Media Fractal around Bitcoin \ stacker news ~bitcoin

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964 sats \ 18 comments \ @kepford 16 Aug bitcoin

I do not know if it is intentional or if there is some conspiracy behind this but it seems clear to me that the media is executing a pattern they have done before. Pushing a narrative about bitcoin that differs greatly from that the elite hold personally.

I keep hearing the bitcoin ETFs have been adopted by institutions. That's not plebs. The plebs are not buying the ETFs or bitcoin for the most part. They have been psyoped into believing its a scam or to volatile at a minimum. Meanwhile we are seeing more wealth elites openly talking about bitcoin. We are seeing huge financial institutions buying the ETF or forecasting bitcoin gains in market value.

Recently I heard Morgen Rochard, a bitcoiner and certified financial planner say that the licensing org she is a part of is going after CFPs that recommend bitcoin. Like I said, I don't know that this is coordinated but it is odd. And regardless of intent this is a fractal.

One thing I have learned over the years is to spot media bs when I see it. They are clearly holding the public back from learning about bitcoin. The crowd here isn't affected. We are early adopters. But just thought about this today. Your friends and family are likely falling prey to a psyop.

What do you think? Do you think this is all coincidence? Or is there something more sinister in play? Regardless, it is hard to break the programming of the people around you. I know. I have tried on many subjects. Most of us are just the weird people in our social circles. We think differently. We are not bothered by holding views that are not on the index card of allowable opinion. At this point with bitcoin and many topics I just let people be. If they ask I'm ready to talk but I don't push. I'm a firm believer in leading by example. Making sure I'm prepared and strong so I can be a lighthouse when the storms come.

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167 sats \ 3 replies \ @SimpleStacker 16 Aug

Regardless, it is hard to break the programming of the people around you. I know. I have tried on many subjects. Most of us are just the weird people in our social circles. We think differently. We are not bothered by holding views that are not on the index card of allowable opinion. At this point with bitcoin and many topics I just let people be. If they ask I'm ready to talk but I don't push. I'm a firm believer in leading by example. Making sure I'm prepared and strong so I can be a lighthouse when the storms come.

Dude, that's how I've been feeling on so many topics, not just bitcoin.

Sometimes, it makes me feel like a crazy person. But then, the opinions that I hold which many considered crazy at one point--most of them are now pretty mainstream points of view...

32 sats \ 2 replies \ @kepford OP 16 Aug

Not sure of your age (don't dox yourself) but I felt like that for years. The truth is, if you define crazy as different from the crowd then guilty. And I now embrace it. But the danger is starting to feel superior. Personally I see the tradeoffs of the way I am wired. Its not all upside and since a lot of it is just how I was born I don't get to take pride in it (IMO at least). Its what I do with what I have that matters to me.

80 sats \ 1 reply \ @Bell_curve 16 Aug

Yesterday a friend sent me a message: I am switching to duck duck go

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford OP 16 Aug

Ha!

You know, when the "monopoly" talk around a company starts to peak that is when their hold on a market is about to break. Then comes the legislation to take credit for a market occurrence. Another fractal

86 sats \ 2 replies \ @Satosora 16 Aug

Yes, they are doing it to push some kind of benefits their way. If they can cause a bear market, then they will go all in and buy. Then change their narrative back.

41 sats \ 1 reply \ @kepford OP 16 Aug

I'm not sure there is intention. First off, the people that flap their gums are just doing what they are told. They aren't "in on it". The smarter ones probably get the game but I suspect plenty are empty suits.

But I really wonder about people like Fink. He is promoting bitcoin. Isn't he an elite. He has a massive incentive to sell his ETF. Blackrock is making money off of the people buying their ETF. Not bitcoin itself. Its odd.

I mean it could be as simple as the corporate press hasn't got the signal to push bitcoin yet. But why? The more I think about it the more odd it seems to me.

55 sats \ 0 replies \ @Satosora 16 Aug

Its a way to manipulate the bitcoin ecosystem. Just like how they are able to short or long stocks. I could be wrong, but that is how I feel.

215 sats \ 5 replies \ @ez 16 Aug

this reminds me of a conversation with a no coiner friend who is into finance and programming. He is simply stuck on the:

"If Bitcoin is so great as you're telling me, why isn't everyone [in the mainstream] saying so?"

I don't think there's any grand media conspiracy, excluding dedicated BDS haters. People are not using it themselves. Maybe they tried setting up a wallet at some point but it was somewhat weird. The vast majority of normies who interacted with it did it via Coinbase or other shitcoin casinos, where it's just another crazy thing to bet on.

People simply don't get it and diffusion of innovation takes time. Setting up your wallet takes time. Getting bitcoin takes time. Learning about self-custody takes time. Lightning takes time. Getting to quality resources of information takes time.

https://m.stacker.news/46271

Most people wish they bought Bitcoin earlier. Heck, everyone does. But dedicating time to through the steep adoption curve is complicated. And you can't even begin to grasp Bitcoin if you don't recognize the problems in the current system. The way things are today seem normal to people - we're living it, using a bank is normal way of doin things.

