Bit.study
While his official job title may be Software Engineer, Sida Wang also sees himself as an educator. He has long been a proponent of cryptocurrency and has used his talent to spread the word of its benefits. When he saw a lack of understanding about cryptocurrency in his homeland of China, he decided to create Bit.Study to inform his fellow citizens. Because people in China have a well-built mobile payment system and the national currency is very stable, they were unaware of cryptocurrency's potential to benefit humankind. Wang started a WeChat public account called crypto.talk in April 2017 and began writing articles to educate audiences. This soon developed into Bit.Study, a series of articles and videos created to explain and inform Chinese citizens about Bitcoin and how to use it. The topics ranged from the history of Bitcoin to videos of Wang’s international travel using Bitcoin to illustrate real world applications. Bit.Study is recognized as a primary force in increasing awareness and interest in this cutting edge means of commerce.
For those unfamiliar, Bitcoin is a form of electronic cash that operates peer to peer (decentralized without the need for a bank). Bitcoins are created as a reward for a process known as mining. They can be exchanged for other currencies, products, and services. The University of Cambridge estimates that in 2017, there were 2.9 to 5.8 million unique users using a cryptocurrency wallet, most of which were Bitcoin. In 2017 prices started at $998 and rose to $13,412.44 on January 1, 2018. While cryptocurrencies are still establishing their stabilization, it’s evident that they are becoming readily embraced. Sida created Bit.Study to confront many of the potential misunderstandings of blockchain applications.
Bit.Study’s story is in line with contemporary promotion as the initial offerings received only moderate attention. It wasn’t until WeChat Influencer Zheng Cao took an interest in Bit.Study that it gained the mass acceptance Wang had hoped for. Sida confirms, “The content was great but I’d describe the reception as tepid at best. Zheng was on a trip in Europe where SIda learned about his trip. Sida has been a longtime reader of Zheng’s and decided to travel to Europe to see him. There’s a reason that influencers get all of that attention. Zheng writes a lot about tech. People value his thoughts and opinions. With him on my side, I knew that Bit.Study would gain a lot of attention…the right kind of attention, people who were going to lead others to the information.”
With the desire to create the most easily digestible content and display the ease of Bitcoin’s use, Sida flew from China to Japan to make purchases with this cryptocurrency for Bit.Study. This developed into a free five-part online series which display the use of Bitcoin. Sida notes that he still gets approached by those to this day who cite this series on Bit.Study as their introduction to truly understanding Bitcoin. He comments, “There are a lot of misconceptions about Bitcoin and its relationship with blockchain. Many think bitcoin is just the first application on top of blockchain; in actuality, the word “blockchain” was invented four years after bitcoin came into being. There was literally no mention of ‘blockchain’ or ‘block chain’ in the Bitcoin whitepaper. I really wanted to use Bit.Study as a means to introduce, clear up misconceptions, and educate more people about cryptocurrency/blockchain and why they’re so disruptive.”
Author: Kelly King
