After 3 weeks trying to find a way to privately convert Bitcoin into cash, Crypto Lunch has a potential solution! The answer was staring us in our faces, until it suddenly dawned on me yesterday: PRECIOUS METALS can bridge the gap between cryptocurrency and fiat cash, without giving up the user's privacy or relying on centralized systems like banks or government. As a longtime silver stacker, advocate for physical bullion as savings, and former precious metals dealer, I should have clued in sooner, but I take solace in the fact that this puzzle has stumped everybody. In this post, I'll explain how it appears to work. With your help, I'll confirm and document the entire process!
Week 1-3 Recap
Last week, I used this currency flow image to visualize what was working and what wasn't:
I can move my crypto income into Bitcoin, which is more widely accepted and more useful, but that still doesn't get me the groceries I need to cook up the lunch I want, let alone achieve my ultimate goal: a pathway to privately spend my crypto income on things I need to live.
For 3 weeks, Crypto Lunch bemoaned the sad state of privacy in the crypto sphere:
"Crypto" MUST be able to function WITHOUT identifying the user (private) and without involving governments, corporations, or banks (decentralized). There's NO way to convert Bitcoin to cash without identifying oneself. I believe this is one of the main issues preventing mass adoption of cryptocurrency, and I think it needs to be acknowledged and solved ASAP!
Eureka!
Like many great ideas, it came to me in the shower. I was considering bringing a 10oz silver bar in to a local shop and selling it for cash, as I have some extra expenses coming up soon.
I then recalled seeing that some online bullion dealers are accepting cryptos as payment:
That's when it clicked: This is one solution to the Crypto Lunch problem! Buy bullion with crypto, and sell it for cash at a local dealer! Privacy retained, not too expensive, not too difficult.
Note that it says they might need to see your ID, and they'll email you if that happens. I think that's only for large orders, but we'll find out when I proceed with this method. There are other companies accepting crypto, so if this one doesn't operate the way I like, I can use others. I don't have enough in the lunch budget to make it happen quite yet, but here's an example of a possible order:
So for about 32 Canadian dollars I can get troy ounces of silver bullion in hand.
Note on shipping privacy: If you don't want the bullion company to know your home address, one workaround is a PO Box. Many towns (including mine) have businesses that accept cash in exchange for renting a mailbox. Some don't require you to identify yourself, so long as you pay up front. You receive a key, and can check for new letters and packages whenever convenient. Result: the bullion company only knows your shipping address, not where you sleep at night.
Local bullion dealers (and coin shops, pawn shops, even mall kiosks) generally pay cash for gold and silver up to at least $1000 (sometimes $3000) without looking at ID. Precious metals are unique in the tight (small) margins between buying and selling. What this means for us is there won't be much lost to costs at this step in the pathway. Using crypto to buy furniture, or diamonds, or electronics, and then selling that for cash, would result in massive losses and make this method impossible. Converting through bullion is relatively efficient, and simply becomes a % cost of doing business - the way you want to do it.
Now that I have a potential pathway, all I need is a little more capital! We have about $15 in cryptos thus far, but even a small test order of 3 ounces of silver will be about $100. I'm trying to step up the effort I'm putting into these Crypto Lunch posts, to attract Steem and Hive blockchain curators! Last week, I included details of a meal I made using some garden ingredients.
I was able to pull in a few bucks, and I'm thankful for that! But I can't help but wonder what I need to do, in order to bring in the kind of payouts my friends are getting for their posts about lunch:
That one is already at $21, and even a snapshot of some bananas or a sunset brings him at least $10, without fail. Not even my full length documentaries reach those levels.
Here, my friend shows off a table full of food she bought with recent post payouts. Her crypto lunch is now served! And that photo has itself already brought in another $7.
I am happy for my friends, but left wondering what my posts are missing in order to earn generous $10 and $20+ upvotes from the curators. That kind of income - if I can get it - could power a bullion purchase and lead to my crypto lunch! Suggestions gladly welcomed.
Lunch Budget
Last week's Hive post brought in $0.71 for the author, paid out as 3.23 HIVE. The Steem post brought in $2.23 for the author, paid out as 10.62 STEEM.
BTC: 0
HIVE: 17.15
STEEM: 14.48
CAD: 0
USD: 0
Thank you to those who pitched in with an upvote!
