Hi everyone, I first posted this on reddit but I wanted to hear what people may say here also. Bear in mind that english is not my first language, so if I am doing something wrong please be patient

Here's the situation:

I bought a bitcoin when the price was 230usd and have kept it in a safe paper wallet. Given the recent surge in price I was wondering what would be the most efficient way to secure the value of that bitcoin in the case the price drops abruptly.

I understand what people usually do is they just trade on an exchange (e.g. coinbase) when they speculate about price, but since I live in a country with capital controls and not supported by major exchanges that is not an option for me. Also, if I trade for fiat it must be USD, because my national currency does not deserve any trust.

I figured I could open an account on Uphold, send my bitcoin there and convert it to USD. Eventually I would be able to convert it back to bitcoin if I wished and send it back to my paper wallet. The conversion would cost me 0.45% in fees for each conversion.

Is this a good idea? are you in a similar position and do this or something else?

I could as well go to a local bitcoin broker, but the spread is 4% and the fee to buy back bitcoins would be an additional 2%, so it's not really an option. I could sell my bitcoin to an individual for cash usd but that's not really practical and potentially risky. Bitex.la is the only local exchange supported but their volume is way too low for my comfort.

Thanks

Buying bitcoin is a rather risky investment in itself. If you further invest those bitcoins you are incurring in an even riskier situation. I'd say you are good just holding bitcoins on your wallet and patiently waiting for the rate to rise.