How to Talk to Your Family About Crypto This Thanksgiving
Luke Lango
8 min read
We have a rule at my house. When visiting my wife’s family for the holidays, I can’t bring up politics or the markets. My wife made the rule, so I kind of have to follow it.
But, like the SEC regulators, she hasn’t updated those rules in a few years, so cryptos… well, they’re fair game. And they are exactly what I’m going to be talking about at Thanksgiving dinner this year. I know I won’t be alone.
But while you certainly could talk about crypto this Thanksgiving, should you?
Crypto and NFTs can make enemies of even the best of friends.
There’s a reason “Crypto Twitter” and regular “Twitter” are separate crowds on the same platform — people who aren’t supportive of cryptos generally don’t take well to constantly seeing crypto and NFT chatter in their timelines.
Yes, a lot of folks love crypto. But a lot of folks hate crypto. And a lot of folks have no idea what cryptos are. That is the quintessential setup for a feisty Thanksgiving dinner debate.
I know a lot of you are going to be talking about cryptos tomorrow evening. So, in preparation of those discussions, we’re going to go over a few talking points. But, as with all flame-inducing topics, only carry the topic as far as it should be carried. If things start to get heated, drop the crypto and pick up the turkey.
That said, if someone brings up crypto in some capacity, either out of interest or disgust, you should be prepared to earnestly engage. If they think crypto is a pyramid scheme and fake money, it could be up to you to set the record straight and prevent them from propagating lies throughout their entire social circle.
Or maybe they’re interested in crypto but haven’t talked with anyone “in the know” yet.
In either case, it’s time to roll the dice and see where it lands. If your dinner-table conversation brings you to any of the following scenarios, then rest easy, my friend… we’ve got it covered!
So read on and start memorizing, because these are our best tips for navigating the inevitably tricky family-crypto conversation landscape:
Scenario #1: The Agreeable Convo (The Best Possible Outcome)
This isn’t the case for everyone, but it’s certainly a possibility. But in the off chance you typically agree completely with many of your family members, you can try bringing up crypto completely unprompted.
Or, if your family is inclined to talk about the economy and stocks, you can just let it naturally rise to the surface. After all, no conversation about the economy in 2021 is complete without mentioning cryptos.
This is the best possible option, as it means you can naturally branch off into all sorts of interesting crypto conversations, without malice!
If you get this scenario, it just may be a happy Thanksgiving after all. But, if you have a growing assortment of blacklisted get-together topics in lieu of united worldviews, tread carefully.
Scenario #2: The Metaverse
Metaverse stocks: kid in front of a computer screen playing video games
Source: Shutterstock Source: Shutterstock
Crypto and “the metaverse” are good friends, so the odds are quite high that somebody mentions crypto after a discussion surrounding Facebook’s name change to “Meta,” or perhaps insists that Roblox is not a “true” metaverse.
The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think “metaverse” is the blockbuster film Ready Player One. But pretty much everyone is wrong here.
The metaverse, in a nutshell, comes down to one thing: democratizing power to give opportunity to all, no matter their race, gender, creed, etc.
In the “real world,” Big Tech companies have taken over. Powerful CEOs have amassed enough wealth to purchase small countries. Big governments regularly overstep their bounds to dictate the way people should live their lives. These are the folks who get first dibs on best opportunities in the real world, while the rest of us get the scraps.
The metaverse changes all that. And, specifically, the blockchain-enabled metaverse changes all that.
The blockchain-enabled metaverse allows us to democratize power in the real world by creating a new world with new rules, new players, and new opportunities. For 99.99% of us, the metaverse will improve our real-world lives through the democratization of power and opportunity.
Hopefully, this will be an idea that everyone around the dinner table can agree with.
Scenario #3: The Fight
Arguing around the Thanksgiving dinner table
Source: Shutterstock Source: Shutterstock
Let’s suppose you get into a heated debate here, which your anti-crypto opposition will use as “evidence” that they’re right and you’re wrong.
And then they will forever believe whatever misconceptions they may have regarding crypto — that it’s a pyramid scheme, that only Bitcoin is worth investing in, or that it’s the next “tulip craze.”
When faced with accusations such as these, all you have to do is resort to facts about decentralized blockchain technology.
Early adopters will stand to profit more from Bitcoin and other cryptos, but this is no different than owning stocks before they pop.
Many cryptos — but definitely not all — have legitimate teams behind them working tirelessly to deliver value to token holders and the blockchain ecosystem as a whole.
Unlike stocks, though, anyone and everyone can participate, due to the decentralized, peer-to-peer nature of this beast.
That leads to wild volatility and a lot of scams, but these can easily be avoided if you don’t jump into the deep end and invest in something without researching it — or without trusting that someone else has thoughtfully researched it for you.
As far as the Bitcoin argument goes, most maximalists of a single crypto just haven’t dared step outside of their comfort zone.
Bitcoin is great as a store of value, but there are other solid options too.
Same with Ethereum.
Scenario #4: Let’s Talk NFTs
Oh, NFTs, or non-fungible tokens… this will be fun.
On the one hand, NFTs have their fair share of detractors. These are people who steadfastly believe NFTs are a scam – that they’re taking something of no value and inflating that value to make their sellers and investors rich.
On the other hand, we firmly believe that this digital asset market will be as big as, or even bigger than, the physical asset market. Yeah, it’s a bold claim, but that’s where our argument kicks in: We have multiple precedents for this to happen.
Just look at digital shopping… as soon as digital shopping became as good as the real thing, we all started shopping online. And now the e-commerce industry is on the cusp of becoming bigger than the physical retail market.
Then there’s digital entertainment… as soon as it became as good as physical entertainment, we all started streaming Netflix, HBO Max, Disney+, etc. And now the digital entertainment industry is on the cusp of becoming bigger than the physical entertainment market.
The same goes for digital advertising… It’s better than physical advertising already, and over the next few years, digital ad spends will comprise more than half of total ad budgets.
Are you follow the logic here? As soon as NFTs become as “good” as their physical counterparts, these digital assets will take over.
As far as the investment opportunity, NFTs initially rose to popularity thanks to Ethereum, but there are numerous other solid blockchains worth investing in that are growing in value as quickly, if not quicker than Ethereum.
It’s no different than the stock market. Plenty of legitimate companies exist that will make a lot of people a lot of money in the future.
And sometimes newcomers are the best bet… if they’re legitimate.
And all you can do is put your money where you believe it will fare best and go from there. For that, we turn to our ultra-exclusive investment research advisory dedicated entirely to cryptocurrencies: Crypto Investor Network.
The Final Word
Crypto is still in the early stages. Regulators are racking their brains trying to figure out what to do about it.
Countries all over the world are starting down the path toward mass crypto adoption and then promptly pivoting and banning it. And vice versa. For example, El Salvador gave all its citizens some Bitcoin and is mining the cryptocurrency with volcanos.
This really is “the next internet,” and we should all be thankful we’re here as early as we are. Yeah, most of us missed Bitcoin under $100. Or even under $10,000. But blockchain technology has created opportunities that have never existed before in the same way the internet opened up new streams of creativity and exploration for individuals and businesses globally.
And, no, you’re not too late to the party. Rather, in many respects, you’re early. Now is your opportunity to capitalize – before the crypto market enters another phase of the hype cycle and goes parabolic.
At the end of the day, cryptocurrency is too good to get into emotional arguments about. If crypto is going to succeed for some of us, it needs to succeed for all of us.
On the date of publication, Luke Lango did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article.
