So I've been doing more experiments with Subsidized Airdrops
In the beginning I was trying to get newbies involved with crypto by "airdropping" them a tiny bit of Litecoin. This involved the following steps:
- Download wallet app (few minutes)
- Write down the seed (few minutes and requires pen and paper)
- Send Litecoin (0-15 minutes to confirm)
When I was theory-crafting this concept I did not take into account user experience and the anti-climatic nature of waiting for a Litecoin block to confirm. That's definitely the worst part of the entire process by a huge margin. Newbies already feel like they've done a chore by downloading the app and writing down the 12 word key (on top of reciting said key before wallet access). Waiting a random amount of time for a block to confirm is not ideal, as they already find themselves out of their element not really knowing what's going on.
It get's even worse with Trust Wallet (which is what I've been telling everyone to download (Binance developed but still theoretically just as secure as any other hot-wallet). Trust Wallet automatically sets the default transfer fee on Litecoin extremely low. It's been putting me at the minimum of 1 sat/byte, which ends up rounding down to a 0 cent fee after everything is said and done. This is nice but then the transaction can take longer if there's any other competition (aka the blocks fill up near max size).
I figured out a way to avoid the last step by priming the whole ordeal in advance. Rather than have them make a new wallet I already had a 12 word seed ready to go, so all I have to do is hand them a piece of paper and say, "Here's some crypto; have at it." However, this comes with another string of problems.
For starters, when I passed on the twelve word seed and instructed them to download a wallet and collect the money, a common mistake seemed to be newbies will still click the "create new wallet" button instead of using them one they have (because they don't realize that what they have is a wallet in the first place). I'll have to give better instructions next time to avoid such things.
Another problem is the matter of security. Originally I planed to destroy all record of the seed and give the newbie the only remaining copy. After realizing what a bad idea that was I simply left a copy of the wallet on my own phone, effectively turning this wallet into a joint account that both the newbie and I control.
I found this very interesting on a regulation/KYC level because if multiple people start staring the same wallets that's going to completely destroy the entire tracking process currently employed by the analysis companies. If the same wallet is moving funds to/from several identities, all of the tracking bots will end up hopelessly confused. This is yet another example of how crypto moves at light speed while the regulators are lumbering dinosaurs. At this point it's almost like watching a cat trying to catch a laser pointer. Sorry friend, that's not how it works.
One very nice thing about these joint accounts is that I know if the newbie messes up and loses their keys, I'll still have access to the money and can recover it for them. After all, this is what people are used to. Not being able to reset a password and then losing your account forever is not something that most people are accustomed to. There clearly needs to be some kind of training wheels transition there to catch the ones who slip.
Taking the shared account idea one step further, what happens when not only multiple people control the same wallet (or share it with multi-sig) but also make payments to users who don't have direct control of the keys? This would be akin to an exchange's hot-wallet, where multiple people technically have access to the funds (corporate procedures) in terms of signing on-chain transactions, but a frontend allows other users to deposit and withdrawal just like they would on a real exchange. It becomes quite clear that the regulators are going to get so slapped around over the next decade or two it's bound to make heads spin. This is only the very beginning of the madness that is disruptive decentralization.
Conclusion
It's really easy to get people excited about crypto... all you gotta do is give them free money :D
I think having joint/multi-sig accounts is going to be very standard practice in the future given my current experience of the situation. We're just so early in the game and so few people use crypto that our infrastructure just isn't there yet. Give it time.
Only in crypto could a profitable business model be giving away money. The cryptoverse can employ new value-building strategies that are absolutely impossible for the legacy economy to achieve, even in their wildest dreams.
When it really comes down to it crypto needs community. The more people use, validate, and build up the currency, the more value it will ultimately accrue over time. Slow and steady wins the race.
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