Do you worry about not being able to convert BTC to fiat in future

[Paisleyvn]

I'm currently receiving some of my income in BTC, and I'm just holding it because I expect it will go up long term and so it is my savings.
But sometimes I'd like to be able to turn it into fiat for daily expenses. I can't yet pay my rent or buy my groceries with BTC (hopefully one day! but not today and not in the near future).
With banks in some countries blocking transactions from known exchanges is there a worry that one day it will become impractical to turn the BTC into fiat? Either just very hard to do, maybe street-corner-deals or at risk of getting your bank accounts frozen?
Do people think about this and have plans to work around these kinds of banking barriers? Or are there ways around it already but I'm not aware?

[pakhitheboss]

I'm currently receiving some of my income in BTC, and I'm just holding it because I expect it will go up long term and so it is my savings.
But sometimes I'd like to be able to turn it into fiat for daily expenses. I can't yet pay my rent or buy my groceries with BTC (hopefully one day! but not today and not in the near future).
With banks in some countries blocking transactions from known exchanges is there a worry that one day it will become impractical to turn the BTC into fiat? Either just very hard to do, maybe street-corner-deals or at risk of getting your bank accounts frozen?
Do people think about this and have plans to work around these kinds of banking barriers? Or are there ways around it already but I'm not aware?

It is good to hear that you are holding your Bitcoin for the future. That is the right strategy as the USD value of Bitcoin will increase substantially in the coming years.

If in your country Banks are blocking cryptocurrency exchange transaction then you can always use the P2P service as most exchanges do provide this service. For example - In India when the central bank had banned all cryptocurrency transactions, local exchanges initiated the P2P service until the ban was in place. International exchanges like Binance do provide P2P service, you can also check localbitcoin to find out whether their service is available in your country.

[Lucius]

With banks in some countries blocking transactions from known exchanges is there a worry that one day it will become impractical to turn the BTC into fiat? Either just very hard to do, maybe street-corner-deals or at risk of getting your bank accounts frozen?
Do people think about this and have plans to work around these kinds of banking barriers? Or are there ways around it already but I'm not aware?

Banks will always do what is in their best interest, and we have already seen that some fully support accounts that trade cryptocurrencies, while others are strongly against it and close any account they find to be related to crypto. However, you do not need to rely solely on the support of banks, because as already mentioned, there will always be p2p, crypto ATMs and specialized physical branches that will deal with crypto exchange operations.

In addition, if we believe that more and more businesses will accept Bitcoin as a means of payment in the future, then there may be no need to convert your BTC to fiat, you will simply pay for goods or services with BTC

[Yaunfitda]

With banks in some countries blocking transactions from known exchanges is there a worry that one day it will become impractical to turn the BTC into fiat? Either just very hard to do, maybe street-corner-deals or at risk of getting your bank accounts frozen?
Do people think about this and have plans to work around these kinds of banking barriers? Or are there ways around it already but I'm not aware?

If will only be impractical if banks around the world will not accept btc in the future. But I highly doubt that this will be the case in the next 5 years. Bitcoin is coming off age, and we have seen countries adopting and welcoming it.

I got lucky though that we have a local exchange that convert our btc->local fiat. And even allow us to pay for our monthly dues like electricity, water, internet and phone bills.

[joniboini]

I also think that P2P is probably one of the best methods that you can rely on in the future. Especially if your country is not that supportive of Bitcoin, with little to no ATMs, exchanges, etc. But you might need to pay some premium though, fees and etc. That should be expected. If your fiat is other than USD, EURO, and other major currencies, it might get even harder, but not impossible.

[elisabetheva]

I'm currently receiving some of my income in BTC, and I'm just holding it because I expect it will go up long term and so it is my savings.
But sometimes I'd like to be able to turn it into fiat for daily expenses. I can't yet pay my rent or buy my groceries with BTC (hopefully one day! but not today and not in the near future).
With banks in some countries blocking transactions from known exchanges is there a worry that one day it will become impractical to turn the BTC into fiat? Either just very hard to do, maybe street-corner-deals or at risk of getting your bank accounts frozen?
Do people think about this and have plans to work around these kinds of banking barriers? Or are there ways around it already but I'm not aware?

you have done something very right that what you earn in bitcoin is future saving like investment only. because it is certain that what you earn with bitcoin will continue to increase even though it is currently in a very deep correction.

indeed, if there is no one in your area that can make transactions using bitcoin, obviously you have to be wise, then you have to change it to fiat so you can carry out the activities you are looking for. it's not a problem as long as you can manage your use of bitcoin so that it can still be part of an investment and not exchanged for all of fiat.

actually there is nothing to worry about bitcoin, because banks and bitcoin have different systems and there is no attachment between them. bitcoin stands alone as well as banks, and you can exchange bitcoins anytime and anywhere because there are many facilities available to exchange kefiat.

