Simple Marketing for Complex Crypto Products

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One of the most unique things about participating in the crypto industry is that it’s almost completely digital. When I was getting into Bitcoin in 2013 I remember feeling that, although it was fun digging into the online community, there was nothing physical connecting me to the technology. It felt like a gap in the experience.

To be honest, the reason I bought my first Ledger hardware wallet was just to have something tangible connecting me to my digital assets. And I’ve met a number of other people who did the same thing. But when we all went to first up our first hardware wallet, the process was fairly cumbersome and confusing.

The problem with emerging technology is that it tends to be complicated, and that’s very much the case with anything related to blockchain tech. Especially hardware.

I’d like to use today’s newsletter to recognize the efforts one company has made in making operating a bitcoin node as easy as setting up an internet router.

But wait, what is a node?

A bitcoin node is a device that helps validate transactions and blocks on the blockchain. For node owners, it also gives you the ability to independently verify your own transactions without having to trust a third party, like an exchange.

What’s the point of running a node? Well, other than the above, not much. But it does provide a way for you to monitor the backbone of the Bitcoin ecosystem, fulfilling the “don’t trust, verify” philosophy.

Enter Umbrel, a company providing a simple software and user experience for managing a Bitcoin node. Umbrel’s brand focuses on the ethos of simplicity. Setting up a node yourself is not for the non-technical, but Umbrel created a roadmap for ordering, building, installing, and running bitcoin node software in about 30 minutes.

It’s pretty remarkable.

Looking at Umbrel through a marketing lens, there are a few categories the founders knocked out of the park. One of the hardest things about working in crypto is crafting a value proposition that anyone can understand. The luxury that Umbrel has is that their addressable audience are people who already know what a node is, but aren’t technical enough to do it themselves.

“running a node is for everyone.”

“become bitcoin.”

“‘don't trust, verify’ on steroids.”

“one-click, self-sovereignty.”

The Umbrel team has done a remarkable job simplifying their messaging to capture that audience, and the community has rallied behind it.

Another strength of the Umbrel team is how they’ve harnessed Twitter as a primary growth engine. The strategy is simple: when someone says something nice about you, amplify it. And it works.

The @getumbrel feed is made up almost entirely members of the community talking about operating an Umbrel node, with a healthy mix of bitcoin memes sprinkled in.

The beauty of the Umbrel experience is that it makes you feel closer to what’s otherwise a pretty technical and unapproachable side of the industry. You buy seven pretty cheap items off of Amazon, you plug them into each other, you install some software, and then you wait as your new node syncs. That’s pretty much it.

Your Umbrel home screen provides you with an overview of your device:

1. You can monitor your wallet transactions and balance

2. You can watch as new blocks are mined and verified on the bitcoin blockchain

3. You can confirm that the connection to your node is secured by the Tor network

4. And, the coolest of all, you can interact with the Umbrel “app” store

So far the available apps on Umbrel include things like block explorers, wallet servers, Lightning node management tools, and even Sphinx Relay, a chat app that runs over the Lightning Network. Pretty cool.

Interacting with the Lightning Network, which is a developing layer 2 scaling solution for Bitcoin, is a learning curve for most bitcoiners. But Umbrel has created a way that even idiots like me can open a channel.

Do I know exactly what that means? Kinda. Can I do it without much effort? With this, yes I can.

Pretty cool.

I think it’s important to celebrate companies building tools and services in our industry that excel in removing the frictions associated with the emerging technology like this. Umbrel is the only company in our industry that I can think of that has figured out how to both simplify a complicated product and help the average bitcoiner contribute to the bitcoin network at the same time.

There are a lot of growing companies in our space working on fixing similar problems. Who else do you think deserves this recognition? Reply here and I might write them up in a future newsletter.

Who’s Hiring Marketers in Crypto?

• Brand Marketing Manager @ eToro US [APPLY]

• Acquisition Marketing Manager @ eToro US [APPLY]

• Director, Digital Asset Product Development @ Mastercard [APPLY]

• Business Development Representative @ Staked [APPLY]

• Growth Marketing Intern @ Lolli [APPLY]

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