Have you ever got into trouble for mentioning Bitcoin? \ stacker news ~bitcoin

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Have you ever got into trouble for mentioning Bitcoin?

751 sats \ 16 comments \ @south_korea_ln 6 Jul 2023 bitcoin

My account on Focusmate recently got suspended for being reported by another user for "violation of one of our Community Guidelines." with specific mention of

No selling. Don't use Focusmate to sell or promote a product, service, or brand. No "soft-selling", i.e., promoting content or a brand you are affiliated with.

I had a mention in my profile saying that I would pay anyone who sends me a 1000 sats LN invoice, with a link to a LN wallet to get started.

I agree, this can be understood as soft-selling where I promoted this specific wallet. Fair enough, it's their platform. By the way, this could be a perfect use case for Nostr ;)

My guess though is that I got reported by some who got triggered by the mention/promotion of Bitcoin.

I've removed this mention, so I guess my account will get reactivated quickly.

I'm curious if anyone else got into trouble due to mentioning a polarizing topic such as Bitcoin.

The best story gets 10,000 sats :)

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99 sats \ 0 replies \ @l0k18 6 Jul 2023

Anyone who ostracises you for using and talking about a non-partisan, decentralised protocol is a patsy for someone else's agenda.

You will have a better life the in proportion to how little time you spend around such thought police volunteers.

Btw, welcome to the real world. These people are not ready to be unplugged.

61 sats \ 6 replies \ @ek 6 Jul 2023

I mentioned bitcoin to one of my best friends. That was during my fall down the rabbit hole so I couldn't think or talk about anything else. For some reason she wasn't interested at all and just said "I don't want to talk about it.". The conversation basically went like this:

"Have you heard about bitcoin?" - "Yes and I don't want to talk about it." - "What, why?" - "I really don't want to talk about it."

I was quite confused by this reaction at the time but left it there.

However, I didn't get how much she did not want to talk about it since I gifted her a hardware wallet on her birthday, lol

She was furious, felt pressured and felt like I didn't respect her opinion

In hindsight, she was right. I shouldn't have made this gift to her when her first reaction to bitcoin was already that negative. But I still don't get why she reacted that way. We never talked about bitcoin again.

51 sats \ 1 reply \ @f6287b82CC84bcbd 6 Jul 2023

The typical path of bitcoin is:

Bitcoin
"crypto"
rekt

Bitcoin
"crypto"
rekt
Bitcoin only

Most people give up at 3

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @south_korea_ln OP 6 Jul 2023

Surprisingly accurate in terms of typical path.

1 sat \ 3 replies \ @south_korea_ln OP 6 Jul 2023

For me, there are two main reasons people are put off by bitcoin:

Not knowing the difference between crypto and bitcoin. Crypto did more harm than good to Bitcoin, for sure. And all the related FTX and other scams. A lot of people feel the same way about bitcoiners as I do about crypto bros/scammers. And if I ever meet a crypto-bro, I also "really don't want to talk about it" if they try to explain why crypto is useful in their eyes.
The pollution narrative. It is only possible to understand why using so much electricity is warranted if one understands what Bitcoin brings to the table. But to get to that point, you need to get passed bullet point 1. So, it's a chicken and egg problem. If one does not want to talk about it, it's very difficult to get it.

These reasons are most prevalent in the Western world.... one where financial privilege does not incentivize you to worry about Bitcoin beyond the speculation bullshit. Reminds me I need to order Gladstein's book on the topic. Maybe that one could be an ice-breaker.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @xmrk2 6 Jul 2023

Speaking of the pollution, this is what I get when installing electrum on gentoo (well, it is calculate linux really, but same source basically):

 * Messages for package net-misc/electrum-4.4.3:

 * If you are new to BitCoin, please be aware that:
 * 1. Cryptocurrencies are volatile.  BTC has been subject to rapid
 *    changes of value in the past.
 * 2. Cryptocurrency ownership is determined solely by the access to
 *    the private key.  If the key is lost or stolen, BTC are unrevocably
 *    lost.
 * 3. Proof-of-work based cryptocurrencies have negative environmental
 *    impact.  BTC mining is consuming huge amounts of electricity.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @f6287b82CC84bcbd 6 Jul 2023

pollution narrative is easily debunked as in the energy is already being generated so it will be used elsewhere and also cleaner energy alternatives can be used.

The more energy we use the better for the civilization. We're not even a type 1 yet.

101 sats \ 0 replies \ @south_korea_ln OP 6 Jul 2023

The more energy we use the better for the civilization. We're not even a type 1 yet.

