep do you get?

Cool, I used the whoop for a year and then stopped paying the subscription.

I don't nap much, maybe I should work that in to the routine.

Thanks for sharing, I've noticed an earlier bedtime has helped me for sure. I'm trying to be more conscious of stretching and taking a cool shower in the morning to start the day. 

Sleep is one of the most important factors that contribute to our health, yet it’s so easily neglected. I used to be a big culprit! Countless late nights where I’ve told myself, “Another few hours of work is okay.” And work wasn’t the only excuse. Sometimes it was a basketball game, a movie, or doom scrolling on Twitter.

I’d average 6 hours of sleep, 7 if I was lucky. I did have a couple of good habits in the mix: no devices in the bedroom, and no snoozing. Without distractions in bed, falling asleep was fairly quick. To avoid snoozing, I placed an analog alarm clock in the bathroom so when it went off, I had to get out of bed to turn it off. Since I was functioning fine during the day, I never thought much about getting more sleep. I’d just tell myself, “I’ll make it up on the weekend.”

When we took our sabbatical, I made it a goal to prioritize sleep and aim for the recommended 8 hours. For a couple of months, I didn’t use an alarm, just to see how my body would react. How much sleep did I really need?

Turns out it depended on a variety of factors such as the activity levels for that day, what I ate, when I slept, screen time and much more. Some days I woke up naturally after 7 hours. Other days, I was out cold for 9. It made me realize there isn’t a magic number. 

Now that I’m back in a startup environment, the priorities are piling up but sleep has not taken a toll. I’ve kept it a priority. Sticking to a nightly routine of stretching, reflecting on the day, and winding down has helped. I’m by no means perfect. There are bad days. But being more intentional about what I do before bed has made a difference.

Do you have a nighttime routine? How much sleep do you get?

Hi SN! 

My apologies for going dark. I was posting consistently during my travel adventures in Africa (Cairo2Cape) but got caught up with a new job and have been MIA since. I have started to document those travel journeys in a book (will post about this separately).

I joined www.bringin.xyz, where we enable seamless EUR on/off ramp with Lightning and NWC compatibility and don't take custody of your Bitcoin. The founder built this company to solve the problem he encountered 2 years ago. Trying to sell Bitcoin from his hardware wallet to Revolut took days, and that's if the transaction wasn't blocked. With Brigin, this happens in a minute (Lightning and SEPA Instant). 

An IBAN is provided for each user so when you send money to your traditional bank (say Santander, BNP or Revolut), the incoming transaction appears as your name, not Bringin avoiding any flags for the bank. This prevents your account from getting blocked for 'suspicious or crypto activities.' 

Due to the stringent rules of the EU (upcoming MiCa), we have to KYC (everyone will soon). That said we are striving to provide a tool to enable folks to live off Bitcoin. We want hyperbitcoinization as much as anyone but until bitcoin is accepted everywhere, the reality is we have one foot in bitcoin and one foot in fiat.

I'm not originally European and don't have a network on the continent. I was hoping to learn more about your preferences and the solutions you use to buy, sell, spend bitcoin:

- Are there any challenges with those solutions? 
- If you had a magic wand, what would you solve? 

PS. I hope to keep this constructive, I know P2P is the best approach from a privacy standpoint. KYC is not ideal but unfortunately, we're not going to onboard the next 100M users in Europe that way. 

What are your preferred on/off ramps in Europe?

Travel

~Travel Is Live

JonnyTravels

AHHH I had the territory and got caught up with life and forgot to renew. Glad you brought it back to life :D

Did you end up splurging on lifetime? 

Located in Mossel Bay South Africa, [Bitcoin Ekasi](https://bitcoinekasi.com/) aims to create a bitcoin circular economy within the township (a low socio-economic community) through an existing not-for-profit, The Surfer Kids, which empowers underprivileged children through surfing. 

'Ekasi' is a colloquial term derived from the Afrikaans word 'lokasie' referring to the vast slums that grew outside South African cities during Apartheid. Unemployment, crime, and poverty remain rife there. - [X post by Bitcoin Ekasi](https://x.com/BitcoinEkasi/status/1465771141822398469)

Surfer Kids runs a surf program 5 days a week with nearly 50 children from the local township. Their surf and skating center is an oasis for these children, a safe space to learn away from the community hardships. How does bitcoin fit into this? The coaches/leaders are paid in bitcoin, the children are rewarded for attendance, and local merchants, such as grocery stores and fast food vendors are on-boarded to accept bitcoin. This means the bitcoin accumulated by coaches and students can be spent with local vendors creating a flywheel effect for bitcoin to move around within the members of this township.

After the conference in Cape Town, over 20 attendees visited Bitcoin Ekasi to support the community. We visited the Ekasi Center, a literacy hub where kids are taught after school, and the Surfer Kids HQ, a recreation center (surf and skate) where relevant equipment is available. They are currently talking with the local municipality to build a larger community center to empower everyone, not just the children. 

One area of this township is plastered with logos of bitcoin organizations. Residents of these homes are compensated with bitcoin for having their exterior branded with a logo.  We rolled up our sleeves and painted our logo with the assistance of the community leader, Luthando. Although our logo has since changed, our proof of work remains. 

To encourage people to measure value in bitcoin, they are moving away from denominating prices in USD and adopting sats (smallest unit of bitcoin) as their standard. Bitcoin Ekasi is one example of how a community can be empowered to use bitcoin. Next time you hear negative news about bitcoin, remember the impact it has on marginalized communities worldwide.

You can donate to Bitcoin Ekasi [here](https://support.bitcoinekasi.com/).

