A bit late to the party - Trying to understand blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies.
Cryptos got me like.....
Jks. I still don't get it.
For the past few months, I have had that one question that would always come back in my head: '' What the heck is cryptocurrency, blockchain technology and all of that good stuff''?
I was- am still fairly new to the crypto world and in terms of understanding it, I'm no better than the average Joe, but everyday, I try to push myself a little to find out more about this fascinating field, or ''thing?'' or ''wave?'' whatever you guys call it, that might or will change the world one day.
As an aspiring lawyer, I thought that if I want to make my future clients pay in Bitcoin, I better start learning what it is now.
A month ago, Steemit came into my life like a sign (ya I believe in that stuff), and I am forever grateful I took part in this innovative social network. I realized that it would be the perfect opportunity for me to start understanding the mystery of what on earth is blockchain technology and in the meantime, connect with amazing people from all across the world.
So I decided to go all out and got myself a book on the industry to try my best to truly understand the mechanics behind bitcoin and the blockchain technology to finally be able to use its basic terminology. Here's the bad boy I picked to help me out. (Special thanks to myself who forgot to write down my apartment number on the order, as to now the book has been returned back to its sender.)
Why am I so smart.
So my question for you guys is :
How can we make bitcoin more accessible and cryptocurrency in general for people like me, who have spent 5 hours reading on it, and still don 't understand. How can everyone in the world understand bitcoin, how it works, learn to trust it, and start using it regularly without having any technical background? My boyfriend understands the general use of bitcoin and why it' s so amazing. He can even explain the use of other cryptocurrencies and why they' re important, as well as their impact. But for me, it' s just supporting him.
Can bitcoin truly become accessible for everyone?
You spent "spent 5 hours reading on it" ..................
LOL
When I found out about bitcoin back i n 2011, I spent 12 to 14 hours a day, 7 days a week for months, searching for and reading everything I could find about it.
grin. I know exactly what you mean. I wanted to know every single detail I could. It took me months of reading everything I could. Followed bitcointalk discussions forever. Even ordered books off Amazon only to find out, I knew more than the book had discussed which was the point I realized, hey, I know enough. But even today I'm still learning and upgrading what I know. It's a never ending process. :)
But to be fair @steemityourway is correct. Spending 5 hours to learn how something works before you use it isn't user friendly. Imagine your cell phone. If you had to spend 5 hours to learn how to turn it on, and make a phone call, people would dump the phone.
If you had to spend 5 hours reading to insert your bank card, type a pin, choose withdrawal, and get money out of an ATM bank machine, people wouldn't use them either.
We have still a long way to go to make this system easier to use, and easier to trust.
Bitcoin was most definitely NOT user friendly back in 2011. If you want the same kind of gains as those people who bought/mined bitcoin in 2011 or earlier, you have to perhaps look for something that is not yet user friendly but has a very good use case when/if it becomes user friendly. May I suggest that bitshares is worth looking in to in that regard? www.bitshares.org
The interesting thing, is that if you can use steemit, you could also use bitshares for trading tokens.
They both have keys, usernames, a block explorer, vests, are based on graphene as its core. You're right, bitshares is worth looking into (I already have) but would be interesting for @steemityourway to take a look. My guess is that it could be less than 5 hours to figure out how to get an account and start trading on Bitshares.
You can get a free account with my referral link here:
https://bitshares.openledger.info/?r=intelliguy-bts
(I recommend the wallet model and using the Bitshares Lite wallet which you can download to your computer)
Or since onceuponatime mentioned it first, use his referral link:
https://bitshares.openledger.info/?r=onceuponatime
Bitshares is user friendly if you have a bit knowledge of crypto or the damn central exchanges. If you start it is all still difficult and I can understand why only a select few are busy with crypto. Actually the same for normal traders... How many people in the world really do that... It's up to us to start.. A lot only talk and want to start. They say that year after year... But only a few act... You pointed me a few months to bitshares.. and for sure there is not a better one at this moment..
Oh wow! You definetly set an example buddy, that's amazing! Will definitely follow your lead😎😏💥 Thank you so much for that!👌🏻💫 I will remember you 😘💎😍
Just to let you know ur still wayyyyyy early in the game @steemityourway. About only 2% of americans really know what is bitcoin or even gotten involved in it. Watch just ask ur friends and family members and I bet you maybe just 1 has heard of it but doesn't know what it means. Just to proove it to you. Glad u decided to join the steem community 👍
Awww thanks so much for the encouragement buddy! You're awesome!👌🏻💜💎🔑
Think of it like email. Your email client does a whole heap of stuff you don't understand, you just type in the recipient and hit send.
You use email because you trust it'll work, not because you understand how.
Bitcoin is the same. Because it's money, that trust takes a little more time, but the people who understand how it works are first to put their money in.
