to have & to hold
the first drop is the wettest
welcome to bitcoin.
you may have heard folks liken Bitcoin to the enlightenment, while some critics think that bitcoin has no use at all.
these reactions are to be expected. the bitcoin system is made up of processes gathered from the fields of investing, computer science, cryptography, game theory, politics, and economics. one can spend a lifetime learning about any of these fields, not to mention a combination of all of them!
thanks to the efforts of strangers around the world, bitcoin was invented to navigate these fields with certainty. this email course will familiarize you with bitcoin and how you can interact with it.
"many roads might lead you to take a closer look at bitcoin...many entries lead down this particular rabbit hole."
-der gigi, the bitcoin journey
soon you will become one of over 100 million bitcoin users. while it takes courage and an open mind to test drive brand-new technology, getting started only takes a few minutes, and this email course has your back!
today's email will guide you through the process of securing some bitcoin using the strike app, which functions similarly to venmo and cash app. with strike you can use your current debit card to pay bitcoin invoices, send any currency to friends worldwide, and purchase bitcoin with no exchange fees.
"bitcoin is the internet of money, and currency is just the first application."
-andreas antonopoulos
if you are reading this, then you have made the leap from mail delivered by hand to your mailbox through the postal system to mail delivered instantly to your digital inbox via e-mail. people love sending each other messages. e-mail was one of the first things the internet was used for and continues to be one of the main ways people use the internet.
our mailboxes continue to operate despite faster technology being available. the invention of e-mail did not replace the postal service, it simply changed what we use it for and created a new method of communication for our society.
similarly, the invention of bitcoin did not replace fiat banking systems, precious metals, and equity markets. in fact, bitcoin, a new way of storing and transacting time value, has been operating alongside these systems for thirteen years already!
imagine bitcoin as an e-mail or text messaging service with a limited number of messages. you can use bitcoin to communicate with anyone else who has bitcoin, and services like strike make it easy to use bitcoin to communicate with people who don't use bitcoin.
users can purchase additional message credits at market rates. some users (miners) donate energy and computing power to maintain the network, and, in return, the network gives them additional message credits (bitcoin).
at first, the internet, e-mail, and text messaging were used for business communications and making plans with friends. these technologies have grown and are now used to pay bills, unlock your house door remotely, and share home movies. by the same logic, it is likely only a few of the many ways to utilize bitcoin have been discovered so far.
bitcoin is complicated, and it is natural to resist trusting anything that is hard to understand at first glance. to add to that initial confusion, you might think bitcoin is used solely for speculation and nefarious activities.
as you learn more about the bitcoin network, many reactions to the technology will start to look more and more like reactions to the internet when you paid for dial-up by the minute.
once you hold bitcoin yourself, you will find that it is an honest servant.
bitcoin's beauty is in the eye of its beholder and after today that beholder is you.
if you’d like to take some bitcoin for a test drive, take a few minutes to install either the cash app or the strike app by clicking the link below. you will receive a cash bonus upon confirming your account, which you can use for the next step (buying some bitcoin!)
once you have the strike app set up, navigate to the 'bitcoin' tab and purchase $0.50 (or more!) of bitcoin. this is your first step toward access to direct peer-to-peer financial communication with the global bitcoin community.
you have joined 100 million other people in utilizing the bitcoin network to communicate fiscally. tomorrow, we'll show you more ways to use your strike account.
take a break, you know a little more about what being a bitcoiner means now. note that the term 'bitcoiner' will be dated soon. how many internetters have you seen around lately?
