↣ Onboarding people to crypto is almost never an easy task...
↣ Hive is a very peculiar blockchain, with "free" transactions but a more complex wallet creation process
↣ Free transactions and a native USD stablecoin make for a great network for payments, a great fit in the promising "PayFi" narrative
But what should we teach Hive newcomers to enable the use of Hive for payments and savings, and decrease the chances of losses due to security mishaps? And how can we do that in a more efficient way?
What does a Hive White Belt need to learn?
As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm offering weekly "classes" on a voluntary basis, including talks and practical trainings, covering financial education in general and the use of the Hive blockchain for payments and savings in particular.
In this post, I want to share some of the experience and insights I gained from onboarding people to Hive since 2023 (even before I created the Hive account I'm using to post this).
Specifically, I developed a two-meeting system to teach in a practical way the very basics about the use of Hive for payments and savings. I think this knowledge can be useful to a lot of people, when trying to onboard new people to Hive.
I actually started preparing this post several weeks ago, but kept postponing to keep updating and refining the course structure. It was with satisfaction that I saw 
And now, without further ado, let's get to it!
1. Structure of the course:
In order to cover the contents required for the newcomers to master the Hive "White Belt" (as what I'm calling the teaching of the very basics on Hive for payments and savings), I'm proposing two meetings, each with 2.5 hours. It's imperative that "students" be present in both meetings.
In terms of premises, pretty much anywhere people can sit around a table or similar is good enough.
Internet access is required, obviously, but these days pretty much everyone has internet on their phones, so this shouldn't be an issue in most cases.
2. Required equipment & materials:
In my experience, the vast majority of people are more comfortable with using a mobile than a computer. Furthermore, a sizeable proportion of people don't use computers regularly / at all. So, in this context, anything requiring a computer is most likely bound to fail. Mobile it is then.
Luckily this is not a problem, for we can do pretty much everything related to payments and savings on Hive using a mobile device.
Other than a mobile with internet access, I ask participants to bring paper and pencil (we'll see why later).
So as you can see, material requirements for this training are very modest and shouldn't be a problem in the vast majority of cases.
This is severely outdated. Granny only uses mobile these days
3. Profile of participants:
"Mapping" the profile of the people you're trying to help / teach is absolutely critical to increase your chances of success.
In my experience, most participants are completely new to crypto, and as a rule oblivious to cybersecurity and cyber-privacy (up to before the course). So really, a lot to do on all those fronts.
Also, the vast majority had no / very limited understanding of how the fiat monetary system and the fractional reserve banking system work (we can thank schools, universities and the mainstream media for this no small feat!)
As a side note: I believe this lack of knowledge applies to the majority of the population in most (all?) countries worldwide. So this aspect is relevant globally.
In regards to interests and motivations, in my experience most people get very much interested when they are explained what Hive has to offer in terms of payments and [HBD] savings. This, and not Hive's social perks, is what interests most people (again, in my experience). I reckon this same interest profile most likely applies to the majority of the people in all countries.
Another aspect we absolutely need to highlight here is English proficiency. All Hive UIs (apps, websites) are available in English only, or in a few languages that (to the best of my knowledge) do not include Portuguese. This is no small problem for a majority of participants in a country like Brazil, where English proficiency is very limited. Even despite the fact that people participating my trainings had in general much higher education level than the average in Brazil. Even then, English is a serious obstacle.
English proficiency varies wildly among different countries. Still, I'd argue that adding localisation to the Hive UIs would be beneficial, especially for widely-spoken languages like Spanish, French and Portuguese.
What about age? One could perhaps think younger people would be more interested in new technologies such as blockchain. I don't know if this is the same everywhere, but from my experience younger people (let's say, under 30) are in general less interested in content such as what I'm offering (despite being offered it for free!).
In fact, my experience as a university professor has taught me that most university students these days are not only ignorant about the blockchain tech, but also hold strong prejudice against it, and some are even hostile towards the mere mention of it.
I think this rather unexpected trend could perhaps be attributed to a general lack of financial education and experience among younger people (even more profound than among those that at least have some work experience and already pay their own bills). But this is really just a hypothesis from my part.
I'd venture to say The Kids Aren't exactly Alright
4. Why this course?
Why spend time and effort to offer this course? Why teach others how to use Hive for payments and savings?
Why should someone sacrifice leisure time on a Saturday afternoon (or any other time for the matter) to learn some outlandish stuff which just sounds like too good to be true (thus likely a scam)?
It should be stated, the importance of this type of knowledge is NOT obvious to the average person. Those of us crypto savvy tend to think a lot of things are obvious or evident, but the reality is, this is simply not true. Most people are painfully oblivious to the blockchain technology, the fiat standard, fractional reserve banking, deficit spending, etc. etc.
You have to bear that in mind when planning the course, and when doing the actual teaching.
So let's get to the point, why do all that?
1 ↣ Hive can be a lifesaver in the case of fully implemented CBDCs
I don't I need to enlighten you my dear reader about the dangers of the Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs). Most countries (or more specifically, their central banks) are working to develop a CBDC to call their own, so chances are most people reading this are in some risk of living under a CBDC system somewhere in the future. To call this future dystopic is an understatement.
It is my opinion that acquiring practical knowledge to enable the use of a sufficiently decentralised blockchain with satisfactory security can make a critical difference (for the better) to the future of individuals and families. Especially more so in countries with more fragile financial / monetary systems and with higher legal uncertainties. And especially more so in a CBDC environment.
2 ↣ Easy access to USD (plus: with a high-earning savings) is a gamechanger for people living in poorer countries
The US dollar might be losing value each year, but it is still the world reserve currency and it keeps its value much better than most (all?) other fiat currencies. Hence the high demand for USD in poorer countries in general. In many countries, the USD is the de-facto currency, because the local fiat currency either collapsed completely, or it's just so sketchy no one takes it seriously, especially for savings.
However, access to USD is not easy everywhere. In many countries, you have to pay a considerable premium to get your hands on USD, which further constraints the ability of regular people to protect their (in general already meagre) wealth.
In this sense, I think access to HBD, especially in the context of the Hive savings, which is earning 15% APR as I write this, can really be a game-changer to A LOT of people worldwide.
Does that buy a loaf of bread?
3 ↣ Funds on Hive can be accessed anywhere, and can't be frozen or confiscated
This is clear and self-explanatory enough I think, it doesn't warrant further words.
4 ↣ HIVE and HBD can be an interesting investment diversification
This here is a very interesting aspect people tend to overlook. Most people are heavy into "treasury"-like papers (i.e. debt) and real state. Sometimes stocks. But having a percentage of their portfolio in HIVE and HBD can provide a potentially very beneficial diversification. Especially if the person navigates adequately (i.e. no big, costly mistakes) the market cycles.
This diversification and possibility of profit in the medium to long run further add to the already considerable benefits discussed above.
5 ↣ Open way for learning Hive's other features and functionalities
In my early iterations of this "course" I included the use of Hive's social features. Which I eventually came to conclude is detrimental, because time and attention span (an patience, etc.) are so limited, and most people are simply not interested (at least in the beginning). Thus the Hive "White Belt" course focusing on payments and savings, and the social aspects of Hive starting to be dealt with in the "Yellow Belt" instead.
Despite this, it's undeniable that introducing more people to Hive's powerful features for payments and savings opens the way for at least some of those people wanting to learn more and eventually learning Hive's social features.
So that's it for now, this post's already gotten long enough. In my next two posts I will detail the contents to be taught in each of the two meetings that comprise the Hive "White Belt" course, including specifics like applications and procedures. Stay tuned!
