Hey, Vincent:
I guess it depends on your definition of complicated.
The main thing would be having access to an exchange or exchanges. STEEM, as far as I know, doesn't have a whole lot of fiat pairs. I've seen KRW, so that's the only one I can speak of with any level of certainty. In that case, STEEM/KRW can be traded directly.
If the cash system you use is available on an exchange, then that will be the one you will want to use. Otherwise, you're looking at a two-step process to get to it because STEEM will first have to be converted to a cryptocurrency that has your fiat pairing.
In my case, I've used Coinbase to go from USD to Litecoin, and the Blocktrades to get to STEEM. Both exchanges have their sign up requirements, which includes some level of proving identity, etc.
So, is it complicated? If you're used to signing up for things online, probably not. If you avoid doing that for the most part, it could be. And rules have seemingly changed from two years ago so there could be more or less to it than when I initially set up mine.
The hope is, at some point, that more fiat to STEEM or fiat to HIVE pairings will become available like BTC and ETH. That, besides STEEM and HIVE doing well, may also require time and maybe resources, too, since I'm not sure how that listing process works.
I know you said to forget it if it were complicated, but I figured you should at least get some kind of worthwhile answer. :)
Hi Glen,
Thank you for your reply. You are an angel.
Oh boy! IT IS complicated. I will wait for another easier way around that. I never heard of KRW. I tried to open a coinbase account sometime ago, but it was a no-go - something about my credit card company do not support buying of crypto-currency, or something to that extend.
Why is life so difficult? Why is life so harsh to me. I think I will go jump off a cliff. haha..
There is quite a bit of hoop jumping to do, I'll agree. More steps than there should be, but I think that's the problem of trying to bridge two systems, the old fiat way and the new crypto blockchain. The one doesn't want to let go nor let the other make grounds, so governments are trying to dictate how you buy in. And depending on where the exchanges are, they live by the rules set in their country and then abide by those set in the countries of their users. I think Coinbase is based in the UK.
I had Coinbase tell me the same thing. It had to do with the company that manages the transactions of our accounts, which isn't the bank, apparently, but some other company. I'm told they're the ones who won't allow me to use a card, so things come straight out of my checking account, but there's a seven day wait first. Really dumb, and hard to plan in advance.
KRW is the South Korean Won. Not sure how its listed elsewhere.
Thanks again. I will see how it all pans out in the future. :-)