What is BitCham?

BitCham is an international Chamber of Commerce that promotes and facilitates the use of the Bitcoin network for commerce and trade, with a focus on helping small and mid-level merchants, retailers, and family-owned small businesses (including informal ones) increase their trade and profitability through joining the Bitcoin network.

BitCham aims to achieve this by replicating some of the proven best practices which lead to commercial success, which have been implemented by other international Chambers of Commerce which have existed for hundreds of years, and combining them with the best practices of engaging in commercial transactions using the Bitcoin network.

Traditionally, international Chambers of Commerce focus on helping businesses and entrepreneurs from their home nations engage in commerce with businesses from other countries, making it easier for everyone involved from both countries to increase their ability to trade, increase the number of commercial transactions, and attract new customers, which ultimately leads to more commerce being done, and more commercial success for the businesses, traders, and merchants involved.

Such Chambers of Commerce can be found all over the world. Just a few examples include:

AmCham: The American Chamber of Commerce

BritCham: The British Chamber of Commerce

CanCham: The Canadian Chamber of Commerce

DutchCham: The Dutch Chamber of Commerce

EuroCham: The European Chamber of Commerce

We could go on… you get the picture.

But Bitcoin doesn’t have a country

Right. But, it does already facilitate commerce, in every country. It has users in every country. And it can be used to engage in commerce literally anywhere, whether you’re transacting with someone on the other side of the planet, or someone on the other side of a table.

There are two things which Bitcoin doesn’t yet have:

1. Universal Adoption: There are still many people and businesses who do not yet accept Bitcoin as a form of payment for their commerce – some because they’ve never heard about it, some because they don’t know how to do it, and some because they worry they can’t spend it if they accept it – because not enough of the other people they engage in commerce with themselves will accept it as payment from them, even if they accept it themselves.
2. An International Chamber of Commerce (with multiple local chapters): Maybe if we fix this, more people will hear about it, more people will know how to do it, more local circular economies will exist, and therefore maybe in some small way we’ll help to fix the universal adoption issue also.

A reminder of what a good international Chamber of Commerce does:

• Educates and informs its members and others, ultimately to help them all be more successful at commerce
• Facilitates connections between its members, to help them engage in commerce with each other – ultimately helping people and businesses find new clients and business partners
• Promotes commerce generally, promotes best practices, and helps entrepreneurs, businesses, and staff of businesses be more successful and build wealth

A reminder of what a good international Chamber of Commerce does not do:

• It does not push any particular political or economic ideology, agitate for governmental change in any host country, or seek to undermine any local laws or customs
• It does not post memes about the moon/lambos/laser eyes, or deliberately engage in language or behaviour that confuses or repels the people it is trying to promote commerce with
• It does not seek to solve all problems for all people in all places, it just tries to have a positive impact on its main objective – promoting commerce

Who can benefit the most from a fully functioning BitCham, that promotes the expansion of the network AND those participating in it

• Businesses and entrepreneurs who can attract new customers, suppliers, and partners – particularly the un-banked, and those for whom traditional banking facilities and the fees involved (for ATM withdrawals, transfer fees, etc) are unaffordable
• Everyone who seeks to use/spend Bitcoin, at an ever-increasing number of commercial outlets
• Everyone participating in the Bitcoin network, in any way

Why a Chamber of Commerce approach may work well for Bitcoin adoption

For many people engaged in commerce, whether running a large business, a small business, or even selling fruit on the side of the road a hundred kilometers from the nearest town, they are often primarily focused on their business activities (“commerce”) more than anything else, some because they are ambitious and want to build wealth quickly, some to simply just survive another day, and some for reasons in between.

The thing that they all have in common, is that they are all very much focused on engaging in more commerce – it is what they are specifically aiming for. A Bitcoin Chamber of Commerce helps people be more successful at commerce – by bringing them into the Bitcoin network.

The proposition to “native bitcoiners” who want to help expand the network

Leading with a straightforward and easy-to-understand way, to help people who engage in commerce improve their commercial fortunes, will bring more people and businesses into the Bitcoin network – by helping them be advertised to an additional set of potential customers (those who specifically want to spend Bitcoin, and/or those who specifically want to seek out and purchase from those who accept Bitcoin as payment, to help expand the network).

This approach is probably a lot more effective than anything else.

Of course, there is a time and place for talking about the history of money, or economic theory, or governments printing money. But for the majority of people who are not currently engaging in commerce using Bitcoin – the people who you want to bring into the network – it will likely be far more effective to simply talk about how they can increase their commerce, by joining the Bitcoin network.

Why? Because that’s what they are already focused on, and what they already spend a majority of their time and energy doing. It’s already what they want to achieve, and the Bitcoin network can help them do exactly this, without losing or changing what they already do.

Leading with “it will help you do more commerce if you join our Bitcoin Chamber of Commerce, we will help advertise your business, you just need to start accepting Bitcoin lightning network payments to join us, and we’ll show you how” – maybe that might help the vendor improve their commercial fortunes, which right now is their main (and possibly only) objective. It will likely be the quickest and easiest way to expand the Bitcoin network and increase adoption.

The proposition to “non-bitcoiners” who engage in commerce, at any level, including those who already participate in traditional international Chambers of Commerce

The Bitcoin network can be hard to understand at first. And we know it’s not helped by all the hype, memes, laser eyes, negative press by journalists who don’t understand it yet either, and language and terminology which seems so completely different to the professional world of international commerce that you’re used to and enjoy participating in.

But, the Bitcoin network is here, has been continually growing for 15 years now, and it’s here to stay. It’s a treasury reserve asset for some S&P500 companies. It’s traded in ETF’s and futures on major global stock exchanges.

Major international banks have settled international commercial trades in Bitcoin. Numerous multi-billion-dollar companies, including many exchange-listed ones, operate either exclusively or mostly in the bitcoin economy.

And it’s helping the micro-businesses, the un-banked. In emerging and frontier markets, tiny retailers who have no access to banks or ATMs, don’t have enough change to accept payment in a large-denomination banknote, and who couldn’t afford to pay bank fees anyway, are already using the Bitcoin Lightning network to conduct micro-level commerce, at exceptionally low cost, and near-instant settlement.

By learning about the Bitcoin network, and adopting it as an additional form of transacting, you don’t lose anything you already have. You can still carry on doing whatever you currently do, but you’ll also gain the ability to increase your commercial activity – and grow your business.

You will be able to engage in commerce with a growing number of Bitcoin users, lower the costs of doing business, attract new customers, and get additional publicity for your business, on both a local and global scale.

At BitCham, we will help you learn about the Bitcoin network, help you implement this incredible new technology, and help you grow your business, in a way that you understand and are already comfortable with, by implementing the established best practices of other international Chambers of Commerce which have been proven to repeatedly work in almost every country around the world.

Next Steps

Coming soon…