Why we need less Bitcoin and more bitcoin

1 billion

“1 billion what?” you might ask.

That's the approximate number of adults in the world who have a smartphone but don’t have a bank account. ⁽¹⁾

Just to be clear, we’re talking about adults here, not people. We’re also talking about smartphones, not feature phones.

So what does it mean to have a smartphone but not a bank account?

Well, first of all, these billion adults must have electricity and internet access. It might not be as reliable as what you and I are used to but they can still charge their mobile phones and connect to the internet.

Which in turn means that they can do all the things we can do on our smartphones:

• Watch cat videos on YouTube.

• Upload dance videos to TikTok.

• Follow Taylor Swift on Instagram.

• Argue with random people on X.

• Send messages with WhatsApp.

• etc

These people are globally connected.

But they don’t have a bank account.

Which means that they’re going to be paid in cash. And they’re going to use cash for their daily spending. And if they're able to save for their futures, they're going to do it with cash.

All this cash presents a terrible security risk. It also presents a terrible risk from inflation if you live in a country like Argentina (which had an inflation rate of 211% during 2023).

These people may have smartphones but they’re not able to make digital payments or to save safely. These people are globally connected but financially disconnected.

Now, wouldn’t it be great if all those people could use all those smartphones for their everyday spending and saving?

Wouldn’t it be great if they could send and receive funds as easily as sending or receiving a WhatsApp message?

Wouldn’t it be great if they could do all of this with a technology that wasn’t controlled by any governments or companies?

669 billion

“669 billion what?” you might ask.

$669 billion of remittances were sent to low- and middle-income countries during 2023. ⁽²⁾

(Remittances are funds that individuals, typically migrant workers, send back to their home countries, usually to support their families or communities.)

For example, individuals and migrant workers sent $125 billion back to India during 2023, $67 billion to Mexico, and $50 billion to China. Most of these remittances were sent from the US. ⁽²⁾

But sending remittances is far from easy.

• First, the person sending the remittance probably needs a local bank account, which might be impossible for migrants with low wages or insufficient paperwork.

• Some people might be able to send cash remittances using a money transfer service but this will require them to travel (with all their cash) to a remote office.

• Second, the person receiving the remittance will also probably need a local bank account. This might be impossible for countries where banks are not interested in serving low- and middle-income citizens.

• Some people might be able to receive cash remittances from a money transfer service. This will typically require them to travel to a remote office, pay transaction fees, and potentially expose them to theft on their way home.

As a result, sending remittances to family and friends can take several days and can incur processing fees as high as 20%.

Now, wouldn’t it be great if all those remittances could be processed using a simple smartphone app?

Wouldn’t it be great if they could be sent and received as easily (and cheaply) as sending or receiving a Whatsapp message?

Wouldn’t it be great if they could be sent and received without requiring permission or verification from a remittance provider?

An “electronic cash system” for “small, casual transactions”

Steve Jobs once said “You've got to start with the customer experience and work back toward the technology – not the other way around.”

Or to put it another way, you need to find a problem (real, not imaginary) and then use technology to build a solution to that problem.

Fortunately, someone has already done this for the problems faced by people who don't have bank accounts or who need to send remittances to family and friends.

Back in 2008, someone (or a group of people) called Satoshi published a whitepaper for a technology that became known as “Bitcoin”. ⁽³⁾

Bitcoin was originally designed as an “electronic cash system” for “small, casual transactions”. It was designed for everyday people to spend, save, and send without needing to use a financial institution (like a bank or an exchange).

Unfortunately, the original design intent of Bitcoin has been somewhat diluted over the years.

• Most people now see Bitcoin as a store of wealth, rather than a payment method.

• Most people associate Bitcoin with scams and cryptocurrency frauds.Link to: https://www.reuters.com/technology/sam-bankman-fried-be-sentenced-multi-billion-dollar-ftx-fraud-2024-03-28/

• Most people ask “What's the price of Bitcoin?” rather than “Can I pay with Bitcoin?”

But Bitcoin itself isn’t the cause of these concerns. In fact, it's arguably safer than many banking systemsLink to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015%E2%80%932016_SWIFT_banking_hack and it's not susceptible to political intervention by self-serving governments.

Today, sending or receiving a Bitcoin payment can be as easy as sending or receiving a text message. You don't need a bank account or an exchange account, you just need a wallet appGo to /wallets page on your smartphone.

And yet, today, Bitcoin is most commonly associated with “maximalists” (who believe it should completely liberate people from banks and governments) and “early adopters” (who are sometimes more interested in the novelty of a technology than its utility).

Bitcoin is arguably a revolutionary technology with extraordinary potential and a passionate community of supporters.

But. It hasn’t become a mainstream, ubiquitous technology with everyday usage. It's not being used as an “electronic cash system” for “small, casual transactions”.

