I'm about one month removed from Hoshocon, a crypto and cybersecurity conference that was held for the first time here in Las Vegas. This conference gathered business leaders, advocates, and celebrities all connected to the crypto lifestyle in some form or another. These people worked in the industry as blockchain developers, investors, cybersecurity experts and pen-testers, or even crypto-celebs who live the cryptocoin lifestyle and regularly appear on podcasts and twitter to advocate for giving up fiat entirely.
If you were at the conference you were surrounded by a large swath of people from different backgrounds. People in suits, people in JNCO jeans and everything in between. The keynote speech was delivered by Andreas Antonopoulos, while one of the speakers on the day-one panel was @sabotagebeats AKA "Dogecoin Millionaire" (who showed up for the panel in his swimtrunks and sunglasses) and we listened to both like the experts they are.
*possibly photoshopped picture of @sabotagebeats.
That is one of the great things about crypto...there is a lot of excitement in the space and we can set aside our baggage and our differences and bond over this thing we are passionate about. I ran into sabotagebeats on the casino floor and got to chat for a few minutes, and I learned quite a lot from him. In fact, he inspired this post.
sabotagebeats handles a variety of coins, not just dogecoin. And he practices what he preaches. He is very active in the crypto-twitter community. He pays for his goods and services in crypto. And he is all-in on the lifestyle. I've been a crypto-investor since 2017 and embrace crypto as a great option to fiat (but still too clunky for me to be a full-fledged replacement). Make no mistake I believe that digital currency is the future. Whether you believe in a decentralized solution like bitcoin or some government-mandated centralized token it makes no sense for governments to spend money printing paper and minting metals when balances can be managed entirely in bits. But all good revolutions must start somewhere...so how can someone go all-in on crypto today?
(editor's note: I am not going to get into the particulars of what coins are best. Each coin has different architecture, different transaction fees and different adoption around the world. So when I talk about "crypto" I am referring to the coin or coins you have chosen to use, for whatever reasons you have chosen them)
In order to live the crypto-lifestyle one needs a supply of crypto. If you are a bitcoin billionaire who was fortunate enough to have accumulated during the early years, you can probably just skip ahead. For the rest of us, we have to work for our money. Here we have two options:
Work for an employer that will pay you in crypto to your wallet. A lot of large companies lack the infrastructure to do this, or are simply too worried about running afoul of existing regulations. But smaller companies and freelance opportunities are more likely to fill this void. Ethlance allows freelancers to bid on jobs that pay in Ethereum, and there are similar job boards out there.
Keep your day job and get that fiat exchanged into crypto. Bitwage is a fairly popular option that accepts your direct deposit as an intermediary and converts it to bitcoin, which it then sends to your wallet. They do charge for services, but it is one way to skip your traditional bank completely. Or you can opt to just have a percentage sent to them until you feel comfortable enough to have them converting your entire paycheck. A lot of exchanges allow for bank transfers as well. So for example, in the US you can send your bank balance manually to your Coinbase account and then do the conversion to crypto on their exchange. Not every country allows this option though, and not every country works with Bitwage either, as of this post. And keep in mind that leaving your money on an exchange is not wise and transferring to a wallet could result in more transaction fees as you add more steps.
So now you have a steady supply of crypto. How can you put it to use?
Now its time to think about all the places and times when you use money. The obvious examples are also the easiest ones to address. I'm talking about your morning cup of coffee, or lunch with friends, or shopping at the mall. Firstly, there are stores that will accept your crypto directly. You can scan a QR code provided by the merchant and directly transfer your crypto to them. Voila! Done, and you get your coffee.
What about merchants who do not accept crypto? Well, they likely do accept credit cards, and getting your crypto onto a credit card is very easy. Coinbase users in the US can use Shift to create a bitcoin debit card that connects to your account and is accepted wherever Visa is accepted. BitPay works with your Coinbase account as well, is accepted in all 50 states and is supposedly easier to use when it comes to tax-season and accounting for capital gains (capital gains is when you buy crypto and the value goes up...or so the rumor goes). But BitPay has gotten some criticism for the fees they charge. In Europe, similar debit card services are offered by Xapo and Bitwala.
Keep in mind that a large chunk of the world still operates in the local fiat. Coin ATM Radar can help get you cash when you need it. I used it today and found out there are FOUR Litecoin ATMs on my side of town!
What about those bills? Some utility companies will allow billpay via crypto. If you live in Australia you can use Gobbill to set up a bitcoin automatic billpay via a partnership with Cointree. In fact, Australians have quite a few options for using crypto to pay bills. Europeans can use Bitwala as it functions similar to a traditional bank. In Canada, Bylls advertises itself as a "banking as a service" platform and handles the exchange of a user's bitcoin to fiat that a utility can accept. In the US, Welto was available for use but has recently suspended service. Options in the US include Coinsfer and CoinBills (warning: "not secure" website )but they do charge fees for use. Those fees may or may not include the typical crypto transaction fees. So please do your research.
One of the benefits of cryptocurrency is its use in microtransactions or even nanotransactions. You can tip people in small amounts with practically no effort. Social platforms like Twitter and Reddit offer tipping bots in several different flavors of crypto. So for those times when you want to just send a little something to someone in appreciation of a good post, check out options like NanoTipBot on Twitter or TipJarBot on Reddit. Other services are out there.
What about bigger endeavors, like getting a loan in bitcoin? Finder published an article giving a few options. Bitcoin loans are essentially peer-to-peer lending services in bitcoin as opposed to fiat. And because they are separate from government institutions they are also separated from the cons (excessive regulation, high interest rates) as well as the pros (legal protections, stable exchange rates).
In his keynote, Andreas Antonopoulos said something that resonates with me and will hopefully resonate with you all. He said that crypto is not designed to replace our current fiat with a new type of money. It is designed to replace the very idea of currency. It has the potential to replace what we think of today as "currency" - which has become more about transferring debts and liability - and replacing it with a system that transfers an actual asset in exchange for goods and services.
This is a beginner's reference written by a beginner. So please take everything with a grain of salt. The best use of this post is a jumping off point for you to do your own research and really think about the nature of money in your life, and the nature of money itself in the modern world. If you want to give up fiat entirely there are some great community resources out there too. Check out the crypto forums on Reddit. And the crypto-twitter community is strong and has lots of great advice. Their appearance at Hoshocon directly led to me researching other ways that people can use crypto to replace their traditional monetary needs.
Find ways to incorporate crypto into your life little by little, starting with best practices for securing your funds. Security of your money is the most important thing you take for granted in the fiat world. In the crypto world, you are your own bank and its up to you whether your vaults are made of steel or mesh.