Please enlighten me

[VRExpress]

I've been wondering, is there a way to live by crypto alone and stay away from Fiat? Everyone is talking about privacy and decentralization but Fiat is breaking that boundary always, the moment you want Fiat after having some crypto your privacy is ruined.

[mk4]

I've been wondering, is there a way to live by crypto alone and stay away from Fiat?

Unless your country accepts bitcoin/crypto on brick and mortar stores, then no. We're really not "there" yet.

Everyone is talking about privacy and decentralization but Fiat is breaking that boundary always, the moment you want Fiat after having some crypto your privacy is ruined.

You can't have total privacy, but you can increase your privacy by not using KYC exchanges. There's a reason why we heavily recommend no-KYC P2P platforms here!

https://localcryptos.com/
https://hodlhodl.com/

[Upgrade00]

Living exclusively on crypto is not possible at the moment (except maybe where Bitcoin is accepted as a level tender). There are lots of online services you can finance with crypto,l Bitcoin, and depending on your country's acceptance to cryptocurrencies, some physical stores and merchants could accept it as a medium of payment, but that's the extent of which it can go. Search around your country to know how far this extent goes and how much you can get directly with crypto.

Also crypto is a general term to describe thousands of coins. You will have to specific on the currency and how receptive the country is to it.

[Chikito]

I've been wondering, is there a way to live by crypto alone and stay away from Fiat? Everyone is talking about privacy and decentralization but Fiat is breaking that boundary always, the moment you want Fiat after having some crypto your privacy is ruined.

too difficult right now, because all instruments still need fiat to exchange with life necessities. Try to searching self, if you find that dream place, then move it there.

[BitcoinGirl.Club]

I've been wondering, is there a way to live by crypto alone and stay away from Fiat? Everyone is talking about privacy and decentralization but Fiat is breaking that boundary always, the moment you want Fiat after having some crypto your privacy is ruined.

It's possible and again not exactly very easy.
When buying, use P2P exchanges where they do not need KYC. When selling then use P2P too and instead of using cash handling apps, use person to person cash dealing. You can not just do it like that. If you build up a private network around you then this become easier. Now this private network does not mean that you will need to know the others. You can easily do it by anonymous communication.

Like I said it's possible but not exactly very easy.

[cryptoaddictchie]

I've been wondering, is there a way to live by crypto alone and stay away from Fiat? Everyone is talking about privacy and decentralization but Fiat is breaking that boundary always, the moment you want Fiat after having some crypto your privacy is ruined.

Possibly on countries that completely embraced bitcoin and blockchain tech. So far El Salvador is the leading on countries accepting cryptos. But Im not sure if all services and and stores accepting already crypto, more likely only btc. If you have some altcoins then might convert it to that and use it there. But of course other  countries are not affiliated on that so maybe you only got some few ones to used it with.

[Oluwa-btc]

Despite people knowing about Bitcoin and Crypto Currencies, they're a bit tied to fiat, as they can't do without it, this will be hard if you the country you resides have been stopped from using Crypto Currencies and Bitcoin e.g China.
But if you really want this, you can sure make a move to El Salvador the Bitcoin City in particular, as they are on of the Countries living the life you aspire for. You'll find it very difficult to see Haircut saloons, Malls, etc accepting this as Bitcoin hasn't gone widespread.

[uchegod-21]

I don't think it is easy in my country where bitcoin is not legalised but yet exchanges exist. If you make transactions with local banks and include any crypto related words in the narration, your account would be banned. So this makes businesses to turn away from Bitcoin, you cannot afford that your business account should be freezed because you want to accept bitcoin for businesses.

There is a youtuber from Canada that claimed he has lived only on bitcoin, you can see it in Pmalek thread. Have you tried to live only on Bitcoin?

[TreyARC]

For now it's not possible to live on crypto alone and even now that regulation is what the whole world is craving for I doubt it will be possible to live on crypto alone, Fiat isn't going away any time soon so find p2p platforms for your trading activities, at least your banks won't know that you are into crypto trading and investments.

[Pmalek]

But if you really want this, you can sure make a move to El Salvador the Bitcoin City in particular, as they are on of the Countries living the life you aspire for.

Not recommended at all. What good does it do that El Salvador uses Bitcoin as legal tender when it was and remains one of the most dangerous places to live in? You can have your arm chopped off on the street because some thugs want your golden bracelet, but at least you can buy groceries with BTC.  

Gang-related violence, homicide, extortions, kidnaps are all part of daily life in El Salvador. It's one of the places with the highest murder rates in the world, if not the highest.   

[Hyphen(-)]

I've been wondering, is there a way to live by crypto alone and stay away from Fiat? Everyone is talking about privacy and decentralization but Fiat is breaking that boundary always, the moment you want Fiat after having some crypto your privacy is ruined.

Fiat is a currency that we can exchange our cryptocurrency to without expectating any third parties, as you said Bitcoin is decentralized living with crypto alone without fiat depend on your country of living, is Bitcoin and cryptocurrency fully legalized?  If yes is Bitcoin acceptable as a means of exchange? If yes then you van do without Fiat. But it's rare to do without fiat currency because they work hand in hand with each other's.

[pakhitheboss]

I've been wondering, is there a way to live by crypto alone and stay away from Fiat? Everyone is talking about privacy and decentralization but Fiat is breaking that boundary always, the moment you want Fiat after having some crypto your privacy is ruined.