[Welsh]

The only way this would be possible is if trading in cryptocurrencies was illegal. since Banks, and exchanges might not want to operate in cryptocurrencies to fiat, but peer to peer will always be an option. Then, the banks would have difficulty identifying cryptocurrency transactions, at least with any sort of accuracy so they likely wouldn't put much effort into it at all.

But you might need to pay some premium though, fees and etc. That should be expected. If your fiat is other than USD, EURO, and other major currencies, it might get even harder, but not impossible.

Why do you think it would be harder than other currencies to exchange? I would also think that fees would generally be lower, especially in a market where Bitcoin to fiat is hard to do, since people will want to actually encourage it, rather than encouraging people to leave cryptocurrencies. Plus, when it comes down to P2P you usually see very competitive rates as its people competing rather than large well documented, and registered companies.

[Fundamentals Of]

For as long as Bitcoin remains precious in the future, it wouldn't be much of a problem to convert it to fiat. If the future would not be so good to Bitcoin that exchanges are not anymore allowed, I am more than sure P2P transactions would become mainstream, even if underground, as ironic as it may sound. The most important thing is that there is demand.

But to be honest I think rather than becoming hard to spend, it will be easier for Bitcoin to be spent like an ordinary money in the future. I am actually looking forward to the day when goods and services are priced in both Bitcoin and fiat and other cryptocurrencies.

[Welsh]

But to be honest I think rather than becoming hard to spend, it will be easier for Bitcoin to be spent like an ordinary money in the future. I am actually looking forward to the day when goods and services are priced in both Bitcoin and fiat and other cryptocurrencies.

I would agree to some extent. The only issues we face is the stigma involved when accepting Bitcoin. However, companies like Paypal have actually helped towards changing that stigma of Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency for that matter, being labelled as criminal money or a bubble.

Although, Tesla did definitely hurt the perception that the general public have on cryptocurrencies recently, and now Bitcoin has a stigma that its not environmentally friendly, when several fiat based industries aren't either. Although, it doesn't matter how accurate it is, its what people think that matters. So, Bitcoin's biggest obstacle will always be convincing people that its better than the current systems in place, something which I'm not entirely optimistic will be able to do.

[Fundamentals Of]

But to be honest I think rather than becoming hard to spend, it will be easier for Bitcoin to be spent like an ordinary money in the future. I am actually looking forward to the day when goods and services are priced in both Bitcoin and fiat and other cryptocurrencies.

I would agree to some extent. The only issues we face is the stigma involved when accepting Bitcoin. However, companies like Paypal have actually helped towards changing that stigma of Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency for that matter, being labelled as criminal money or a bubble.

I guess this won't be a big problem in the future. My impression is that this stigma has already subsided. Thanks in part to PayPal, but thanks also to the banks, influential personalities, governments, popular companies, huge traditional exchange platforms, and many others that make Bitcoin just another rising fintech product rather than an underground currency.

So, Bitcoin's biggest obstacle will always be convincing people that its better than the current systems in place, something which I'm not entirely optimistic will be able to do.

This to me is the real problem. On the ground, to my neighbor, for example, it seems there is no reason why he should shift to the use of Bitcoin. Fiat is convenient enough. There seems to be no compelling factor to leave it for something else which appears more confusing than the plain and simple fiat. And who really cares about the current fiat system? Not my neighbor. He doesn't know a thing about it.

[cotton ball]

we believe that bitcoin will be fine, and the price of bitcoin in the coming year will definitely rise again, if state banks no longer accept bitcoin to fiat exchanges, I think everyone on this forum is not worried, because there are many other ways we can do it, like p2p,, I don't think this will happen, because the influence of bitcoin is very strong..

[ipanks]

I am sure you will have a chance to pay your rent or buy your groceries, but you need to work hard to have or earn more bitcoin. If your banks allow you to convert your bitcoin, you do not have to worry because you can convert it into fiat. But I am sure that people who can not convert their bitcoin to fiat will find a way and use P2P to sell or buy their bitcoin directly.

So far, Binance helps people to convert their bitcoin to fiat and many people already use that service. Besides Binance, you can search for other sources that will help you to convert bitcoin to fiat.

[ropyu1978]

many countries are against bitcoin and some even want to make bitcoin die, and don't want to accept the exchange of bitcoin into fiat currency, but there are still many countries that secretly collect bitcoin and are still open to accepting bitcoin exchange into fiat currency, but if all countries and state banks no longer accept bitcoin to fiat exchange, I'm sure people are not afraid, because there are still many ways to do the exchange..

