How Fiat Ruined my Traveling Experience

[The Bitcoin Co-op]

This rant was first posted to CryptoBizMag. Let us know what you think:

How Fiat Ruined My Traveling Experience

I recently had the honor of being flown to Dubai, in order to teach blockchain technology to Nigerian government officials. With dough eyes, I hastily embarked on my journey, having forgotten the many perils of traveling from years of static living. I expected to come back writing about tall towers and exotic experiences, but unfortunately, that is not the case.

It’s now more clear to me than ever how much the world needs Bitcoin. It is not a simple matter of fighting central banks, or promoting Internet freedom. The blockchain will make society more efficient in almost every way, and is necessary to improve quality of life around the world.

Having adapted to live within the Bitcoin economy, I knew I would encounter some annoyances on my trip. I was completely flabbergasted, however, by the series of unfortunate events I was forced to endure. Please allow me to enumerate the many failures of the traditional finance system.

The Real Altcoins

People criticize altcoins for flooding the market, and eroding the universal applicability of cryptocurrency by fragmenting the market. They often forget that the traditional system is worse: we have hundreds of currencies, and unlike altcoins, you are forced to use the one tied to your physical residence.

When you leave your country, all of your money becomes worthless. You will have to exchange it at a “competitive” fee, or whatever euphemism you prefer. Be careful to buy only as much as you need, because all of that cash will be worthless when you get home, so you’re going to have to pay that fee again for anything leftover.

I chose a travel route with several layovers, because I am not a wealthy man. Having stopped in China, Dubai, Istanbul and Korea, I had to deal with five different currencies, plus an American dollar I managed to acquire somehow. Some exchanges refuse to handle coins, so I returned to Canada with a useless pile of change from around the world.

ATMs and Exchangers

The hassles of change would vanish in a digtal cash system; instead, we’re forced to rely on physical infrastructure based on ancient technology. Despite a several-decade head-start and vastly more resources, they have failed in comparison to the efficiency of cryptocurrency, as I’ll soon vindictively demonstrate.

In the cryptocurrency world, one can trade between altcoins anywhere on a mobile device. This is not the case with traditional finance, and airports are fully aware of this. There are some cities like Istanbul where ATMs are just placed too poorly (such as half-way across the airport from my flight terminal), but incompetence is not what I want to talk about. The truth is more insidious.

Korea did a great job with their financial infrastructure, with English-language ATMs placed almost everywhere. Except, of course, past the airport security checkpoint, where their generosity soon disippates. They mysteriously cannot afford ATMs in one of the most likely places for you to be stuck waiting, even though they can afford multiple exchanges in the same area.

The employees there will be happy to buy back what’s left of the bundle of won you had to withdraw to avoid running out of cash. They will not, however, let you withdraw from your bank account if you do run out, as was the case for a very hungry me.

With all the money they’re making this way, you’d think they could afford some decent security on their automatic teller machines. Alas, dear reader, you would be wrong. While in Istanbul, I mistakenly trusted a machine operated by a local bank there, whose reliance on traditional financial infrastructure left them open to hacking. This inevitable disaster caused me a host of problems, mostly involving…

My Beloved Bank

Upon landing in Korea, I was tired, hungry, and in a hurry to meet someone. Unfortunately, I was unable to withdraw money from ATM in the food court upon landing. I assumed it to be a glitch or language misunderstanding, but much to my dismay, I was unable to withdraw money from any ATM anywhere after an hour of trying.

Frustrated, I called my bank to ask them about it, and waited through several rounds of elevator music. “I’m trying to withdraw money from an ATM in Korea. Do you know what’s going on?”

“We froze your account due to suspicious activity,” he stated as a matter of fact. “You used an ATM that was compromised, and had unusual activity on your account.”

“Thanks for advanced warning,” I said drly. “Can you unlock my account now?”

“We need you to come into your bank branch and change your PIN in person. Until then we have to implement some security measures,” he replied, ignoring my counter-suggestion that we use encrypted communication.

It suddenly dawned on me how annoying my short vacation in Korea was about to become. “I’m currently trapped in South Korea, so obviously I can’t do that. I need money for food and lodging, so you need to make that happen. How am I supposed to get cash?”

Finally, they agreed to unlock my account for windows of 30 minutes at a time, if I call them and request it. Each time, I waited again through the elevator music, and if I did not get to an ATM in time, I would have to call back and do it again. If my phone ran out of power, I was out of luck.

For at least a week I suffered this calamity of bureaucratic failure. If not for the like-minded people I met at Seoul Bitcoin, I would surely have perished from overwhelming frustration and despair. It’s good to know that almost anywhere in the world, I can find a Bitcoin ATM, change my bitcoins with a local currency, and meet some new friends along the way.

Despite the silver lining, I can’t help but still feel annoyed about how much unnecessary stress I had to go through. The travel industry will be one of the first revolutionized by cryptocurrency, and I beg any entrepreneurs reading this to hurry up. I might have to fly again, soon.

[Possum577]

How did you use Bitcoin on your journey?

[tokeweed]

How did you use Bitcoin on your journey?

prolly converted them to fiat to buy his ticket home. lol

[cbeast]

You are required to notify your banks and credit card companies of when, where, and for how long you will travel out of country. Bitcoin users not affected.

[cr1776]

"Dough eyes"?  Really? 

I assume you mean "doe eyes" or do you really mean that you had rolls or bread for your eyes???

