Living off of strickly bitcoin for 1 year

[snakus44]

Now this is a documentary I'd like to see.  The film follows a year in the life of 7 people from all over the map (preferably from every continent), living day to day strictly off of bitcoin.  We'll say the time line is April 1, 2014-April 1, 2015.  Talk about potential.  This movie is bound for greatness.  It's already a thriller/comedy/dramma (hopefully it doesn't end up a horror flick).  We see the trials and tribulations that these individuals face existing in a material world, while living completely free from using fiat currency. 

They are forced to convince everyone in their lives to adopt bitcoins as means of trade and a store of value.  Their bosses, landlords, merchants, drug dealers, hair stylists, yoga instructors, doctors, wives, acupuncturists, and children will all be given a crash course in how to deal in bitcoin.  Ideally there won't be any exceptions to the rule.  When there are compromises, it will shed light on limitations. This will be particularly interesting around tax time.  Legal tender is the only trading vessel in a sea of goods and services.  Our 7 noble heroes navigate the globe on tiny bitcoin life rafts and they are determined to survive.  And if the ship sinks, they might do much more than just survive.  Entertaining, informative, and educational, in that order, is how I would like to see this project come out.  Any interest?

[jytou]

You're actually looking for this: http://lifeonbitcoin.com/

[Orange_Jam]

You're actually looking for this: http://lifeonbitcoin.com/

That was surprisingly good teaser and I'm wondering why it hasn't been mentioned more. I lurk around here and Reddit a lot and have yet to here about it until now. Thanks!

[hostmaster]

You're actually looking for this: http://lifeonbitcoin.com/

really nice site.

[frankenmint]

I felt like they only did it for 90 days and that they had the help of the btc community to buy stuff in fiat for them...is that really "living off just btc?"  I mean they should have had it so that merchants only accepted it.  However this becomes a bigger fundamental issue in that everyone's motive for using it is to eventually switch it back into USD or whatever their local fiat happens to be.  when you see most merchants accepting it, they are usually looking to cash it back out into dollars.

If I quit my fulltime job and only receive income from cryptotrading and mining do I count as living of of bitcoin?

For the record, I'm not here to Bash Becky or Steve, I commend them for getting btc-attention.  Well, they are getting the btc communities attention anyway. 

Its damn hard to live off crypto because the user is forced to have to convert it back into fiat for rent/mortgage/fuel reasons.  If you could solve these things then it would indeed be possible.  There is Coinflash (multi-payment style of atm that lets users pay their mortgages and cell phone bills in bitcion) which should allow users to do this but I don't know what the eta to implementation is, do you?

[jytou]

I guess that was the whole point of the experiment: see what is doable and what is not (yet). Obviously, it is impossible to totally live off bitcoin right now (at least if you want to have some kind of living standard) as some services still require you to pay in fiat, which is why they had to go through intermediate solutions until something else comes to the market.

[Snail2]

It's easy. Go to Russia, start selling BTC on the street, shortly you will have food, accommodation, clothing and entertainment up to 15 years .

[franky1]

I felt like they only did it for 90 days and that they had the help of the btc community to buy stuff in fiat for them...is that really "living off just btc?"  I mean they should have had it so that merchants only accepted it.  However this becomes a bigger fundamental issue in that everyone's motive for using it is to eventually switch it back into USD or whatever their local fiat happens to be.  when you see most merchants accepting it, they are usually looking to cash it back out into dollars.

If I quit my fulltime job and only receive income from cryptotrading and mining do I count as living of of bitcoin?

For the record, I'm not here to Bash Becky or Steve, I commend them for getting btc-attention.  Well, they are getting the btc communities attention anyway. 