In short, Bitcoin hasn’t crossed the chasm of consumer adoption.

And that’s because we have too much Bitcoin and not enough bitcoin.

Consumer adoption

I worked at AppleLink to: https://apple.com/retail from 2003 to 2011, managing international retail launches for iPod, iPhone, and iPad.

iPhones and iPads are ubiquitous today while iPods don’t even exist any more.

But their success wasn't an accident or a foregone conclusion. In fact, they were considered niche products when they were first launched and mainstream consumers didn’t really understand them.

I also worked at Samsung SmartThingsLink to: https://yourmajesty.co/work/samsung-smartthings for several years, leading global marketing for their smart home platform.

Again, it was a niche market at the beginning and mainstream consumers didn’t really understand smart home products when they were first launched.

Today however, millions of people know how to use a voice assistant to control their smart light bulbs, their heating, their music, and more.

Smartphones, tablets, and smart home devices are just a few examples of innovative technologies that started slowly before gaining mass adoption.

And like all innovative technologies, it can be relatively easy to find success with a small number of early users:

• Users who care about your product and value what you’re building.

• Users who want to be part of a community and to help each other.

• Users who love trying new things because they’re new and exciting.

But early users are not enough to drive mass consumer adoption and growth on their own.

In fact, there comes a point with all successful innovative technologies where you need to ask yourself:

• Where do the next 1m, 10m, or 100m users come from?

• Who are these users? Why do they need this technology?

• And how do we make it easy for them to start using this technology?

The adoption lifecycle

The challenge of adoption and growth is familiar to most technology companies and was expertly described by Geoffrey Moore in Crossing the Chasm.Link to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RFBdcJRdbA

Imagine the total market potential for a new technology mapped out as a curve:

On the left is the early market which accounts for about 15% of the total potential.

On the right is the mass market which accounts for about 85% of the total potential.

And in the middle, you have the chasm.

Let’s break these markets down a bit more:

The early market can be separated into innovators and early adopters.

The mass market can be separated into the early majority, late majority, and laggards.

Remember that the early market (innovators and adopters) is typically only 15% of the total potential. It’s the mass market that represents 85% of the potential.

Innovators, early adopters, early majority, late majority, and laggards. We all fit into one or more of these categories in different parts of our lives. But what do each of the terms actually mean?

1. Innovators

• Think of the innovators as the people who were designing and building their own drones 15 years ago. They designed those drones themselves and built them completely from scratch.

• Why? Because it was challenging and because no one had done it before!

2. Early adopters

• Think of the early adopters as the people who were buying (and crashing) the first consumer drones about 10 years ago.

• Those early adopters would buy drones in a kit from a specialist store and they’d probably need some soldering and assembling.

• They’d also need to do a fair bit of tweaking to make them fly safely but hey, that was part of the fun, right?

3. Early majority

• Then comes the mainstream market: the early majority. These are the people who want their drones to work right out of the box.

• They’re not interested in the challenge of building or tuning their drone. They just want to fly it and take pictures.

• Also, they don’t want to buy their drone from a specialist dealer. They want to buy it on Amazon with next day delivery.

4. Late majority

• As markets mature, the late majority buyers come into play. These will be the people who eventually buy small, indoor drones for their kids.

• By this point, the technology will have matured, the price will have dropped, and the products should be extremely intuitive to use.

5. Laggards

• Eventually, even the laggards might start buying drones or perhaps get one free with some other kind of purchase.

• By this time, the innovators and early adopters will have long moved on to some new technology, and the cycle will have begun again.

It’s easy to think of more examples where innovative technology follows this adoption lifecycle:

• Innovators who started using the first solar panels in the 1970s.

• Innovators who started using email and the internet in the 1980s.

• Innovators and early adopters who started using personal digital assistants (PDAs) in the 1990s.

• Early adopters who started buying hybrid and electric cars in the 2000s.

• Early adopters who bought the first fitness trackers in the 2010s.

• Early adopters who started buying VR and augmented reality headsets in the 2020s.

But now we need to talk about the chasm.

Because that’s where bitcoin is today in terms of mass market adoption.

The chasm

Think about how new users (like yourself) are inspired by existing users to try a new technology.

The laggards started using email because they’d seen the early and late majority use it to communicate with family and friends.

“If they’re using it, why shouldn’t I?”

The late majority started using smartwatches because they’d seen more and more of the early majority using them as health trackers. “If they’re using them, why shouldn’t I?”

The early adopters started using bitcoin because they’d read about innovators building this amazing new blockchain technology. “If they’re using it, why shouldn’t I?”

But there’s a problem when market adoption needs to jump from early adopters to the early majority. The early majority doesn’t think “Hey, those early adopters are using that technology, why shouldn’t I?”

In fact, the motivations of these two groups are very different and early adopters are often not a good reference for the early majority.

