How to give Bitcoin as a gift
Several times a year, we all ask ourselves the question: “What could I give as a gift?” Whether you're a newbie or an experienced Bitcoin user, giving Bitcoin as a gift is always a good idea! In the following article, we highlight the best practices for giving Bitcoin as a gift and provide valuable tips on how to best support the recipient on their journey into the Bitcoin rabbit hole.
First of all, you should differentiate whether the recipient is a bitcoiner or a no-coiner:
1. Give away Bitcoin to Bitcoiners
If you want to give Bitcoin to people with an existing self-custody architecture (open source hardware wallet and steel backup), the task is quite simple: the recipient simply receives the entire amount of Satoshis on the wallet. If the wallet address is unknown or the gift is to be presented as a surprise, you could create a new wallet and give the recovery seed as a gift.
I once did this as a greeting card. The seed words were highlighted in red and I wrote a poem (in blue) around them. The result was amusingly funny and was well received.
In this case, you should be sure that the recipient will transfer the Bitcoin to their own wallet promptly. In addition (depending on how much is gifted) “UTXO management” should not be a foreign concept for them.
2. Give away Bitcoin to Newbies
If you want to give the recipient a sustainable understanding of Bitcoin, you should try to cover or at least touch on the following areas:
- Knowledge 📚
- Self-Custody 🔐
📚 Wissen
A good book that is tailored to the recipient's interests can make it easier to get started. My first port of call here is aprycotmedia. Alternatively, you can send an email with a carefully curated list of resources (YouTube videos, podcasts, blog articles). This helps to avoid overwhelm and focus on relevant information.
🔐Self Custody
Nothing would be worse than giving a newbie Bitcoin as a gift that they lose again immediately (or at a later date). That's why you should introduce the recipient to the topic of self-custody right from the start, ideally with a combination of hardware wallet and steel backup.
Of course, we are not entirely unbiased here, but we have always received good feedback when giving our Safes as gifts.
Due to the value and weight of the capsule, older generations and newbies in particular place a little more trust in Bitcoin than in a piece of paper. In our experience, this is particularly important when people lack the technical background to understand Bitcoin.
The next step: hardware wallet
If the recipient wants to transfer the Bitcoin, they would then (ideally) need a hardware wallet in the next step. Here I would choose an open source variant (e.g. the BitBox02 ). If the budget is big enough, you could go straight for the Bundle of hardware wallet and steel backup.
If not, it would then be up to the recipient to buy a hardware wallet as a second step (after they have familiarized themselves with the matter or Bitcoin has risen so much that it suddenly becomes interesting for them😁).
Now all that's missing is the Bitcoin
How many sats you give depends on your personal budget, of course. Personally, however, I think it's more important to focus on knowledge 📚 and self-custody 🔐. Why is that?If you manage to get the recipient excited about Bitcoin and lead them to the Rabbit Holes, a simple savings plan on your own will quickly outperform a one-off Bitcoin gift in many cases.
One basic requirement is and remains: secure self-custody.
“Should you keep a copy of the seed?” Everyone has to decide for themselves. However, if the topics of “knowledge” and “self-custody” are well covered, the recipient could certainly be released into personal responsibility.
