There's so much ignorance out there about Bitcoin.
I've had people laugh in my face when I've asked if a likely business accepts Bitcoin.
I've a feeling that if I were to instead ask, "Do you accept sats?" instead that they'd be more curious.
It would at least start a conversation, educate them and maybe explode the myth that you need to buy a whole bitcoin.
It's worth a shot. People on nostr ignorant of bitcoin immediately wanted to get zapped sats without really knowing what they were. Same thing happened on fountain with non bitcoin podcasters.
lol, really? Interesting
Are sats and zaps the Trojan horse?
I see zaps as a Trojan horse... the end user could "think" it's a token/paper/point/etc but they get BTC, and they can use it.
I'm sure it's not that simple, but I do remember listening to podcasts where the hosts encouraged people to boost their episode when it was clear they had no idea what bitcoin was.
I bet if there'd have been a marketing team behind Bitcoin they'd have been on this from the first day of Lightning.
My guess is that they'd find that their subjects enjoyed the idea of 'zapped' as it made them feel like being a kid again.
The Ad department would definitely be loving this.
I know people ask "Do you accept Lightning payments?" It's a similar idea, but it also sounds like a payment method rather than a different currency.
True, but, as it's piqued their interest and got the ball rolling - it's a win in the long run.
We should be asking them: "Do you accept ethical money?"
As a rule, people don't give a shit about ethics. However, that approach might work really well with the subset of merchants who are going to be receptive.
To be clear, I think it's good that it sounds like an alternate payment method. People are weirded out by alternative currencies.
Like a Road to Damascus-type event by seeing it without the FUDshades™. 🤓
Yes. The answer was "what are sats?"
Nice. Did you foresee this and have a response at the ready?
Not really. I said something along the lines of "never mind" and paid in fiat. It didn't feel like a good moment to open a can of worms, there was no time for that.
It was more of a sat awareness test. Living in an echo chamber it's easy to lose track of where the average person is.
Sensing the vibe and probability makes sense to me too.
Q: what are sats?
A: It’s bitcoin😊
Q: GTFOH.
A: NGMI.
I would imagine you get to understanding sats through understanding Bitcoin (it has a broad literature and variety of concepts to explain it). Seems harder somehow to get to it the other way…
Still, can’t hurt to ask and get the concept of a single Bitcoin being too expensive.
I want Lightning to be either invisible or synonymous with Bitcoin.
Not the other way round. Like asking "Do you accept bitcoin" and then paying with a wallet that can do both onchain and Lightning
I did that and the next day I received a screenshot of crypto.com showing a price chart of a shitcoin called Satoshi, asking if "this the right price?"
I guess that's what normies get when they google for the price of sats.
Beware
I've heard several people on SN (during a 5hitcoin stupidity amnesty posts) admit that they've also succumbed to such stupidity.
There's a ridiculous amount of 5hitcoins with the name Bitcoin in it - it looks like there's at least 66. There's a good few with the name Satoshi or sats too.
When introducing the new concept of digital currencies, it would be helpful to point out these errors - whether we begin the conversation talking about sats or Bitcoin.
We've got to realize there's a steep learning curve involved, with many pitfalls - and keep these in mind when speaking with others.
At least when we're with someone in person they should benefit if we are able to read their body language and have an empathic sense of the other. Not only has a nocoiner a steep learning curve to master, but we ourselves have one too - as an ambassador of Bitcoin.
When they tell you the price, you say wow! Nice price! And then... wait wait... do you mean sats? Or dollars? (Or whatever currency they want) and then, and how much if I pay with money instead? Any discounts? Worth a try 😃
Not sure if that would work, but certainly worth a try. Next time that I find myself in that situation I will try this out and see if I spot any difference in attitude. But I wouldn't worry too much about the ignorance around Bitcoin, it's still early days after all. We're the few lucky ones getting what this is really about.
Okay, it'd be great if let us all know how it goes.
Some people still associate bitcoin with crime money (they dont want) because of the silk road days. So asking if they accept SATs sounds like a new educational opportunity. Would definitely be asking this from now on. Also "do you accept lightning payments" sounds like a new payment system for fiat so they may be interested.
Great, let us know if you're successful with this.
I have not tried it. It’s probably worth a shot. Can’t get worse than 0% conversion rate lol
It's basically the same thing
Yes that's true. This could draw more attention to Bitcoin.