2017 was a great year for blockchain technologies. We had huge gains on a multitude of coins and tokens, some reaching over 9000%; ICOs started booming reaching over 4 billion dollars in total investments and Bitcoin has become a household brand.

About that, everyone you know has heard of bitcoin, but do they know what it is ? They know it's expensive and that you have to mine it, they're not sure how though. Public awareness is a good step in the right direction but we are the one who can turn this into adoption, that's why I think it's important to explain what decentralization/blockchain and the benefits it has rather than your 5x gains in 6 months, although not bragging is hard. ;)

The problem with skipping the fundamentals of bitcoin is that they think it's just money, but... it's not real. Explain how bitcoin's supply is not controlled by one entity and why it matters by bringing up Venezuela as an example. Explain why it's important that you own your money rather than trusting a bank with it. (be careful, it's hard not to sound like a conspiracy theorist.)

Do not forget to mention risks and downsides ! No wonders people think it's a Ponzi when you're praising it like it's a cult. They should know that transactions are set in stone and that wallets can't be recovered if lost because they might be left with a sour taste if they learn it the hard way. Be realist, Bitcoin probably won't be the one currency to rule them all, introduce them to Ether, Cardano, Icon, Steem, Etc.

Introduce them to the concept of tokens, blockchain is not only suitable for currency but also for anything that runs on a network. Shill steemit, I feel like it's the best example of a blockchain network that can be understood by the average crypto neophyte. ICOs are closer to stocks than Forex in my opinion because you are investing in a project that you believe in and tokens are the fuel to these ecosystems.

"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime", people are lazy and in 99% of cases they'll want you to be their financial adviser. Be honest, most of us got lucky on some coins, that doesn't make you Warren Buffet 2.0. Somebody might get mad because you don't want to handle their money but can you imagine how bad it would be if you lost capital from someone with that kind of personality ? Your friends and family will gain much more by knowing about blockchain technologies than by hodling a few coins, especially if they're still young. Think of the opportunities in the future when most network will be decentralized. Encourage them to do their own research.

Thank you for reading through this. Ask me questions if you're new to blockchain. Discuss in the comment. I'm bored it's the holidays. Help me become crypto centillionaire in 2018 by upvoting, resteeming, donating, etc. you know the drill.

ERC20: 0x8482790b400F4390AB64c4A6e7Ea1d3D3e9F23f7