In this setting, offering any sort of alternative comes across as radical in the society of complacency, where everyone is trying to win approval and fit in. And in this period of scammers, shitcoining and MLM's being cautious about Bitcoin doesn't seem ultimately bad, though I have to admit it is disappointing.

The people I had no trouble orange-pilling already had a genuine need for it. They get it instantly and their eyes light up when you talk about it. Others are lost in the ocean of blind trust or shitcoining (gambling). Best we can do right now is lead by example and offer a way out for the curious one's.

Bitcoin information landscape is better than ever and my hope is that it's only going to improve moving forward. The growth of stacker.news itself is a prime example of this. We won't be able to influence the change to the degree we'd like to until we have popular publications and forums built on Bitcoin itself, driven by Bitcoiners. It's happening and the way forward is clear but lots of work to do still.

76 sats \ 2 replies \ @JesseJames 17 Aug

"If Bitcoin is so great as you're telling me, why isn't everyone [in the mainstream] saying so?" I would put that friend on the "never take seriously" list :-)

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @ez 17 Aug

Lol true

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @Bell_curve 17 Aug

Are you boosted by Moderna?

52 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford OP 16 Aug

"If Bitcoin is so great as you're telling me, why isn't everyone [in the mainstream] saying so?"

This is a kind of self-fulfilling prophesy, If mainstream was saying so its market value would go through the roof... this would be true of anything.

Reminds me of the old Yogi Berra quote.

Nobody goes there anymore. It's too crowded.

31 sats \ 0 replies \ @AD_ 17 Aug

That list of “characteristics of innovations that affect their rate of adoption” is very insightful, I think understanding where bitcoin stands on each point can help us to better convey the message and allocate resources to the more difficult sticking points.

I’ll rate them 1-10 here for fun 1 being most friction 10 being least friction

Relative advantages - 5 - Bitcoin scores high here on actual advantages as we all know, but low on perceived advantages for the reasons you stated:

And you can't even begin to grasp Bitcoin if you don't recognize the problems in the current system.

As the current system gets inevitably worse perception gets better.

Compatibility - 3 - Bitcoin scores poorly here for much the same reason as above, but on a much more sinister level. Over 100 years living in a central bank fiat system has destroyed our time preference and thereby destroyed our values as a whole. i believe Bitcoin will help lower our time preference and realign our values with the good.
Complexity - 1 - Bitcoin scores poorly here as well. Learning to be your own bank is difficult and requires many hours of learning proper Bitcoin storage practices. There’s a lot of friction here but it’s not insurmountable.
Trailability - 10 - Bitcoin score very well here, it’s a voluntary, permissionless, opt-in system. Its divisibility allows people to try it out with small amounts to limit risk.
Observability - 8 - High score here as well, you put it perfectly:

Best we can do right now is lead by example and offer a way out for the curious one's.

I also think it’s important to be very careful of where we use our toxic maximalism. I love the toxicity as much as the next guy, and it’ll be a necessary weapon to wield against the regime, but we must use it wisely and sparingly.

What do you guys think?

76 sats \ 1 reply \ @Undisciplined 16 Aug

I think there's probably a ton going on here and most of it is not intentionally sinister.

Bitcoin is new and most people find it scary, so stories feeding into that will perform better and are more likely to be the view of potential authors.
Bitcoin doesn't require brokers and financial managers. Therefor, they have a vested interest in advising against it and that will lead them to be biased against it.
Big money managers have an incentive to try to please their large clients, which can come at the expense of dumping inferior investments onto their pleb clients. That probably works in reverse too, where they advise their plebs against investing in something until their important clients have secured their positions.
Bitcoin has become associated with "The Far Right", which will render many incapable of evaluating it in good faith.

54 sats \ 0 replies \ @kepford OP 16 Aug

Yeah, solid points. It is rarely one thing. The world isn't as simple as we like to believe it is.

76 sats \ 0 replies \ @Solomonsatoshi 16 Aug

The bankers know very well that controlling the narrative is key to maintaining power. For many decades the bankers have owned the narrative and controlled our politicians and media. The financial industry spends considerable effort 'managing' the MSM and actively 'moderating' social media. There are social media consultants who provide these services and they are highly effective, active and efficient. They are prolific on Reddit and all social media as increasingly social media shapes public opinion and is followed by MSM for breaking news. The ETFs continue the narrative that Bitcoin is a speculative commodity not a P2P digital cash and that is the narrative the bankers prefer to maintain as it eventually leads to the possibility of a ban on private custody and in the meantime preserves the bankers monopoly upon MoE.

22 sats \ 0 replies \ @Silent_Hodler 16 Aug

There are no coincideces when it comes to media and their "message". It's always paid propaganda on someone's behalf.

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @memeverse 16 Aug

Great observation. It's true that there is a big difference between how the media treats Bitcoin and how it is adopted by financial institutions. I’d rather not think that the media could be manipulated. The financial elite is powerful and often owns news outlets. I hope I’m wrong. It’s certainly the case that the wealthy might exploit negative media coverage of the crypto sector to accumulate assets while small investors panic and sell their cryptocurrencies. You're right, the best we can do is stay informed and share what we know.