The most vulnerable point in the adoption life cycle is the gap between early adopters and the early majority. Their interests, values, and motivations are very different and what works for one group typically doesn’t work for the other.

Clever technology vs. useful technology

• The early adopter thinks “I’m interested in the underlying technology… I’m interested in how it works.”

• The early majority thinks “I’m interested in the utility or the usefulness of this technology… I don’t really care how it works.”

Product capabilities vs. user benefits

• The early adopter thinks “I’m interested in what I can do with this technology… I want to explore its capabilities.”

• The early majority thinks “I’m interested in what this technology can do for me… how will it make my life better?”

Minimal product features vs. a fully working solution

• The early adopter thinks “I’m happy with minimal features… I don’t mind if I have to add or download a few other products to make it work.”

• The early majority thinks “I want the whole solution in one go… I don’t want to build the solution myself from different products.”

Helping to make it work vs. it works right out of the box

• The early adopter thinks “I’m happy to help make it work… making it work is part of the challenge and the fun.”

• The early majority thinks “I want it to just work out of the box… I don’t want a complicated setup process.”

Total privacy vs. ease of use

• The early adopter for bitcoin thinks “I want total privacy. I don’t mind if it’s difficult to use as long as it’s private.”

• The early majority for bitcoin thinks “I want ease of use. I’m happy to trade some privacy if it’s easy to use right out of the box.”

Ideology vs. usefulness

• The early adopter for bitcoin thinks “I value the ideology of Bitcoin… I value what it stands for.”

• The early majority for bitcoin thinks “I value the usefulness of bitcoin… I value what it can do for me.”

Investing, stacking, holding vs. spending, saving, sending

• The early adopter for bitcoin thinks about investing, stacking, and holding on for dear life.

• The early majority for bitcoin thinks about spending their bitcoin, saving their bitcoin, and maybe sending their bitcoin to family and friends.

Bitcoin vs. bitcoin

• The early adopter for bitcoin thinks “Bitcoin (with a capital B) is freedom.”

• The early majority for bitcoin thinks “bitcoin (with a lowercase b) is for every bit of life.”

Now, neither group is wrong. Neither group is better than the other. They’re just very different.

Which means the reasons you were successful with the early adopters are not the same reasons that you’re going to be successful with the mainstream market.

They value fundamentally different things.

And you need a fundamentally different approach.

Failing to cross (the chasm)

There are many examples of technologies that were successful with innovators and early adopters but failed to cross the chasm into the mainstream market.

Remember the SegwayLink to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segway that was launched in 2001 and that was going to revolutionize transportation in cities? It was popular among tourists and security guards but it never crossed the chasm to the mainstream market and it was discontinued in 2020.

Google GlassLink to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Google_Glass was another product that was popular among innovators and early adopters but it also never crossed the chasm to the mainstream market. It had limited success for a while as an enterprise product but it was quietly discontinued in March 2023.

3D TVsLink to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3D_television were another example of a clever solution looking for a problem and not really finding one. It was popular among early adopters but it never really gained mainstream adoption.

VR headsetsLink to: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_reality_headset get better every year but they're still a very niche product. Billions of dollars are being invested in VR and yet it stubbornly refuses to cross the chasm.

And so it is with bitcoin too. The technology gets better and easier to use every year but bitcoin hasn’t crossed the chasm yet. The mass market hasn’t adopted it.

Most of the existing bitcoin users that we know and love are part of the early market: they’re innovators and early adopters.

However, the next 100m bitcoin users are going to come from the mainstream market.

There aren’t enough early adopters left to find another 100m users, which means that it’s time for bitcoin to cross the chasm.

Crossing the (bitcoin) chasm

Bitcoin isn’t run by a single organization or company. That’s one of its many strengths but it’s also a weakness when it comes to driving consumer adoption. There’s no single voice that speaks for bitcoin and sometimes the loudest voices are not the most helpful.

Remember, the next 100 million bitcoin users need to come from the mass market. They’re going to want out-of-the-box solutions that are secure and private but also incredibly easy to use.

So, here are 4 areas to consider if you’re serious about helping to cross the (bitcoin) chasm in order to drive global adoption:

1. Respect

2. Education

3. Inspiration

4. Ease of use

1. Respect

We have to respect and welcome people who are new to bitcoin.

Anyone who tries something new should be celebrated as an explorer, not mocked as “bitcoin plebs” or “noobs” who need to be “orange-pilled”. We've all been beginners and we've all asked annoying questions.

Many people who could use bitcoin today see it as a bit of a cult, with a special language and cryptic memes. We have to move beyond that and make our messaging more inclusive.

2. Education

There’s already a lot of educational content available for bitcoin but it’s the wrong sort. It’s education on how bitcoin works, not how people can use bitcoin safely.

By way of example, I have two children who have classes at school about the internet. They’re not taught about HTTP or DNS protocols. They’re not taught about IP addresses or how routers work. They’re not taught about fibre optic switches or mesh wifi.

