Tweetstorm: Touchpoints
2 minute read
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Posted June 4, 2019
- How many times did you have to hear about #Bitcoin before you were ready to acquire some or, at least, explore its significance? This number of “touchpoints” is an important factor in the process of Bitcoin’s monetization.
Let’s explore the idea of touchpoints in a thread: 👇
- We now know that the process of #Bitcoin’s monetization is occurring in a series of hype cycles where the magnitude of each cycle is defined by the people “reachable” in that cycle. Which people defined the prior cycles? 👇
thread link
- The first hype cycle in the #Bitcoin market was dominated by cryptographers and cypherpunks who were already primed to understand the importance of Satoshi Nakamoto’s groundbreaking invention.
- But even among the cohort of cryptographers and cypherpunks primed to understand #Bitcoin, some of the most brilliant required multiple touchpoints before being convinced that Satoshi was onto something. Consider the words of Core developer Gregory Maxwell:
- I was personally part of the second hype cycle which attracted those with an ideological affinity for #Bitcoin’s freedom promoting potential (libertarians). But it took many touchpoints for me to recognize its importance (I’m a slow learner).
- Luckily for me, I had a very high opinion of the two people who evangelized #Bitcoin to me (one of them had been my co-founder in a @YCombinator startup). And they were planting seeds in fertile ideological ground. But what if I had no ideological affinity?
- One lesson to take away is that if a person is not reachable in a particular hype cycle, there is almost no point is trying to convince them of #Bitcoin’s importance. As best they would view it as a quick trading opportunity
- To be “reachable” to #Bitcoin’s potential most people will typically have to have heard about it multiple times from multiple people that they trust. One sign that a new group will become reachable is that a respected person in the group becomes an evangelizer to the group.
- Consider, for example, Superbowl winning left tackle @RussellOkung. A well respected pro-bowl player is now evangelizing #Bitcoin to his fellow players in the #NFL. Some will pay attention to Okung and begin evangelizing it in turn, priming more and more NFL players.
- Another way a person can be primed is if they made a small allocation to #Bitcoin (or received it as a gift) and saw that grow in a prior cycle. They will already be awake to the financial potential of a larger allocation and more receptive to learning more.
- However, for those who are ideologically opposed to #Bitcoin there is no number of touchpoints that will convince them of its importance. Think of people like @paulkrugman or @Nouriel. They will be walking around with wheelbarrows of worthless fiat before owning bitcoins.
- So when explaining #Bitcoin to friends, family and colleagues get a sense of how “primed” they already are. Have they already heard of it? Are they curious or dismissive? Are they ready for a tiny allocation, or are they ready to take the leap?
- In the coming hype cycle, the people most ready to increase their allocation to #Bitcoin are those who were already curious about it and perhaps had made a small allocation to it in the prior cycle. They are ready to be activated in the next bull run and will define its size
