6 ms·

How can I pay my bills with bitcoin while being debanked?

by zb3 3y ago

krupan 3y ago
Lots of discussion in the comments here about how ingrained banks are into our current system. I do honestly see Bitcoin as a way out of that, but at this early stage of it, you'd probably have to get help from someone who is not debanked in order to interact with our heavily banked system. If you are honestly interested in this, take a close look at Strike.
- 2-718-281-828 3y ago
  BTC or BCH?
  - krupan 3y ago
    BTC. BCH was a failed attempt at improving Bitcoin
  - BLKNSLVR 3y ago
    I mostly agree with krupan's answer below, but it depends on use-case. BTC for investment or long-term store of value. BCH, or various other alternatives (Litecoin, XRP, Stellar, cough Nano cough), for making payments. But if you can use the Lightning network, then BTC works for payments as well (arguably - in this space anything and everything is highly arguable). If you're seriously looking down the track at using cryptocurrency, spend some time playing with small amounts of it to see how it all works. Different coins have different use-cases, and it's very confusing to come from zero knowledge. Also transferring and converting between different coin types can kill you in fees, so keep an eye on that as well. And in doing your research don't believe what anyone says about anything, especially youtube folks. Find the most likely narratives amongst the jungle of snakes and traps, based on your own experience at detecting bullshit and applying logic.
    - krupan 3y ago
      I'm sorry, but playing with anything other than BTC Bitcoin and lightning is just going to waste your time and resources. I'm sorry, but the last 15 years has taught us that again and again. Definitely do your own research, start with small amounts, but be very, very careful especially with anything not BTC.
      - BLKNSLVR 3y ago
        Comment feels like a great example of a bitcoin-maxi. An important data point, worth paying strong heed to, but also worth understanding the reasons behind bitcoin-maxi perspectives in order to see where you fit along the scale. Bitcoin itself has the longest, most proven history. It's the safest house in the least safe neighbourhood. It's also the best performing asset of it's lifetime so far (something like that anyway). It's use-case has changed since it was created, and there are additional use-cases to which other cryptocurrencies cater, smart contracts being the primary example (which then facilitate a whole other ecosystem of products, of arguable value and utility to humanity). I'm around 50% bitcoin-maxi, to expose my illogical stance :) I also have barely a little toe dipped into that particular asset pool, so my opinion isn't necessarily fully formed or well founded.
- hanniabu 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - krupan 3y ago
    I was answering the question about how to interact with non-bitcoin users today. That requires trusting some third party. Strike is a good one for making Venmo like payments. The best exchange right now that I have found is Swan. If you know of better ones please chime in
  - Quindecillion 3y ago
    You obviously don't spend much time in, or interacting with, the Bitcoin community.
- Ridj48dhsnsh 3y ago
  > take a close look at Strike. Could you clarify what you find interesting about it? I skimmed their website and looks like just a lightning wallet. Am I missing some key feature that helps one interact with fiat systems?
  - krupan 3y ago
    It is a lightning wallet, a Bitcoin wallet, an exchange, and a venmo like payment app.
x-complexity 3y ago
> How can I pay my bills with bitcoin while being debanked? Acting as an alternative to krupan's Bitcoin-centric answer: - There are other crypto rails other than Bitcoin that could be used in its place. USDC & stablecoins in general is going to be the medium-term winners in this space, as more services are set up to help people pay their bills with stablecoins. Here are 2 services that I've found within a few minutes of searching "USDC pay bill": https://www.spritz.finance/blog/pay-bills-crypto https://www.spritz.finance/blog/pay-bills-crypto https://bitpay.com/bill-pay/ https://bitpay.com/bill-pay/ - As for transaction costs, L2s are already being deployed, and their fees will only be further reduced as improvements to the L2 networks are made. https://l2fees.info/ https://l2fees.info/
- Tao3300 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - catlover76 3y ago
    huh?
    - Tao3300 3y ago
      As a rule of thumb, people calling crypto a "space" are trying to hustle you.
      - TheCapeGreek 3y ago
        huh? I'm no crypto fanatic, but I call plenty of things a "space". It's basically a synonym for niche?
        Tao3300 3y ago
        Glad to hear that. Notice I said > rule of thumb Not to be confused with a universal law. See also that the other comments pointed out that the USDC recommendation didn't even make a whole lot of sense. Hmm...
rossrubacon 3y ago
https://bylls.com/ https://bylls.com/ if your in canada
- orangepurple 3y ago
  Anything with KYC puts you at risk of being de-banked. And every payment processor requires KYC.
orangepurple 3y ago
You can't. Every US Dollar touch point is heavily regulated. Back in the day Local Bitcoins was the way to convert crypto to cash but now its highly regulated and they implemented enhanced anti money laundering controls.
- CapricornNoble 3y ago
  Hmmmmm, I wonder if there is some way we could setup a website like Local Bitcoins but decentralized? Like with ipfs or i2p or something...
  - webninja 3y ago
    The sellers who run it as a business might risk getting an unlicensed money transfer penalty depending on the country they are operating from. Law: 18 U.S. Code § 1960

How can I pay my bills with bitcoin while being debanked?

by zb3 3y ago

How can I pay my bills with bitcoin while being debanked?