They’re taught how to use the internet safely. They're taught how to watch out for scams and dubious content. They're taught how to protect their privacy.

We need to do the same with bitcoin. We need to educate the next 100 million users on how to use bitcoin safely, not how the blockchain works.

Most people drive their cars without worrying about how the engine management system works. Most people turn on the lights in their home without worrying about how the electricity grid works. Most people use their debit cards without having any idea about how the banking system works.

Keep it simple, not complicated. Explain how easy it is to use bitcoinGo to /guides page, not how clever the underlying technology is.

3. Inspiration

The best way to change human behavior is always through inspiration.

We tell inspiring stories about how people from humble beginnings like ourselves become heroes.

We look back on our careers and we talk about the people that inspired us, motivated us.

Inspiration is so much more powerful than fear.

We shouldn't be telling stories about how fiat is fraud. We should be telling stories about how someone uses bitcoin instead of a bank account.

We shouldn't be telling stories about the hypocrisy of central banks. We should be telling stories about how someone gets paid in bitcoin and uses it to support their community.

Tell inspiring storiesGo to /learn page about how ordinary people are using bitcoin for every bit of life.

4. Ease of use

We need to make it easier for people to get their bitcoin, manage their bitcoin, and to spend their bitcoin.

It's always good to improve an existing technology but we need more people working on consumer-facing solutions, making bitcoin as easy to use as an Apple product.

“How do I get bitcoin?”

Some of the most common questions you'll hear from a bitcoin beginner are those about how to get bitcoin in the first place:

• “How do I get bitcoin?”

• “Why do I have to open an exchange account?”

• “What if I don’t have a bank account or personal identification?”

• “Why can’t I just buy bitcoin in small amounts for my everyday needs?”

That's why AztecoGo to /about page was created. We wanted to make it easy for everyone, everywhere to get and use bitcoin in small amounts.

Azteco bitcoin vouchersGo to /learn/articles/what-are-azteco-bitcoin-vouchers page work just like prepaid gift cards or mobile phone top-up vouchers. You can buy one in over 190 countries for as a little as $10. And you don't even need to create an Azteco account or download an Azteco app.

“How do I manage my bitcoin?”

Another common question from bitcoin beginners is “What app should I download to manage my bitcoin?”

Historically, bitcoin wallet apps have been highly technical and therefore difficult for beginners to use. Also, the security trade-offs between custodial and self-custody walletsGo to /wallets page have been hard to understand.

This is where companies like BitkeyGo to /bitkey page and FoundationGo to /foundation page are leading the way with self-custody wallets that combine ease of use with the security of a hardware wallet.

“How do I spend my bitcoin?”

Probably the most common question that we hear from bitcoin beginners is “Where can I spend my bitcoin?”

We need more innovative retailers like Pick n PayLink to: https://www.nasdaq.com/articles/south-african-retail-giant-pick-n-pay-now-accepts-bitcoin-payments-at-all-locations in South Africa. They have over 2,200 supermarket stores and you can use bitcoin to pay for anything in their stores.

They’ve been smart in how they’ve done this and it’s opened up a whole new market for them. If a family member working in another country sends you bitcoin, you can now use that bitcoin to buy groceries and household items from Pick n Pay.

Accepting bitcoin is a business opportunity for retailers, not a PR gimmick.

Less Bitcoin, more bitcoin

And finally, let's talk about why we need less Bitcoin and more bitcoin.

“Bitcoin” (with a capital B) describes the technology that makes bitcoin payments possible. It’s the blockchain and all that good stuff.

On the other hand, “bitcoin” (with a lowercase b) describes a unit of value.

For example, you might say to someone “Hey, you can buy this camera from me for 100 dollars, 90 euros, 0.000015 bitcoins, or 1,500 satoshis.”

Capital B is technology. Lower case b is utility.

Remember everything we discussed about the mainstream market?

They’re interested in the utility, the value of a technology. They’re interested in what it can do for them, not how it works.

They’re interested in bitcoin as a unit of value for daily spending, saving, and sending.

They’re not interested in the blockchain any more than they’re interested in the engine management system of their car or the electricity grid that powers the lights in their home.

(Also, remember that the Internet and the World Wide Web had capital letters when they were a new, niche technology but that changed as they gained wider adoption.)

We need to talk less about Bitcoin (the technology) and more about bitcoin (the utility).

We need to spend less time arguing about ideology and more time building solutions for mainstream consumers.

We need to worry less about the price of bitcoin and more about making it work for everyone, everywhere.

For every bit of lifeGo to /about page.

⁽¹⁾ Brink News. “1.7 Billion People Don’t Have a Bank Account”

⁽²⁾ World Bank Group. “Remittance Flows in 2023”

⁽³⁾ Satoshi. “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”