Replies (45)
Another oversimplifying rant from The Bitcoin Standard
It seems to be one of those books that uses "obvious" to distract from its weaknesses
Yes, the book is trash.
Do you have any suggestions for a short piece of writing to introduce Bitcoin to a shop owner? It could briefly explain the history of Bitcoin, why it is a real currency, the philosophical basis behind it, dispel some myths, and explain why it could be really useful for their business.
I've looked around a bit but haven't found anything. I think it could be incredibly useful to leave something like this lying around.
It would often be better than trying to convince them verbally.
/cc
@Derek RossIntro to Bitcoin: Hope for a better world
by
@Erin
Thank you, I will check it!
🙏
💯
Erin's book is good.
@Keysa - Simplest Bitcoin Edu is a good beginner book as well.
🧡
Hey Erin, how can I buy your ebook paying with Bitcoin?
On your site I only see Amazon as option :\
https://www.erinemalone.com/booksYo! If you want a digital version (epub or pdf) I’ll send it to you for a zap.
For me to ship physical copies to the US, it needs to be 5 or more (you can pay me directly with bitcoin). Amazon prints and handles the backend so I don’t have to.
I downloaded
@Keysa - Simplest Bitcoin Edu, it's good, but it is 170 pages!
I need something that, in five pages, can trigger a click and spark curiosity to ask/learn more. Maybe a
@Gigi's article?
You can’t cover bitcoin in five pages.
I know, I don't actually want to cover the topic exhaustively, but just spark enough curiosity to prompt someone to ask for more information.
You can't stop a restaurant owner in the middle of his work for two hours to explain Bitcoin to him, but you can plant a seed by leaving a leaflet and wait for him to ask you for more details.
Yes, a PDF is fine!
I usually buy printed books, so I absolutely prefer to skip Amazon and buy the digital version directly from you with the hard money we are talking about.
Let me know how much I need to send you.
I agree with this in principle. There’s a Signal group called Everyday Money Movement that in part of that discusses these topics.
I found a PDF of a merchant guide made for El Salvador in the chat. Maybe something like this would work for you?
https://bitcoincoast.sv/BitcoinCoast_v1_2_English_Translated.pdfJust DM’d you the pdf. Read it first. Tip the value you think it’s worth. 🤙
I meant to reply to your other comment about wanting the pdf. Whatever, you get it. 🤙
It seems an interesting and concise resource, I will read it asap. Thanks!
@zoé I believe you might have a pamphlet?
Oh wow, thank you Erin!
perfect!
See, I said you couldn’t cover bitcoin in five pages. This one is two.
Keysa is just that good.
😉
Aw shucks
I think Keynes existence was a net harm to humanity. Any quality of dig at him is supported from me.
I got one of these at a bitcoin conference. It’s a great Tri-fold pamphlet!
Yes, I was exactly thinking to something like that!
Perhaps wallets, custody, scam alert can be moved to a later exploration, while I would expand "Why we need it". Instead "Debunking FUD" is definitively needed from the start, since many people hear about Bitcoin through it.
I read two chapters, it's really well written, easy to approach and straight to the point! I think your book could be an excellent first step toward gaining a deeper understanding.
Thank you again for your helpfulness and kindness.
Thanks 🧡🙌
Amazing to hear! Do you remember which conference?
Yes there’s so many ways to approach it depending on your audience and what you want to emphasize! This is an open-source doc, feel free to edit as you wish :)
I designed it such that the first section is the ‘Why’, hopefully sparking a curiosity to read on ;)
Curious your thoughts on the simple, bulleted layout? That for me was my main contribution, an easy-to-read layout that anyone new to the subject could easily absorb.
i only have a nostr pamphlet ☹️ but a business-focused btc pamphlet seems like a real need! maybe i can work on smthg 🧐
although bitcoin.rocks has a nice section on business too!
i completely forgot about
@bitcoin.rocks and now i feel bad. please forgive me sir!
Second that.
@bitcoin.rocks is great.
Oh yes, I already bookmarked it some time ago when I was researching this topic. Lots of useful information!
Personally I'm not a big fan of bulleted layouts, I prefer a discorsive texts because they "click" better for me. When well done they build a story and so they became more easy to follow and remember. Standard formatted text are also for me more orderly, clear, and graphically appealing.
But perhaps I am also biased, because in my work I have seen many people use bullet points because they don't actually know how to write a structured text, and so the first solution is easier. Obviously, this is not your case! :)
Anyway, I've only skimmed through your book, and my first impression was very good. I'll try to read a few chapters in full to get a better idea of the overall effect.
Why is this a dig at Keynes? It's just truth that even Keynes's admirers accept.
I kind of agree. And I think most people would accept that knowledge and expertise and wisdom are not the same thing as credentialed formal education
But I notice a lot of people, especially on Twitter, use "Keynesian" as a catch-all term for economics they don't like, and I think Ammous is deliberately playing on that and using the reader's ignorance so he can dismiss anything vaguely "left wing"
Ammous just makes too many mistakes for my liking. He even made the classic mistake of thinking that Hitler was brought to power due to hyperinflation, when any historian of the time will tell you that Bruning's *deflationary* policies are what hurt the economy and brought Hitler to power
I know it seems like I've just changed the subject completely! But all this feeds into the general discomfort I felt with this book from the start. I'm only 25% of the way through, and I'm determined to finish it simply because it's a famous book. But it's not a serious book; too much like (subtle) propaganda
and also, looking again at the screenshot which I started this thread with, Ammous basically says that Keynes discarded centuries of scholarship. It's seems like a childish thing to say 🙂
Interesting how differently different people’s brains work! 😄
In your case then I think my book could serve as a reference source for someone new to bitcoin *after* they have read another more discursive style text book.
If you ever do get through more of it, would love to hear any further thoughts. I do think I built a ‘case’ for bitcoin (though not a ‘story’ per se), ‘Why We Need Bitcoin’, and then built upon that.
To be honest though it could probably use some further editing as I wrote it in a very free-form style. It flowed out of an email I started writing to explain bitcoin to friends and family 😂
