JohnBNevin on Nostr: Assumptions: - These sheets will be handed out to people who range from 'never heard ...

Assumptions:
- These sheets will be handed out to people who range from 'never heard of it' (rarely) to 'don't know much about it' (most common) to 'might buy some today' (somewhat rarely)
- This is a rough draft text only version, and some sort of appealing, eye-catching imagery will be added later
- The aim is to be factual, not prosthelatizing or to take political sides within any Bitcoin debates
- Optimize for simplicitly
- That you want me to tear this thing apart :D

Ideas:
- Is it a purely educational mission? If so, aim toward shareable printable .pdf for wide use, that the widest variety of audience would find useful. House it in a place like BitcoinPrintablePDF.io. Make the shareable links something simple and rememberable like bitcoinprintablepdf.io/mining.pdf. And include fine print that includes that address and explains at the bottom. Sell glossy full color printouts in boxes of 100 for double what you can get them in bulk, to compensate you for your efforts.
- Is is an educational mission with the side-effect of creating a new (educated) potential customer for a product? If so, complete the infrastructure of your sales landing prior to finalizing the text, which may have ways to tie in what you are trying to sell. For instance, 'That's why we've listed bitcoin mining hardware at mybiz.biz/mining-hardware'

BITCOIN MINING

"Bitcoin mining is a global competition where miners use powerful computers to solve complex puzzles approximately every 10 minutes."

Coming from zero, we're picturing guys with helmets with lights on their heads competing for some kind of medal, with jigsaw puzzles, in a hurry. Either the first Bitcoin sheet should explain the necessary prerequisite information (and this explanation won't be necessary here), or a rearrangement / rewrite is in order (or both).

"The miner who solves the puzzle can add a block to the blockchain and is rewarded with Bitcoin."

Still a jigsaw puzzle, but now there are blocks and chains involved. You'll soon explain - but still the reader juggles too many unknowns. Need to introduce novel terms one at a time. Side note: I think 'puzzle' is patronizing for anyone but young children. 4th graders understand mathematical functions to some degree.

"What's in a Block:
• A list of recent Bitcoin transactions.
• A special number (nonce) that miners find to solve the puzzle.
• A hash, which is like a unique digital fingerprint of the previous block. It links all blocks together, creating a secure chain."

This part just doesn't describe bitcoin very well. Rewrite needed IMO, unless other sheets, or other parts of this sheet, explain the same thing better, in which case it can be removed.

"Transaction Fees: Imagine sending a package via a delivery service. You pack your item (Bitcoin), address it to the recipient, and pay a fee for the delivery based on how fast you want it there (transaction fee). This fee compensates the delivery team (miners) for their work in processing and securing your package's journey (transaction) on the network, ensuring it reaches the recipient safely and is recorded in the delivery log (blockchain)."

This is very good. I would leave out the (parenthesis) and use the followup paragraph to explain how it's similar to Bitcoin:

Imagine having a package delivered. Pack your item, address it, and choose how much you are willing to pay, based on how fast you want it to get there. A Bitcoin transaction is similar. You pay a fee to have your bitcoin secured and sent to your recipient, and you have a tracking number when it's done.

In Bitcoin, your delivery service is not just one or a few companies, but a decentralized network of 'miners.' These are people with computers that are running the software underneath Bitcoin. They work as delivery drivers, and get paid when your transaction goes through securely, successfully, and is recorded on the ledger - called the 'blockchain.'

"Mining Rewards and Halving:
The reward for mining a block is currently 6.25 Bitcoin. However, this reward is set to be halved to 3.125 Bitcoin in April 2024. Starting at 50 Bitcoin in 2012, Bitcoin block rewards have been cut in half every four years."

This information does not follow from the previously presented information, and in my opinion is outside the scope of what I assume the goal of this sheet to be. Explaining the block and the rewards is good, but the numbers just make it possible for this sheet to become outdated. Similarly:

"To date, 93.40% (19,614,475) of the total 21,000,000 Bitcoins that will ever exist have been mined. The "halving process will continue until around 2140, at which point Bitcoin mining will be sustained solely by transaction fees."

Side note, if used, I would say ' around 20 Million of the total 21 Million that will ever exist have already been mined.' A subtle way to remove complication, and a bit more future proof.

"Difficulty Adjustment:
The network automatically adjusts the puzzle's difficulty every two weeks to ensure that new blocks are added approximately every 10 minutes. If more miners join and blocks are solved in less than 10 minutes, the puzzles become harder, aiming to keep block times as close to 10 minutes as possible."

This would be a good place for a graph that shows how difficulty adjusts. There's probably a great one out there. already made.

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I would recommend ChatGPT and finding existing explanations that are already written. I'm not advocating back to the drawing board entirely, but I do see a different angle as potentially being more effective. Before attempting to rewrite this sheet, I would search 'bitcoin flyer' 'bitcoin infographic' 'how bitcoin works' + explainer, and combinations thereof. I would check the main bitcoin websites that have been around a long time to see how they do it. Just about all of them will have a 'what is bitcoin' section.

I like the idea and I think it could be useful in many applications and am curious to hear back more about what your goals are. I hope I didn't tear it up too much, putting on the editor hat here :D