How to make Crypto Lunch happen
All are welcome to follow and enjoy the weekly adventure. But hopefully some curators also provide crypto to make the whole process happen! Here are a few ways to do that:
- upvote this post (on both chains if possible)
- send HIVE or HBD directly to my Hive wallet
- send STEEM or SBD directly to my Steem wallet
- send BTC directly (1NWGEhWfeg4kscoBUFNqzRT1UN7qjLgnVa)
- use a service like TipU
- send any kind of tokens to my Hive-Engine or Steem-Engine accounts
Thank you for reading and participating! There's no such thing as a free lunch, so I hope the crypto community feels I've earned one with this post. :)
The squash in my garden is growing - maybe it will appear in a future Lunch?! See you next Thursday for week 5.
DRutter
Posted Using LeoFinance
I sent you 5 HBD. Hope that helps :-)
Yes! Thank you, @Kunschj!
That converts to 21.25 HIVE, and will gather with past contributions and others yet to come, before converting to Bitcoin, and then being sent to pay for a bullion order, with the silver shipped to a nearby PO Box I have the key for, carried to the local bullion shops, and converted to cash, before being taken to close-by grocery stores and converted into groceries, and finally hauled home to be prepared into my first crypto lunch!
Without using smart devices, showing ID, or involving governments, banks, or big corporations.
It might require a few steps, and not everybody has access to them all, but it's definitely a start. It's going to be interesting finding out how much of the value is lost along the way through fees and conversion rates.
Thanks for fueling the experiment! You're always involved with the coolest blockchain projects so I'm not surprised to see you pitch in to Crypto Lunch. Have a great weekend :))
You’re very welcome. I’m looking forward to seeing how this works. !tip
🎁 Hi @drutter! You have received 0.1 HBD tip from @kunschj!
@kunschj wrote lately about: Scofflaws ~ Independence Day On The Central Coast Feel free to follow @kunschj if you like it :)
Sending tips with @tipU - how to guide.
The crypto for silver for rice program!!
You got it, the 'crypto for silver for rice' program (CFSFRP) has arrived. BioElectricEnergy called it, what, 8 years ago in the BullionBugs PalTalk chatroom? : P
Fantastic to see some potential way to achieve the outcome 👍
Yes, I'm stoked! Although as Kerris pointed out, this option has actually been possible (for some people in some regions) for a while. But that's great because it confirms it works! Next step is to pull together some funds so I can conduct and document the whole process, showing others how they might be able to do it too, and determining approximately how much of the funds are eaten up by fees/conversions.
Thank you for the 1.98 HBD, @J85063! I've converted it to 8.55 HIVE. Next Thursday, I'll summarize my progress, likely having moved it into BTC in preparation for a bullion purchase. I'm researching potential online dealers now.
Most welcome as we all have a vested interest in the outcome of this.
Although not available to everybody, this is a potential pathway. Good to see progress!
It'll be interesting to confirm that it works, and also see how much value is lost during the conversions and workarounds.
That is exactly how I would change Crypto to fiat ever since SGB accepted BTC& LTC as payment for PMs years ago. In fact that was why I got into Cryptos in the first place when I bought my first Silver bullion with BTC I got free from faucets and saw that potential.
Sooooo, you aren't just another pretty throwing knife?!
Okay, you beat me to it. So tell me, what are the drawbacks, how much of your value is eaten up in fees/conversion, and what are the best Canadian bullion dealers that sell for BTC? Thank you.
This is exciting. I am excited. Excitement is happening.
SGB was not up front with fees so I am not certain how much was eaten up by fees other than the usual Network fee. I almost got a hint that PMX could 'Trial Balloon' a crypto but that was reading between the lines a comment on IG. I am inquiring to VCBE if they intend to go into Crypto exchange since it would tend to fit their business model.
Would you believe that Apmex would NOT accept Crypto payments outside the US? That's their current policy. I'm still looking around for others.
Thank you for the heads up on SGB's fees, I'll keep a close eye on that if I use them. Sounds like there aren't a ton of competitors yet. When I owned canadiansilverbullion.com I considered accepting Bitcoin back in 2013. Instead, I went into accepting interac e-transfers. Things may have been very different for me.
Your experience here is valued! Thanks for sharing.
Way fewer steps than involving western union and all the bullshit
Yeah, it looks pretty reasonable and doable. We'll soon know how costly this route is!