[Tahsin Kabir Kollol]

Saving bitcoin for the future is definitely a great idea and a realistic plan. If you're afraid that in the future if the bank or government bans Bitcoin, how do you convert it into a conventional currency? Then you must consider the present time. At present, governments and banks in most countries have banned and restricted the use of other cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin. However, the popularity of Bitcoin is growing day by day and people are becoming more and more enthusiastic about using it. You can exchange your stored bitcoin into currency through p2p. Moreover, different countries and large corporations are now slowly deciding to complete various transactions through Bitcoin, so don't worry about it, think about the future and become enthusiastic about saving through Bitcoin.

[dkbit98]

There is good chance of something like this happening in future if governments implement more draconian measures and restrictions for converting Bitcoin into fiat and this could happen sooner than we think.
I read some document few days ago saying that in next month of July we can expect to see start of global regulation of Bitcoin and crypto that would make much crypto of activity illegal,
it would only be possible to send transaction with some appointed central regulator and we can also expect to see digital currencies that will make trading with bitcoin even harder.
This may sound crazy, but there are forces who are willing to do something like this, and big players who entered in Bitcoin market don't really care about this.
I don't think everything is lost, but we all need to fight hard if we want to keep our freedom and resist this crazy regulations.
Check out conversation about this on Bitcoin reddit page, Governments Planning a Global Coordinated Attack on Bitcoin from Next Month Onwards:
https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/o5lhmu/governments_planning_a_global_coordinated_attack/

[Kittygalore]

I live in a country that have the least progressive people in the government position so I have no worries because they will probably have a hard time figuring out what to do with it because their too corrupt to do the right thing so yeah, I don't worry too much.

[Welsh]

This may sound crazy, but there are forces who are willing to do something like this, and big players who entered in Bitcoin market don't really care about this.
I don't think everything is lost, but we all need to fight hard if we want to keep our freedom and resist this crazy regulations.

I expect that countries like China will outright block the right to use cryptocurrencies, and make it illegal in the long term, while the more western countries will impose strict, almost scandalous regulation on it, so they take the major draws of Bitcoin, and cryptocurrencies, and strangle as much of it out as possible without actually outright restricting it. 

This tends to be the way. China, Iran, and Russia are usually the countries which outright control, and aren't afraid of it to be known that they do this. While, the USA, UK, and much of Europe tend to control its population via restrictions, regulations, while still providing the illusion of freedom.

[Kez1817]

I'm currently receiving some of my income in BTC, and I'm just holding it because I expect it will go up long term and so it is my savings.
But sometimes I'd like to be able to turn it into fiat for daily expenses. I can't yet pay my rent or buy my groceries with BTC (hopefully one day! but not today and not in the near future).
With banks in some countries blocking transactions from known exchanges is there a worry that one day it will become impractical to turn the BTC into fiat? Either just very hard to do, maybe street-corner-deals or at risk of getting your bank accounts frozen?
Do people think about this and have plans to work around these kinds of banking barriers? Or are there ways around it already but I'm not aware?

I think we don't need to worry about converting BTC to fiat currency in the future. Adoption of bitcoin keep on increasing and I believe time will come in the future that many business establishment will accept bitcoin as payment and banks too. So far, if you are afraid that banks will block your transaction, you can use another way  to convert your bitcoin into fiat, don't rely only on banks. You can use p2p, and local exchange. There are always way if we will.

[dkbit98]

This tends to be the way. China, Iran, and Russia are usually the countries which outright control, and aren't afraid of it to be known that they do this. While, the USA, UK, and much of Europe tend to control its population via restrictions, regulations, while still providing the illusion of freedom.

Maybe this was the case in the past, but look at situation now especially in Canada, UK and some parts of US... there is no more illusion of freedom, with excuse of health, as if they ever cared about people's health and well being.
Puppet politicians are blindly following orders from same center and we can see that ALL countries are rushing towards more control and centralization, and Bitcoin is going in totally opposite direction.
I wonder is Bitcon + fake Cyber Attacks are going to be new invisible enemy blamed for everything that is wrong in the world.  

[Kakmakr]

Nah, some of us have been around since the day when you could only convert BTC to Fiat, if you traded it person2person and Bitcoin was relatively new back then. Everyone know about Bitcoin now, so it should not be more difficult now to do it again.  

Also, taking a "Bitcoin Holiday" to a destination where Bitcoin is still accepted ...should also not be a problem, if you can find a way to turn it into something that you can bring back in or transfer via the Internet.     (Larger amounts makes this a viable option)

Japan and some other countries accept Bitcoin as a Currency, so you can have a great holiday, if you go there and pay with bitcoins for everything.    (Your own country will then loose out on the VAT and taxes)