Its damn hard to live off crypto because the user is forced to have to convert it back into fiat for rent/mortgage/fuel reasons.  If you could solve these things then it would indeed be possible.  There is Coinflash (multi-payment style of atm that lets users pay their mortgages and cell phone bills in bitcion) which should allow users to do this but I don't know what the eta to implementation is, do you?

your theory that becky and steve cheated by using other people to convert it to fiat.
coinflash
bitpay

... they too are the "other people" you speak of, so it is no different. there is always going to be a middleman somewhere that converts it into FIAT.

bitcoin is not trying to replace FIAT, it is trying to work alongside it. imagine you live in USA but got paid euro's, instead of you having to convert it to dollars you desire a way that all the essential merchants in your life and utility companies of USA would accept euro's direct. even if they then converted it to dollars. well that is exactly what bitcoin is doing. its not meant to replace FIAT, its meant to be another payment option, and in many ways.. the better option.. and in only a few ways not.

there will be a time that the suppliers of merchants will also accept bitcoin making the requirement to convert to FIAT less but unless you own the government removing fiat is something that would only happen if there was a huge revolution/revolt.

[MakeBelieve]

If someone actually lived off Bitcoin for a whole year it would be impressive I don't mean by exchanging their fiat into Bitcoin either I mean Bitcoin that they already have and have to use Bitcoin services in order to live for example paying rent and buying things in online stores with bitsumo and other services like that you can already buy pizzas so I assume it wouldn't be to hard to live off Bitcoin unless you can't pay rent/utiltiy bills.

[bythesea]

But that could only work in a countries that have accepted BTC on a larger scale. Well in a countries in which you can buy stuff using BTC, sadly there are not many countries like that.

[franky1]

well i personally have not had a fiat paying job for 2 years, i dont even want to claim unemployment payments. i have been quite happily funding my lifestyle via bitcoins... so do i count?

[hostmaster]

It's easy. Go to Russia, start selling BTC on the street, shortly you will have food, accommodation, clothing and entertainment up to 15 years .

i am at russia. Selling BTC is not anymore easy. Exchangers banned after recent gov. declarations. Only few left and they for god sake works...

[miketonic]

I guess that was the whole point of the experiment: see what is doable and what is not (yet). Obviously, it is impossible to totally live off bitcoin right now (at least if you want to have some kind of living standard) as some services still require you to pay in fiat, which is why they had to go through intermediate solutions until something else comes to the market.

This is important here. Not possible yet, but when BTC becomes more and more widely accepted, this could be possible in the future

[jytou]

well i personally have not had a fiat paying job for 2 years, i dont even want to claim unemployment payments. i have been quite happily funding my lifestyle via bitcoins... so do i count?

Well I think there are 2 different points here. You're saying you're sustaining your life by earning enough bitcoin (great!). But that's a totally different point than being able to sustain your life by paying exclusively in bitcoin for whatever goods/services you need (which is the experiment that is addressed by this thread), therefore being totally off fiat (which I doubt you are - you didn't claim so anyway ).

As for Russia, something being illegal never stopped Russians from doing it (as far as I know... well it's probably true in any country, but even more true in Russia ). In the black market of course (and that was the point of the previous poster: "in the streets").

[franky1]

well i personally have not had a fiat paying job for 2 years, i dont even want to claim unemployment payments. i have been quite happily funding my lifestyle via bitcoins... so do i count?

Well I think there are 2 different points here. You're saying you're sustaining your life by earning enough bitcoin (great!). But that's a totally different point than being able to sustain your life by paying exclusively in bitcoin for whatever goods/services you need (which is the experiment that is addressed by this thread), therefore being totally off fiat (which I doubt you are - you didn't claim so anyway ).

but my point being.. what do you class as "paying exclusively in bitcoins".

when you go to most merchants. you are not putting bitcoins into their personal wallets. you are paying bitpay or coinbase, and those services then pay the merchant. its the same as me paying a guy on localbitcoins or bitcoin-otc. and he then transfers fiat. or those other services that sell giftcards or pay your utility company.. the end service does not in 99% receive actual bitcoins which they then decide to keep/use. they receive fiat.

so where is the prime examples of living off bitcoin where the merchants want and keep an use bitcoin themselves. or does my lifestyle come as close to 'living off bitcoin' as most people see it.

two examples i can think of.
1. charlie shrem's alcohol bar accepts BTC and shrem keeps them for investments.
2. Enterpoint which make some FPGA's last year.. one of the employees is a big fan of BTC and probably took a wage in the form of BTC. so enterpoint accepted btc.

but there are not really many examples of merchants that accept BTC directly and pass them on in exchange for labour/services/products. 99% of merchants cashout instead.

