Bypass The Banks! - How Steemit and Bitshares can give us monetary freedom
Steem and Bitshares have such great potential.
I am so excited about what’s possible. It’s amazing that I can send money to people who live oceans apart from me.
However, I think there’s an element that I’ve been missing. Crypto isn’t just for sending tips to people in far away places. It can be used with the person next door. I’ve been helping people get started with crypto in person by selling them crypto for cash with no fee.
I just started because people asked me about crypto and I’ve been sharing my experience. The next step was to help them get a Bitshares wallet and send them a few Bitshares. Of course, once people see the potential, they want more than just a few coins. Offering to sell them more is a great way that I can help people get into this new economy.
Why This Makes a Difference
People are having a difficult time getting started with crypto, even if they are interested because it can be difficult to understand how to take dollars (or their local currency) and exchange it for crypto.
I believe we think about this in an overly complicated way because we are used to dealing with banks or other financial institutions for almost everything having to do with money. Even though crypto gives the promise of peer-to-peer money, we still automatically think about how to use a bank or a credit card to get crypto. This makes things difficult, time consuming and expensive (due to fees). The trouble people often experience with Coinbase is an example of this.
The promise and freedom of crypto is that it’s person to person, peer-to-peer. We don’t have to use those financial institutions anymore.
I can help someone set up a Bitshares account and transfer crypto to them within ten minutes! The actual transaction is usually less than three seconds. This reduces the friction and gives people a much better first experience with crypto.
Why Bitshares?
Bitcoin is the cypto-coin that’s in the news right now, but I don’t recommend it for people who are just getting into crypto now. It’s much easier to sign up for a Bitshares account. I prefer the wallet model for security, which has a downloadable digital backup key combined with a passphrase for security. It’s very secure, but it’s also easy to get started with Bitshares compared with Bitcoin.
Also, the fees are low compared to Bitcoin, which also makes for a better experience as a first time crypto buyer.
Once they get #Bitshares, they can buy other coins on the Bitshares DEX (Decentralised Exange). If you buy Bitcoin, it’s not easy for a beginner to convert that to other crypto currencies. It is easy if you start with Bitshares.
Bitshares has a lot in common with Steem, in fact they were created by the same person - @dan Larimer. So Steemit and Bitshares go well together. I can transfer my Steem Backed Dollars to my Bitshares account using OpenLedger for a very low fee or @blocktrades for a higher fee. Blocktrades is a little easier for a beginner, but both methods are not difficult.
You Can Help Friends and Family Get Into Crypto
If you’ve had success with Steemit or with trading, I encourage you to talk with friends and family. If they show interest, help them set up a Bitshares wallet and send them a few coins. If they’d like more, sell them more for cash. These actions, done by many people, will cause an economic revolution that will #BypassTheBanks
This helps people get into crypto… and it also helps you get some of your Steemit earnings out to cash. You don’t have to do any complicated transfers or connecting of bank accounts. You can just send people Bitshares (or Steem) and they can give you cash. This is how it is meant to be.
Resteemed!!! I love your attitude towards sharing your knowledge with friends and family to help them get a handle on evolution of currency.
Thank you! I think spreading the crypto message person to person may be most effective. I've really enjoyed my experience doing it so far. It's been a very tangible way that I can make the world a better place.
Great post! I've been pretty obsessed w/ Bitshares lately. SO.MUCH.POTENTIAL. It's what I wanted to build when I helped start Euro Pacific Bank. Can't change things from the inside, gotta build a new system.
Thank you for commenting! Great to connect with you. Bitshares does have SO.MUCH.POTENTIAL. :-)
Nice post mate :)
Thanks Tony. Glad to be supporting you in your work to tell the world about Bitshares. Go Bitshares!
Great post Matthew. Especially this part -
"Even though crypto gives the promise of peer-to-peer money, we still automatically think about how to use a bank or a credit card to get crypto" -
I've noticed this in my social network as well. It's almost second nature for people to load up their coins and go to coinbase when they want to sell. When I tell them that there is likely a deep network of peers around us that would be interested in paying them directly for crypto with no fees I can tell it had not even crossed their mind. The cultural programming of financial institutions runs very deep. Posts like this help clear up the misconception that individuals need financial intermediaries in most situations.
I totally never thought to ask around when I needed to sell for fiat rather than going to Coinbase, but then, I am the only in-person person I know who has started using crypto!
Interesting, but how and where would person-to-person transactions involving fiat occur?
With other people you know who have crypto or who want to buy crypto from you. If you've made SBD, you can sell them to your friends and family in person (in your living room, if you'd like).
^^^ This. For bitshares or steemit you just need the person's human readable name. For other cryptos you can send to the other persons public address for cash or services or anything! If you don't have any peers in crypto... well then it looks like you've got some people to share crypto with!
ok, good point. maybe we don't know as many people anxious to get into crypto as you!
Hey @john-robert. Thanks for your active participation in the comments section of this post. I appreciate it! #BypassTheBanks!
Good post. You might be able to enlarge the scope worldwide. I would be happy to help you. followed ya
The possibilities are exciting. Yes, I'm going to keep spreading this message. If we can get people to think in terms of "peer-to-peer" with crypto, it will be impossible to stop. But if people hold onto the mentality that they need to transfer to and from a bank account, the adoption of crypto for real world transactions will be slowed.
Good to connect with you here!
Greetings, @matthewdavid,
I just discovered you and this fine article of yours today. It seems we are thinking along the same lines. Please see:
Following you now.
😄😇😄
We are definitely thinking in similar ways. I am being the (Ex)Change that I want to see in the world. Great to connect with you!
Very happy to have met you here on Steemit... Steem on! ;)
BTW, here's one more recent article on the topic, with more to come:
Great post, and a very noble duty Sir! It's a very smart idea, introducing new starters to BitShares :)
Really good points. I did this with my father. I set him up with a bitshares account and then sent him some BTS and other currencies to get him started. A friend of mine who works with a foreign national who could not setup an account at the central exchanges(due to drivers license irregularities) helped him setup a Bitshares account and then sold him $100 worth of bitcoin, as you described above. Good stuff!
Great work! These are exactly the kind of stories I like to hear.
Thanks mate for writing this post......
It really helps me a lot
From this post i can say people definitely will read this post as it tell everything about cryptocurrencies
I really like bitshares. i wish I had bought more of them while the price was really low. @ironshield