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613 sats \ 11 replies \ @optimism 9 Aug \ on: Anita Posch Show - Copycats & Builders bitcoin
Love this. I have tried this in disadvantaged communities myself. The problem I ran into though (which I suspect Anita ran in as well, because it's brought up strongly) is that if you train the trainer voluntarily, there's a higher than 50/50 chance that they'll start charging people for their knowledge.
I've also seen examples where this mixes with shitcoinery - my friend taught a course on Bitcoin basics only to come back to the same group a month later to find it seeded with BSV scammers and their "philosophies" while the membership was suddenly "paid" and "exclusive".
It's insane how much damage is still done every day by scammers, especially in vulnerable communities.
It is hard work doing it right. There aren't many like her. I give you huge props for doing this work.
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No props deserved on my end, because the impact has not been close to a fraction of what I wanted to achieve... yet! Will keep going, but it's hard to get traction when the same people that are interested in Bitcoin are also really into getting rich real quick (and always getting scammed.)
On the upside, I have achieved building a great network of people that truly hate scammers. We fight them now and together we got entire governments to stop focusing on introducing MiCA-like regulations and instead go after the criminals.
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Good to hear! The EU is coming around?
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Oh. I see. I am interested in the ABC islands. I have been to Aruba many times. There's a pancake place that has been accepting bitcoin for years. I know that isn't what you're talking about, though. I understand Curacao has had some real bitcoin adoption.
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Aruba is awesome (been to the pancake place, it's cool) but government funding aside (i've had multi-hour-long conversations with locals about the awful Dutch government and their loan terms, which they are right to say suck) it has a stable USD economy as long as there isn't another pandemic, so the effort-to-impact there is high. I tried pushing my landlord there to accept sats and they were like: USD is better. Bonaire I'm divided on, but perhaps because I've only been there to chill and the only people I know running businesses on that island are in hospitality.
Curacao is a much better target for supporting a community because it has a larger population, is economically more fragile and has less overseas control - though last time I was there (3 years ago) shitcoiners seemed to be ruling the show there. If that's changed now, that's awesome. I should spend some time there.
The real deal in terms of impact are Guyana and Jamaica (and Trinidad in some ways). Not just locally, but because that's where many in the Eastern Caribbean islands look for inspiration. I attended some local conferences in the EC and Northern islands this year and it was clear that these are where the influence (and most innovation) lies.
Im finally going to try and teach my local community about bitcoin. I’m also going to add some fiat credit based money concepts but really demonstrate the power of bitcoin
Fear is im hosting this event and only 1 or two people show up