![](https://m.stacker.news/62962)

![](https://m.stacker.news/62963)

Bitcoin Ekasi: Empowering Lives Through Sats

Did you know only  ~1000 mountain gorillas are left in the world?? These endangered mammals are found within the borders of Uganda, Rwanda, and Congo, with Uganda home to more than 60% of them.

We had the opportunity to visit the mountain gorillas using bitcoin! It was one of the main attractions that drew us to Uganda. Through conservation, some gorilla families have been habituated to limited human contact. They are gradually exposed to humans while maintaining their natural behaviours. Trackers work daily to monitor the well-being of each gorilla family, observe their behaviour patterns, and provide medical attention if required. The permits for this trek are not cheap, $750 in Uganda. Why? Strict limits enforce a maximum number of visitors daily to reduce impact on the national park.

Our gorilla experience started early morning at the park's visitor centre. Visitors are divided into small groups and assigned a gorilla family to track. Since gorillas share approximately 98% of human DNA, and are susceptible to our diseases, visitors are required to wear masks during the trek. A safe distance must be kept under the close supervision of the guides and the viewing time cannot exceed 60 minutes. 

Our tracker led us by following trail markers, and signs that included nests and faeces to locate our assigned family. Fortunately, we located our family within an hour while other groups trekked for 4 hours. We first came across not one but two silverback gorillas (mature male leader). One of them, the clear alpha! Two females and three babies made up this family of 7. Through the guidance of our tracker, we followed the gorillas, got close and observed for an hour. No cage, no chains. Nothing to hold these creatures back, it was an exhilarating experience to see them in their natural habitat. 

If you're sitting on some bitcoin, why not use it for an experience of a lifetime?

https://youtu.be/8DGm2fi0sNY

A Journey To Uganda’s Mountain Gorillas

The One Man Army in Botswana

In that case beer in Nairobi! Let me know the best way to get in touch.

I was told she has been dealing with a few non btc projects, wasn't able to meet or confirm this though so take it with a grain of salt.

LOL I double-checked as well before drafting the article to make sure I remembered our guide properly. Not sure if we'll be in Ghana soon. We are attending ABC in Nairobi this December. Will you be there?

Gridless: Sustainable Bitcoin Mining

We're going to be seeing more interest in this space as corporations and nation-states realize they can use energy to mine btc.

Yes, there's going to be a huge push for nation states to take up mining, I'm sure we'll be hearing more about this soon!


You never know what to expect with the bitcoin community. During our stay in Botswana, I asked my friend if he knew anyone in Johannesburg. Fortunately, he did and connected us to Jabu who then coordinated a visit to a township (underdeveloped human settlement) near Soweto, Mohlakeng. The local community put together an itinerary to visit businesses that accepted bitcoin!

The day started with an interview at the local radio station. We've never been on the radio before! It was exciting to record in the studio and help explain the basics of this new type of digital money. We then visited a daycare run by an elderly woman, which shows that age is not a barrier to bitcoin. She's still learning and allows the community to use her daycare as a space for literacy sessions. Next, we met an apparel designer whose shop was filled with eclectic pieces made from recycled materials. He accepts bitcoin because it's easy and doesn't require permission from anyone else.

The visit to the math academy turned into a tutoring session. We reviewed the halving formula with one of the tutors who spent the next hour dissecting it and explaining his thoughts. They view bitcoin as mathematical money! Our last stop was a fast-food vendor who served sandwiches, burgers, and juice. The vendor was a jovial character who was open to pricing some of his items in satoshis, a level of maturity very few merchants have reached.

This community is a testament to what can be achieved when a few come together to foster change. The youth ([Thami](https://x.com/Thami_Phiri), [Ofentse](https://x.com/KeamoGodSun), [Retshepile](https://x.com/RetshepileTsat1) & Tumelo) deserve all the credit and I look forward to their continued growth!


![](https://m.stacker.news/61351)

Bitcoin Adoption in Mohlakeng: A Day of Discovery


![](https://m.stacker.news/60637)

We’ve had our fair share of conferences in Vegas during our corporate lives. This, however, was our first Bitcoin conference, and we were speakers! It hit differently. It was exciting to interact with individuals addressing a variety of issues:

Accessing bitcoin without the Internet - [Machankura](https://t.co/WhCmPPrH3W)

Leveraging wasted rural energy for mining - [Gridless](https://www.linkedin.com/company/gridless)

Helping vulnerable kids with a safe space to learn - [Bitcoin Ekasi](https://x.com/BitcoinEkasi)

Empowering women through literacy - [BITCOIN DADA](https://www.linkedin.com/company/dada_bitcoin)

Traveling the world using bitcoin - [Run with Bitcoin](https://x.com/RunwithBitcoin)

As someone vocal about bitcoin within my social circle, I can be seen as a little crazy. It was surreal to meet these dedicated and passionate humans. I guess I wasn't crazy after all. We left the conference inspired to continue on our path of building on bitcoin. 

Here are some quotes from the conference that resonated with us:

"Infinite ways to earn and spend" - [Femi Longe](https://x.com/femilongehttps://x.com/femilonge)(There are plenty of wallets and exchanges, let's focus on earning and spending)

"Africa is the last to get opportunities" - [Okin](https://x.com/OKIN_17)  (Enabling Africans with bitcoin as a monetary infrastructure is vital)

"Addiction ends in 2 ways: death of the person OR death of the habit" - [@vryfokkenou](https://x.com/vryfokkenou) (The addiction to money printing is real and can end in 2 ways.)

"Stack, spend and f*^king replace" - [@Rikki6ixx](https://x.com/Rikki6ixx)  (Don't HODL, SPEND YOUR SATS!)