It completely depends on the country that you are living in now. In many countries Bitcoin is accepted at the local store and in El Salvador, it is considered legal tender. You still can use Bitcoin to make purchases online but the list of vendors online is not that much. It is too early to live completely on Bitcoin as you still need to pay your bills and rent in Fiat. In the future this might change as Bitcoin is still brand new.

[Franctoshi]

Moving to El Salvador might be a better option for you, if you're looking for privacy and to living a life where you do transaction in cryptocurrency , So that is the only country that you can have that kind of system of living. But Aside that, we're yet to embrace the system. Then for privacy in this digital age ,it's almost impossible to have such kind of live.

[Rikafip]

Moving to El Salvador might be a better option for you, if you're looking for privacy and to living a life where you do transaction in cryptocurrency , So that is the only country that you can have that kind of system of living. But Aside that, we're yet to embrace the system. Then for privacy in this digital age ,it's almost impossible to have such kind of live.

Have you ever checked what's the quality of life in Salvador before advising someone to move there? Sure, you can pay with Bitcoin there but that doesn't mean much if you get shot or mugged.


@OP life is hard enough without trying living using solely bitcoin  (and by that I mean no payment processors or crypto debit cards) so don't make it even harder by trying something like that. What you can do though is focus on the things that you can pay with Bitcoin and even that would be a good start as many bitcoiners are still just hodling and are not willing to spend it even when they have a chance for that.

[aysg76]

I've been wondering, is there a way to live by crypto alone and stay away from Fiat? Everyone is talking about privacy and decentralization but Fiat is breaking that boundary always, the moment you want Fiat after having some crypto your privacy is ruined.

You will need little cash to struggle for your daily necessities and buying stuff if bitcoin or other crypto is not acceptable near you which is the case at most of places this time.But if you want then bitcoin is the best option with you not any of the shitcoins in the market and it will be accepted soon near your stores with LN channels.

Not recommended at all. What good does it do that El Salvador uses Bitcoin as legal tender when it was and remains one of the most dangerous places to live in? You can have your arm chopped off on the street because some thugs want your golden bracelet, but at least you can buy groceries with BTC.  

Gang-related violence, homicide, extortions, kidnaps are all part of daily life in El Salvador. It's one of the places with the highest murder rates in the world, if not the highest.   

As per old reports and latest reports also it's the highest one with most homicides per 100k people and the situations have not improved any more or less as you can see in this charts:



These are some old charts but as per latest 2020 reports also the murder rates are highest there followed by Honduras and Venezuela

Characteristic   Murder rate per 100,000 inhabitants

El Salvador                 82.84
Honduras                 56.52
Venezuela                 56.33
US Virgin Islands         49.26
Jamaica                         47.01
Lesotho                         41.25
Belize                         37.6
Saint Vincent       36.46
Saint Kitts                  34.23
South Africa                 33.97
Trinidad and Tobago   30.88
Brazil                           29.53
Bahamas                    28.4

Source : Murder rates

The country was dominated by US dollar domination at first but bitcoin has helped it to rise from the graves but bitcoin can't protect you from these issues like gang related crimes.But the good part is your coins are stored inside your wallet and you can buy with LN to pay at any store or restaurant but it you are carrying cash and physical items that attracts more criminals towards you then it's more risky.But still if you are out of El Salvador it's not at all advised to shift there due to such reasons that can endangered your life.

[Darker45]

There were stories I read about some people who are living their lives with Bitcoin only. However, I think that is only possible because wherever they are, Bitcoin could be spent in stores; Bitcoin could actually be used as money. Where I am from, that is not possible at all. So whether I am dreaming to live that life or not is not an issue. The issue is that whether anybody could actually do it. But I am almost sure that will eventually happen.

[hugeblack]

Very difficult but not impossible, where you live will determine the level of difficulty, but in any case, cash is more private than bitcoin for everyday transactions of a personal consumption nature.
There are some similar stories that I have read on YouTube^[1][2] and some trips that individuals have taken to use Bitcoin, but they are only experiences for a day to two months and not for the rest of your life or completely dispensing with cash.

The closest thing that makes sense is to buy gift cards from sites like bitrefill^[3] and use them as an alternative to cash.


[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGQPNJaiXpA
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F0IvkMKY5S8
[3] https://www.bitrefill.com › gift-cards

[alik111]

Its impossible in our country because here crypto transection isn't legal and we must use fiat currency. But hope that very soon crypto will be accepted. Even in that time you can't stay away from fiat also.

[nakamura12]

If your country legalised crypto then you may can use it to buy what you want when a store accepts crypto as one of their payment. If not then it would be hard to use your crypto to buy things in the store in your country and does not accept crypto as one of their payment then your goal of staying away from fiat won't happen at all. One more thing, crypto is not completely safe as you may have think as the safety of your crypto depends on your device security and how you keep your wallet's seed phrases or private key.

[BlackHatCoiner]

Here are the reasons why this can't happen, at least at the moment.

• Volatility. You can't realistically make a living by using a currency that does +-5% a week.
• Few accept it. There's a significant adoption done this in the last 5 years, but it's just a tiny fraction when it comes to all the available stores.
• Propaganda. (Climate change, criminal usage, pyramid scheme or bubble etc.)