Seems like it is not that easy to debunk the energy narrative, after all, as you have not convinced me here, at least not with your second argument, even though I am a Bitcoiner.

I am of the conviction that, even though global warming is a real threat, Bitcoin warrants using the available energy as much as any other technology, if not more. And Bitcoin provides the means to stabilize the grid, incentivize the development of "cleaner" energy sources, etc. But by no means do I believe we should blindly burn fossils and ignore the current impact humanity has on the climate.

Not trying to convince you of my beliefs. They are beliefs as much as yours.

Just trying to illustrate that reconciling PoW with the belief in global warming requires some advanced understanding of Bitcoin. That is not something easy to achieve as it requires a much less aggressive approach than what the likes of Ammous Saifedean utilize in public fora.

31 sats \ 0 replies \ @teodor 6 Jul 2023

When I mentioned Bitcoin in a discussion with one of my brother's in law, a smart guy who speaks few languages, he was wondering how can I trust and use Bitcoin as a store of value and a medium of exchange!?

I asked him which is his source of information and he answered the TV media... 🙈

My wonder: You, who speak English fluently, listen to Romanian TV news or shows about Bitcoin? That's weird and not wise. Try on Google, information in English about Bitcoin, please! And I am sure you will change your false view on Bitcoin and blockchain technology!

He lives far, on a family farm. Next time when I meet him, I wonder what's his position on Bitcoin! I'll let you know!

22 sats \ 0 replies \ @OriginalSize 6 Jul 2023

Hard to say. Got banned from Instagram not long after posting something like "not your keys" in reference to FTX blowing up. They won't say why but that's my best guess.

22 sats \ 0 replies \ @JesseJames 6 Jul 2023

Yeah, like everyday with my wife. "Honey maybe we should get some more Bitcoin and save for the future: answer: STFU ^#%%@^#()!#..." !!! :-)

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @travis 6 Jul 2023

I had a chat with a co-worker one time about Bitcoin. It was just the two of us in the office and talking/getting to know each other is completely acceptable at my work; There is a lot of down time at the job and moral is important. Also, Bitcoin does come up in the context of our work sometimes and he would probably benefit from knowing how it works anyways. So we are chatting and I am explaining the basics of Bitcoin to him. He seems interested.

I go to my work desktop and I show him one of those websites that generates a paper wallet for you. I generate a key pair and print a single piece of paper that has a QR code for the privk and a QR code for the address. I then use my personal phone and send about $10 worth of bitcoin to the address. I show him the transaction in a mempool explorer and use it to explain how Bitcoin works. I then hand him the paper wallet/piece of paper, telling him he can have it and that he is now "off zero" once the transaction confirms.

Overall, I didn't think anything of the conversation and I thought I had done a good job trying to orange pill someone. He seemed responsive to it all. Whole thing took maybe 20 minutes.

The following week, my supervisor calls me in to his office and I learn that the coworker made a complaint against me. The complaint was that I used office supplies and my work computer to buy bitcoin while at work. I told my supervisor what I had summarized above. I explained that I did print a single piece of paper and use my work computer to navigate to a website. (Also, while it didn't matter, but I sent bitcoin, I didn't buy it - wasn't he paying attention? lol.) I didn't get in trouble with my supervisor and the supervisor thought the complaint was strange. I told my supervisor that this complaint was petty and I was offended by it, especially since I had shared about a hobby/interest of mine.

This particular coworker had made complaints about me in the past (none that I have got in trouble for) and I always just kept on being friendly to the guy. It is hard for me to hold a grudge and even the coworker is very friendly to me in-person (I have been learning more and more from others that he is not friendly about me behind my back). This complaint was the last for me though. I just don't engage with the coworker now on a personal level, just strictly for business purposes. I just don't trust the guy anymore and I have to protect myself from the toxicity.

So, while talking about Bitcoin didn't really get me in trouble, it was a catalyst for a complaint against me.

And, if you are curious, about another week later, the paper wallet was left on my desk. I swept the sats to a hot wallet.

10.1k sats \ 3 replies \ @carlosfandango 6 Jul 2023

deleted by author

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @south_korea_ln OP 6 Jul 2023

Ah... the joys of holding BTC long-term through a crash when a partner is not on-board :)

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @south_korea_ln OP 9 Jul 2023

Seems like this story is the one that resonated most on SN. Enjoy the 10k sats. Maybe gift some to your client for divorce proceedings ;)

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @carlosfandango 9 Jul 2023

Wow. Thank you. I may wait till after any (probably lengthy) resolution though as he may need them then …. and I guess the ex-wife could be a whole coiner if she takes half of what he has :(