[frankenmint]

well i personally have not had a fiat paying job for 2 years, i dont even want to claim unemployment payments. i have been quite happily funding my lifestyle via bitcoins... so do i count?

LOL I can I claim your unemployment for you then

[jytou]

but my point being.. what do you class as "paying exclusively in bitcoins".

when you go to most merchants. you are not putting bitcoins into their personal wallets.

That's what I'm referring to. I'm referring to sites (either virtual or physical) at which you pay directly from your wallet to theirs using bitcoin transactions. Not a site with an "obvious fiat intermediate" (like bitsumo or your friend buying stuff for you with fiat in exchange for bitcoins).
What the bitcoins become once they are spent is no more of your concern. If the merchant feels safer selling them right away, it's their problem, not yours, and you have still lived off bitcoin only and seen no fiat in the transaction process.

I understand that living with this criteria is impossible right now and at some point you have to get through some fiat intermediate payment (which I consider is out of this experiment - but that's only my view!). And people like you who live solely on bitcoin earnings are surely still very rare and probably ahead of their time.
I guess that it will be possible living only on bitcoin once the rate vs fiat gets a little more stable. Instability is one of the scariest things for sales people (and that's why they are selling it right away right now - they can't afford losing 5% on their sales, even if it means that they may earn 20% on good days if they were waiting to cash the bitcoins).
There are other challenges for bitcoin (like easy security for everyone's wallet) but let's stick to the subect.

[btc_jumpnrl]

The whole concept is flawed because you're not treating all currencies equal. BTC, USD, YEN, CNY, CAD, etc, they are all money, currencies. The only difference is who accepts what. Fortunately that's why we have exchange rates. If someone had all their income in CNY but lived in America, you wouldn't seriously expect them to attempt to use their CNY like normal USD dollars would you? No. Because they'd have their bank do it for them automatically(for a fee). This is no different.

Even if you want to rebrand this to: "Paying all transactions using only BTC for a year", then it might be an interesting concept assuming you exclude paying taxes, because that just won't happen currently.

Even then it'll just be about 7 random people, it might as well be Real World: Bitcoin Edition in that case.

[snakus44]

I guess I should add some thoughts here...

For one, I think it's important to have a few different regional perspectives involved in the telling of this story.  This would adhere to BTC's innate philosophy of decentralisation.  The even newer, new world order.  

In addition, the people who are chosen for this documentary can not be established in the bitcoin community, nor can they be early developers of any kind.  The newer that they are to bitcoin, the more intersting their journey, in my opinion.  Maybe it would be sort of like a reverse "Bruster's millions" situation.  If they manage to live strickly on bitcoin for one full year, then they are promised some kind of undisclosed reward.  But it's all or nothing, and there is no one there to hold their hand.

Imagine the climax starting with all 7 being notified that they must to go to Japan to claim their reward.  Upon arrival, they are gathered into a conference room Trump style, and the office chair at the head of the table spins around to unveil the identy of the mastermind behind this contest, not Adam Levin, but Mark Karpeles.  He tells them that their reward is simply the priceless experience and knowledge they've gained by living a year of their lives on bitcoin.

Ok so maybe this movie ends up being titled "Spinal Tap Coin".  But for rils, we need a global view documentary like this no?

[snakus44]

You're actually looking for this: http://lifeonbitcoin.com/