Bitcoin Forum

This might be a little off-topic, but... is there any project in crypto that is suited for remittances? ( for example, Australia to the Philippines )
Bitcoin itself could be used for this, but lets not forget, if the recipient gets a fractional Bitcoin in his crypto wallet ( assuming he knows how to
use one of those ), he still needs to convert it to cash ( in this case, PHP pesos ) Doing this conversion will incur fees, and I use the plural
because there might be multiple fees involved if he's using a centralized exchange. The recipient likely also needs a bank account, and probably will
need to convert Bitcoin to Dollars and Dollars to PHP Pesos in the end.
So to me it all seems highly impractical if you're using Bitcoin or Ethereum. Is there any other option in crypto or are remittances still better
handled by Western Union ?

You should include p2p remittance service, such away that send bitcoin to the remittance platform then drop a fiat account for the equivalent fiat amount to be deposited to the receivers bank account.

I guess that what you are trying to say, and yes, then is will such a cryptocurrency service will face alot of regulatory problems, because it will need to secure financial license, because there will be high tendency of money laundering through such services, so the government will definitely pay a close attention to such business.

Bitcoin is actually a solution to most of the hurdles involve international remittances, only that you people under look it.

With Bitcoin;

1. You can send anyone the funds at any time
2. Government can not block your coins
3. Fees are really so low compared to other remittance services. Just take a look at the Western Union Fees.
4. There is some level of privacy
5. You avoid the ridiculous exchange rates

You have to learn you to use p2p to convert BTC to fiat and vice versa and please avoid centralized exchanges as much as you can

Is this from Australia to the Philippines?
I don't think it's hard to convert crypto to fiat in the Philippines if the receiver in the Philippines has his own Gcash account he should able to receive crypto directly to his account because it is now available as Gcrypto as another Gcash service and directly sell it there into fiat.

Only works if it's from Australia to the Philippines but if it's different country then P2P exchange is your last hope that includes wester union like on Binance.

I think there are many exchanges that offer crypto debit card and you can use it with paypal and then send the money, but it's also as complicated as using exchange.

but to be fair, if you were to use stablecoin in a blockchain that enforce no fee like TON and TRON I think you will only need to pay fee for withdrawal in the local exchange and that's it.
It also help you avoid volatility so that the value of the money is retained.

I thought GCash only worked within Philippines ?
It would be great if I could send something like Bitcoin directly into GCash. Is this possible?

We've got to remember the recipient , in most cases, has never used an exchange or a crypto wallet.
So the idea is to make it as simple as possible for the recipient.

Yes, that's possible. I've tested it one time with Dogecoin it's a new Gcash service.
Do you have a Gcash account? You can find the Gcrypto on services then choose Bitcoin then receive, it will shows you the QR code or receiving address send it to someone who are planning to send BTC.

You can read more here Receive crypto with Gcrypto (https://help.gcash.com/hc/en-us/articles/10203149752601-Receive-Crypto-with-GCrypto)

A fiat token would just do your job if both the parties are agreeing on sending and receiving crypto through blockchain. But if you want direct conversion to cash of local currency, it would be difficult. As far as I know, sending money internationally is a highly regulated and taxed sector. Many governments around the world would want a slice out of it. Many of the countries taxes the conversion of crypto to cash for the very same reason. If you do want it in cash, the best thing is to receive it on crypto and use the option available to convert it into local currency. But if that is not a choice than the sender can convert their crypto to fiat and send through remit service like wise or Western Union or through wallet apps like Paypal and Skrill.

Can I send BTC or any other crypto to a GCash recipient without having GCash myself? ( ie. from a DEX )
I am not filipino by the way, it seems you need to get verified with a filipino ID to get GCash

Yes you can send just ask the receiver who have gcash account and tell him to go services> gcrypto> then receive> copy the address and he should send the btc address to you.

Then send BTC make sure to use the mainnet network only any 3rd party won't work.

Here's the image below send it to your receiver as a reference guide

https://i.ibb.co/xHz517n/20240811-221129.jpg

What about the Bitcoin transaction fees ? Wouldn't it be easier to use Ethereum or something else? Actually, Ethereum is also known for its high transaction fees.

I don't know why you are having a negative attitude toward the Bitcoin transaction fees, but right now they are so cheap. A transaction with a fee rate of 3 sats/vbyte can easily get confirmed in the next block when you use the mainnet.

3 sat/vB is roughly about $0.25
 Check the mempool - https://mempool.space/

Bitcoin is a great way to solve remittance, if you want a cheaper transaction than bitcoin, litecoin will work just fine for that, even dogecoin honestly.  There is less variability in the crypto market than in years past.  Amd in tes of speed nothing is quicker than crypto.  I don't know those 2 countries and how easy it is to get back into fiat but it can't be too difficult at this point.

Both of them are fine there's no problem with using Ethereum or BTC but I prefer BTC.

The current Bitcoin network is stable and not congested recommended fee is around 4sat/vb meaning it's cheap compared to a few months ago. So there's no problem sending BTC from your wallet to the receiver(Gcrypto address).


Use this tool to know what fees to use https://mempool.space/ because from time to time the recommended fee changes.

I don't think there are any specific projects for this. But you can opt for cryptos that have low transaction fees. All cryptos can make this remittance, the difficulty lies more in the conversion on the other side. So the ideal is a currency with low transaction fees.

gcash has gcrypto features, so that means even if you are in another country, anyone can send Bitcoin to gcash no matter what country it is, because the gcrypto features of gcash have send and receive.

It's like Coinbase, a digital bank in the Philippines, because I have relatives who can send through GCash through online banking, as far as I know.

Online banking from outside of the Philippines to GCash? Now that's something I hadn't thought about. I like the crypto option though, but with the online banking I think it may only work with some banks ( if your request gets approved ), and they may still charge you a transaction fee. Banks are not known for their low transaction fees by the way.

Remittances have been upgraded through the years. Many of them are now quick and only has a lesser fee and there are also other online payment methods that can work the same. BTC still has an a unique advantage over them and that would be its decentralized feature. LTC and DOGE are both alts and one of the advantages of an altcoin is that they have a cheaper fee than in BTC and they can also move faster but it's just that BTC is still more acceptable than them.

You can always make a research about that two country you are talking about if you don't know them but wants to know something. Lastly, it is hard to get back on fiat once we are now heavily attached on using other alternative payment methods such as cryptos.