Over time, those without a clue about the nuts and bolts will start arriving, they just need to see that it worked for ten years before they'll trust it.
Awww thanks so much for your comment Matt! 💗 I really appreciate:)!!😘 It's true that you need to do some extra work to be one of the first ones to use it. How can we make bitcoin as accessible as email because from what I understand, third party apps take away your private keys to facilitate bitcoin transactions. @mattclarke
That's true, and necessary; and the wallets which have the longest history of doing the right thing are going to struggle less and less with the trust issue as time goes by. blockchain.info held my stake for many years; I only moved onto paper for the fork.
Kudos for learning about this stuff though. We're at the cutting edge here.
You're moons ahead of pretty much all of your peers.
I just joined a tech company, and I too have just started learning everything I can about bitcoin, crypto and blockchain. It is so much. I have to admit that the more I research the more interested I am in the use of blockchain outside of Fintech and the crypto world.
I know what you mean. Bitcoin is not user friendly. But before it becomes user friendly, we must perfect the security, the network, and the acceptance of it on a small scale.
Right now, Bitcoin is still very small scale.
It's improving. People are already working on new things that will make it much easier. However, right now there are still legal challenges, bank challenges, and more problems that have to get out of the way first.
Thanks so much for the support!💙😘☺️ I could not agree more.
Love that username though👌🏻💎🙊@intelliguy
you have already got some great comments here, and they save me from having to say a heap of things that I would have said.
I would just like to add, if you search online for the princeton bitcoin book and even if you only read the intro and the first chapter, (which is where I am) you will feel like you understand bit coin.
Probably much more than you do now anyway.
And nothing too complicated, makes it sound simpler than it is of course.
But it was the single most useful resource that I have found so far.
You can get the draft version in a pdf for free, right there on that same page. Look down the page a little.
@onceuponatime has a point, laughing at your surprise that you still didn't understand it after five hours, but he was a big meany about it.
lol
also correct are the people that said you don't (or won't, better said) need to understand how to use it in the end, only to be a still early late early adopter.
good luck and hope to see you around on steemit
Hey man thanks so much for writing me back it means alot! I appreciate your advice and will look into that book!
Haha good call but @onceuponatime makes a point every time. His commenting game is really strong haha.
Dont be shy hehe you can always say the things you "would have said'' ;) thanks a lot buddy and have yourself an amazing night!:) xoxo @spaingaroo
the same, I relay back to you. (well wishes and similar)
I'll have to keep my eye on this @onceuponatime now that you have recommended him like that.
He must be one of the good guys
big hugs
You're too cute!!💙 You should🙈😂😎 thanks so much! Big hugs back:)
Good timing. I started looking for a kind of "Bitcoin for dummies" book for my mom. Even she (60+ yo lady) asked me to put some of her savings into Bitcoin.
One of the "problem" is, I believe, that most books have been written by the bitcoin/blockchain experts and therefore are quite technical. It's like when you want to read something about mental health and pick a book by the Harvard professor.
Exactly like @tunnelrat and @mattclarke said. You don't need to understand how exactly does it work. Another great example would be airplanes. Do you know exactly how is it possible that the huge heavy thing is in the air? You fly anyway and give your life to the hands of the manufacturers and pilots. Because you trust that it works.
There are blog posts, and maybe even some books that cover this. And once you understand it and are interested in learning more, you can dive deep into it.
First, I love that you ordered a book on bitcoin, @steemityourway. That is definitely a step in the right direction, if you want to understand how it works.
I am going to counter this question with another question:
Do you know how credit card or bank transactions work?
Most people have no clue. We just know that we make a purchase and pay for it with standard money (fiat). The difference with bitcoin/altcoins is that we are skipping the middle man and paying directly to the recipient.
The only fees we pay go to the processor, which is not one company, one server or privatized. Our transactions are encrypted and the processors (miners) are compensated and unregulated.
So, to explain to someone what bitcoin is, keep it simple. You don't have to get technical or completely understand how it works, just that it works. :)
Wow!👌🏻💥 thank you so much, I really appreciate the comparison you made with credit cards! I have no words, this really counters my question perfectly. Epic comment dude. I agree 100% @tunnelrat
Glad I could help :) Pretty easy to lean toward the technical side of things sometimes.
Nice post. msg me on steemit.chat :)
Thanks!👊🏻❤️❤️
come on steemit.chat
My friend told me about it back in 2013 just after it peaked $1000. It was a drip feed effect after that for me; slowly learning the wonderful intracacies of bitcoin. I was told I could make money from it and from there I was sold.
The biggest hangup up people have on it, is that they don't understand it. But that's just it, no-one does when they first learn.
Wow that's a cool story!😍 Im glad you did! Thanks for sharing with me buddy! 💜💫