How do you explain one thing to three audiences without losing two of them?
One product, three audiences, four formats. The design decisions that let a reader enter at their own level instead of being talked over or talked down to.
Series
WTF is BTCFi
Context
BOB ecosystem, alongside moderation
Role
Content strategist and creator, self-initiated
Timeframe
2024 – 2025
The design problem
Every explainer faces the same trap: the reader who needs it most is the reader least able to tell you what they are missing.
Bitcoin holders arriving at BOB were not asking bad questions. They were asking questions from a mental model where Bitcoin sits still. Answer inside that model and you are condescending. Answer outside it and you are incomprehensible. Most technical content picks one and loses half the room.
This case study is about the structure I used to avoid picking.
Three tiers, not one audience
I sorted every piece into one of three tiers, and the tier decided everything downstream: length, format, how much prior knowledge it could assume, and what it was allowed to leave unexplained.
Beginner
What is BOB? · Why use Bitcoin on DeFi? · WTF is BTCFi. Assumes nothing. Answers the question underneath the question, which is usually “is this safe, and is it for me?”
Advanced
How BOB Gateway works · Gateway V4 walkthrough · Lending and Borrowing. Assumes you have decided to try it and now need to not lose money. Step by step, screen by screen.
Category-level
BTC Restaking is here · Wrapped BTC vs Real BTC · What No One's Saying About BTCFi. Assumes competence and argues a position. These were not for onboarding. They were for credibility with people who already understood BTCFi and were deciding whether I was worth reading.
Format as a decision, not a default
Each format had a job, and topics were assigned to formats deliberately.
| Format | Job | Example |
|---|---|---|
| X thread | Reach people already in the ecosystem, in-feed | Why BOB Matters in BTCFi |
| Substack | Full argument and full context, for people who chose to read | Bitcoin vs Ethereum DeFi |
| Short video | One idea, visual, for scrollers | BTC Restaking is here |
| Long video | Follow-along setup, for first-time users | BOB Gateway V4 walkthrough |
Text is fine for understanding. It is insufficient for a first transaction, where the fear is not conceptual. It is “did I click the right thing?”
Some topics ran across several formats on purpose. Wrapped BTC vs Real BTC exists as both a short video and a thread, because it is the question people ask twice: once when curious, and again when they are about to bridge.
The judgement call
The defining decision was refusing to simplify.
“Making your BTC do more than just sit there” is not a dumbed-down version of restaking. It is an accurate description that starts from what the reader already believes about Bitcoin, that it sits still, and moves exactly one step from there.
Clarity bought with accuracy is not clarity. It is a support ticket with a delay on it.
Results
Instead of answering the same question by hand, I had something to point at. A self-initiated project that stays in your head is a side project. One that becomes the place you send people is infrastructure.
What this work taught me
Content strategy is mostly the decisions made before writing: who this is for, what they already believe, what format the situation demands, and what the piece is allowed to assume. The writing is the easy part.
And a content ladder beats a great single explainer, every time. One perfect piece serves one reader. A structure serves everyone who arrives, at whatever point they arrive.