How Do You Onboard Your Friends and Colleagues to Crypto?

The year 2022 was a disaster for cryptocurrency. If you’re tired of hearing it, I’m sure you’re tired of reading it. However, it is unavoidable that multiple market crashes and the revelation of significant fraud by some of the industry’s most powerful figures have poisoned the well.

Crypto has also never been more popular in popular culture. However, public opinion has never been more negative. According to CNBC’s most recent All-America Economic Survey, only 8% of Americans are positive about cryptocurrencies, down from 19% in March. 

Americans who are opposed to cryptocurrencies increased from 25% to 43%.

The number of fence-sitters has also decreased over the last year, as everyone and their dog has formed an opinion. According to the survey, those who held a neutral opinion decreased from 31% to 18%.

As a result, now may not be the best time to persuade your friends and family to invest in cryptocurrency. This is not Autumn/Winter 2021, with recent all-time highs in the rearview mirror. Christmas 2022 may have been a frightening prospect for those who preached at the dinner table in 2021.

The brave among you, on the other hand, will not have given up. Fundamentally, there are still numerous applications for crypto, NFTs, and DeFi. Even if people have been brought back to reality by market crashes. Assume you were gathering the courage to bring up cryptocurrency with your friends and family. How would you go about it?

To begin with, while cryptocurrency has made headlines this year, most people have no idea what they’re talking about. The Crypto Literacy Survey, which asks people to take a quick quiz on crypto/Web3 terminology, discovered that the vast majority failed their test. 91% of survey respondents in 2022 were unable to correctly answer more than 60% of the survey’s questions. At the same time, this is a depressing and entirely predictable statistic.

Unsurprisingly, crypto literacy is improving. The crypto literacy survey received a passing grade from 9% of respondents in 2022, up from 4% in 2021. There is a sobering caveat. The type of person who is likely to take this test is already interested in cryptocurrency. At least in some ways. As a result, the actual figure for crypto literacy is almost certainly much lower. Do you think your Aunt knows what “liquid staking” means? No, neither does mine.

How do we deal with this? Begin with the most well-known cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC). “It’s the most recognizable cryptocurrency for most people who don’t deal with crypto every day,” says Ryan Hansen, Liquid Mercury’s Chief Marketing Officer.

You should start by explaining why someone would want an alternative to traditional fiat currency. “This includes an explanation of how currencies, such as the US dollar, lose purchasing power as central banks print more and more; the advantages of having direct control over your holdings; and how cryptocurrency has the potential to be more accessible to people without bank accounts.”

What if you don’t believe in “Big Government” and aren’t concerned about central bank collapse? Or are you not a refugee attempting to cross a border with only your phone? Meet them where they are and tailor your advice to their needs.

“For example, if you have a friend who works in the restaurant industry, showing them how blockchain can help them track orders, inventory, and food preparation is a great way to demonstrate the value of blockchain,” says Anton Giuroiu, CEO of ArchitectureLab and a crypto enthusiast. “If your coworker is a travel agent who deals with a high volume of last-minute cancellations or no-shows, they may be interested in learning how smart contracts can help with that problem.”

Blockchain has the potential to tokenize assets, improve the quality and speed of our video streams, and provide transparency and accountability to crowdfunding, to name a few applications. What your friend, family member, or colleague will say depends on the person.

I used to laugh at the thought of ever getting rid of my beloved Blackberry. I liked the physical keypad, the more rounded feel in my hand, and I’d grown to like the Blackberry OS. I had no desire to permanently switch to a touchscreen iPhone or Android. Until I finally got one. My point is that it’s difficult to get someone to form an opinion about something unless they’ve had the opportunity to try it for themselves. That includes video games, films, and, yes, cryptocurrency.

“Giving away free cryptocurrency has been the most effective way for me to convert skeptics,” says Brian David Crane, the founder and CEO of Spread Great Ideas. “I have freely given cryptos to friends and family in order to get them on the crypto bandwagon. Typically, these are “free cryptos” that I have obtained through airdrops, so it does not cost me much. Airdrops are also a great way for others to make quick money while learning about cryptocurrency.”

Andrew Gayton, an NFT/Web3 advisor at GODA, gave his friends a competitive edge. He put one bitcoin as the reward for their fantasy football league when Bitcoin was around $500. Nobody was interested at the time. “At that point, I hadn’t won anyone over,” he admits. “However, as the price crossed over $2,000 and became more mainstream, a few of my friends reached out to me to onboard them to invest. You can’t persuade everyone the first time you talk about it. It can take more than a few conversations to get people interested in and educated about cryptocurrency.”