Lots of discussion in the comments here about how ingrained banks are into our current system. I do honestly see Bitcoin as a way out of that, but at this early stage of it, you'd probably have to get help from someone who is not debanked in order to interact with our heavily banked system. If you are honestly interested in this, take a close look at Strike.

2-718-281-828 3y ago
BTC or BCH?
- krupan 3y ago
  BTC. BCH was a failed attempt at improving Bitcoin
- BLKNSLVR 3y ago
  I mostly agree with krupan's answer below, but it depends on use-case. BTC for investment or long-term store of value. BCH, or various other alternatives (Litecoin, XRP, Stellar, cough Nano cough), for making payments. But if you can use the Lightning network, then BTC works for payments as well (arguably - in this space anything and everything is highly arguable). If you're seriously looking down the track at using cryptocurrency, spend some time playing with small amounts of it to see how it all works. Different coins have different use-cases, and it's very confusing to come from zero knowledge. Also transferring and converting between different coin types can kill you in fees, so keep an eye on that as well. And in doing your research don't believe what anyone says about anything, especially youtube folks. Find the most likely narratives amongst the jungle of snakes and traps, based on your own experience at detecting bullshit and applying logic.
  - krupan 3y ago
    I'm sorry, but playing with anything other than BTC Bitcoin and lightning is just going to waste your time and resources. I'm sorry, but the last 15 years has taught us that again and again. Definitely do your own research, start with small amounts, but be very, very careful especially with anything not BTC.
    - BLKNSLVR 3y ago
      Comment feels like a great example of a bitcoin-maxi. An important data point, worth paying strong heed to, but also worth understanding the reasons behind bitcoin-maxi perspectives in order to see where you fit along the scale. Bitcoin itself has the longest, most proven history. It's the safest house in the least safe neighbourhood. It's also the best performing asset of it's lifetime so far (something like that anyway). It's use-case has changed since it was created, and there are additional use-cases to which other cryptocurrencies cater, smart contracts being the primary example (which then facilitate a whole other ecosystem of products, of arguable value and utility to humanity). I'm around 50% bitcoin-maxi, to expose my illogical stance :) I also have barely a little toe dipped into that particular asset pool, so my opinion isn't necessarily fully formed or well founded.
hanniabu 3y ago
[flagged]
- krupan 3y ago
  I was answering the question about how to interact with non-bitcoin users today. That requires trusting some third party. Strike is a good one for making Venmo like payments. The best exchange right now that I have found is Swan. If you know of better ones please chime in
- Quindecillion 3y ago
  You obviously don't spend much time in, or interacting with, the Bitcoin community.
Ridj48dhsnsh 3y ago
> take a close look at Strike. Could you clarify what you find interesting about it? I skimmed their website and looks like just a lightning wallet. Am I missing some key feature that helps one interact with fiat systems?
- krupan 3y ago
  It is a lightning wallet, a Bitcoin wallet, an exchange, and a venmo like payment app.

x-complexity 3y ago

> How can I pay my bills with bitcoin while being debanked? Acting as an alternative to krupan's Bitcoin-centric answer: - There are other crypto rails other than Bitcoin that could be used in its place. USDC & stablecoins in general is going to be the medium-term winners in this space, as more services are set up to help people pay their bills with stablecoins. Here are 2 services that I've found within a few minutes of searching "USDC pay bill": https://www.spritz.finance/blog/pay-bills-crypto https://www.spritz.finance/blog/pay-bills-crypto https://bitpay.com/bill-pay/ https://bitpay.com/bill-pay/ - As for transaction costs, L2s are already being deployed, and their fees will only be further reduced as improvements to the L2 networks are made. https://l2fees.info/ https://l2fees.info/

Tao3300 3y ago
[flagged]
- catlover76 3y ago
  huh?
  - Tao3300 3y ago
    As a rule of thumb, people calling crypto a "space" are trying to hustle you.
    - TheCapeGreek 3y ago
      huh? I'm no crypto fanatic, but I call plenty of things a "space". It's basically a synonym for niche?
      - Tao3300 3y ago
        Glad to hear that. Notice I said > rule of thumb Not to be confused with a universal law. See also that the other comments pointed out that the USDC recommendation didn't even make a whole lot of sense. Hmm...

rossrubacon 3y ago

https://bylls.com/ https://bylls.com/ if your in canada

orangepurple 3y ago
Anything with KYC puts you at risk of being de-banked. And every payment processor requires KYC.

orangepurple 3y ago

You can't. Every US Dollar touch point is heavily regulated. Back in the day Local Bitcoins was the way to convert crypto to cash but now its highly regulated and they implemented enhanced anti money laundering controls.

CapricornNoble 3y ago
Hmmmmm, I wonder if there is some way we could setup a website like Local Bitcoins but decentralized? Like with ipfs or i2p or something...
- webninja 3y ago
  The sellers who run it as a business might risk getting an unlicensed money transfer penalty depending on the country they are operating from. Law: 18 U.S. Code § 1960