The Notcoin airdrop is the largest onboarding event I have seen in crypto, at least in my part of the world. Tailors, bike riders, labourers, mechanics are tapping away on their android phones, expecting the different Notcoin copycats to make them rich. According to Cointelegraph, the project onboarded 35 million users within fice months.
Notcoin
While onboarding is always something any blockchain technology enthusiast would welcome, onboarding without the necessary education to navigate the different pitfalls that comes with handling financial instruments that are yet nascent in spite of the years Bitcoin has existed is dangerous.
The danger here is not only to these noobs coming in thinking crypto is a get rich quick scheme but also to the blockchain community itself. If these new entrants into this amazing world do not get what they have been promised by shillers and referral farmers; those threadors who line the alleys of X (formerly Twitter), screaming at the top of their lungs for anyone, who cares to listen, to try this testnet, fill that google form, play this game, repost that post, buy this token, they will leave in the droves in which they came.
In late 2016, when I was introduced to blockchain technology through Steemit, I thought it amazing that i could earn from blogging but i stayed on because i love writing. I also enjoyed the engagement my writing received. Many of my contemporaries left Steemit the moment they found they could, either not write well enough to attract curation or didn't have the patience to wait for prices to increase in order to make good money out of their curation rewards. But this is not Steemit.
This is not Hive either, which has encouraged a more robust engagement system across different communities and projects all built around one infrastructure. This is the wild, wild West of telegram gaming. This is yet a new dawning in the possibilities of crypto but it is new and it is bringing people in droves who it seems may not need to delve into the technicals of blockchain technology. But is this truly so? Have we arrived at a point in blockchain technology use where noobs can adequately maneuver without risk of losing their tokens to bad actors or out of poor information?
I for one do not think so. During the past Notcoin craze, after the tapping came the claiming process and it was in this place people found confusion lurking. Many did not know what a wallet is. Many did not know how to swap their Notcoin allocation to Usdt. Many did not have an exchange account to move their Notcoin allocation to or have an idea of how to open one. Many did not know how to convert the usdt gotten from their Notcoin swap to fiat.
After all, they come to make money not to build. They are taking the money out of crypto to put into their offline businesses or debts or feeding problems. They are not holding for bullrun or whatever supposed contribution the project intends to add to the blockchain space.
It is true that there are communities on Whatsapp, on telegram, on X even where noobs are led by hand through the intricacies of transacting with crypto but you see, Notcoin and its many copies have moved too fast. There are so many people who are tapping away outside any community help. I see them everywhere I go; in buses, in church, in shops and even the persons introducing them to it, do not know what they are talking about.
The more people begin to comprehend the advantages of blockchain technology, the more we will have people streaming in to be a part of it but can we move away from the get rich quick trick? It has not radically increased the numbers over the years. People come, take a portion of the pot and leave. What are the different projects creating? Are they long lasting utilities that can effectively change the human experience for better? Are these tools designed to help make our lives better aside from lining our pockets with so much money, our governments feel threatened?
It all comes back to education. The mind is the tool with which we navigate ourselves and this world we have found ourselves in. An educated mind will do more, contribute more. Onboarding needs to also be associated with a clearcut intent to bridge the knowledge gap that exists for newbies coming into the blockchain space. Because at the end, it is not onboarding that may be the issue here but rather retention. What will make the onboarded stay?
This is not to deny the simplicity and brilliance of using gaming on a mainstream social media platform like telegram to generate interest in blockchain technology. It is quite effective as can be seen from the large number of new entrants into the space and this entry is in spite of government attempts at criminalizing blockchain related activities in my part of the world.
In these times of global food and water shortages, wars based on the ideology of money, race, religion and country, depletion of the Earth's vast resources, climate change, it is vital that blockchain technology in as much as it is lining our pockets with gold, is also at the forefront of the change we all pray for. Innovation means nothing if it is not positively affecting our way of life.
I believe blockchain technology has the capabilities to be a definitive instrument in how this civilization either thrives or fails. I believe the tools created out of this technology will play a vital role in how peace is fought for, how corruption is flushed out of governments, how money is viewed and how the earth can be saved. We just need to show a better version of the technology to people. A version that is not only financial in its make up but also humanistic. Do you understand me?
I sincerely hope those who come into the rare air of crypto finance in all its myriad forms stay for the technology, for the new knowledge, for a philosophy that borders around people based solutions, democracy and independence. I sincerely hope there are developers and investors who see beyond the numbers and are able to marry financial considerations which encourage tested and trusted but stagnant solutions to more innovative ways of solving human problems. I hope it happens while I am still breathing here. I hope.