This rant was first posted to CryptoBizMag. Let us know what you think:

How Fiat Ruined My Traveling Experience

I recently had the honor of being flown to Dubai, in order to teach blockchain technology to Nigerian government officials. With dough eyes, I hastily embarked on my journey, having forgotten the many perils of traveling from years of static living. I expected to come back writing about tall towers and exotic experiences, but unfortunately, that is not the case.

It’s now more clear to me than ever how much the world needs Bitcoin. It is not a simple matter of fighting central banks, or promoting Internet freedom. The blockchain will make society more efficient in almost every way, and is necessary to improve quality of life around the world.

Having adapted to live within the Bitcoin economy, I knew I would encounter some annoyances on my trip. I was completely flabbergasted, however, by the series of unfortunate events I was forced to endure. Please allow me to enumerate the many failures of the traditional finance system.

The Real Altcoins

People criticize altcoins for flooding the market, and eroding the universal applicability of cryptocurrency by fragmenting the market. They often forget that the traditional system is worse: we have hundreds of currencies, and unlike altcoins, you are forced to use the one tied to your physical residence.

When you leave your country, all of your money becomes worthless. You will have to exchange it at a “competitive” fee, or whatever euphemism you prefer. Be careful to buy only as much as you need, because all of that cash will be worthless when you get home, so you’re going to have to pay that fee again for anything leftover.

I chose a travel route with several layovers, because I am not a wealthy man. Having stopped in China, Dubai, Istanbul and Korea, I had to deal with five different currencies, plus an American dollar I managed to acquire somehow. Some exchanges refuse to handle coins, so I returned to Canada with a useless pile of change from around the world.

ATMs and Exchangers

The hassles of change would vanish in a digtal cash system; instead, we’re forced to rely on physical infrastructure based on ancient technology. Despite a several-decade head-start and vastly more resources, they have failed in comparison to the efficiency of cryptocurrency, as I’ll soon vindictively demonstrate.

In the cryptocurrency world, one can trade between altcoins anywhere on a mobile device. This is not the case with traditional finance, and airports are fully aware of this. There are some cities like Istanbul where ATMs are just placed too poorly (such as half-way across the airport from my flight terminal), but incompetence is not what I want to talk about. The truth is more insidious.

Korea did a great job with their financial infrastructure, with English-language ATMs placed almost everywhere. Except, of course, past the airport security checkpoint, where their generosity soon disippates. They mysteriously cannot afford ATMs in one of the most likely places for you to be stuck waiting, even though they can afford multiple exchanges in the same area.

The employees there will be happy to buy back what’s left of the bundle of won you had to withdraw to avoid running out of cash. They will not, however, let you withdraw from your bank account if you do run out, as was the case for a very hungry me.

With all the money they’re making this way, you’d think they could afford some decent security on their automatic teller machines. Alas, dear reader, you would be wrong. While in Istanbul, I mistakenly trusted a machine operated by a local bank there, whose reliance on traditional financial infrastructure left them open to hacking. This inevitable disaster caused me a host of problems, mostly involving…

My Beloved Bank

Upon landing in Korea, I was tired, hungry, and in a hurry to meet someone. Unfortunately, I was unable to withdraw money from ATM in the food court upon landing. I assumed it to be a glitch or language misunderstanding, but much to my dismay, I was unable to withdraw money from any ATM anywhere after an hour of trying.

Frustrated, I called my bank to ask them about it, and waited through several rounds of elevator music. “I’m trying to withdraw money from an ATM in Korea. Do you know what’s going on?”

“We froze your account due to suspicious activity,” he stated as a matter of fact. “You used an ATM that was compromised, and had unusual activity on your account.”

“Thanks for advanced warning,” I said drly. “Can you unlock my account now?”

“We need you to come into your bank branch and change your PIN in person. Until then we have to implement some security measures,” he replied, ignoring my counter-suggestion that we use encrypted communication.

It suddenly dawned on me how annoying my short vacation in Korea was about to become. “I’m currently trapped in South Korea, so obviously I can’t do that. I need money for food and lodging, so you need to make that happen. How am I supposed to get cash?”

Finally, they agreed to unlock my account for windows of 30 minutes at a time, if I call them and request it. Each time, I waited again through the elevator music, and if I did not get to an ATM in time, I would have to call back and do it again. If my phone ran out of power, I was out of luck.

For at least a week I suffered this calamity of bureaucratic failure. If not for the like-minded people I met at Seoul Bitcoin, I would surely have perished from overwhelming frustration and despair. It’s good to know that almost anywhere in the world, I can find a Bitcoin ATM, change my bitcoins with a local currency, and meet some new friends along the way.

Despite the silver lining, I can’t help but still feel annoyed about how much unnecessary stress I had to go through. The travel industry will be one of the first revolutionized by cryptocurrency, and I beg any entrepreneurs reading this to hurry up. I might have to fly again, soon.

[Meuh6879]

having forgotten the many perils of traveling from years of static living.

true.

ask the restriction per day, per week and per month of a "simple" credit card ... and you cry even if you have many money on your bank account.


EDIT: win ...  

Frustrated, I called my bank to ask them about it, and waited through several rounds of elevator music. “I’m trying to withdraw money from an ATM in Korea. Do you know what’s going on?”

“We froze your account due to suspicious activity,” he stated as a matter of fact. “You used an ATM that was compromised, and had unusual activity on your account.”

“Thanks for advanced warning,” I said drly. “Can you unlock my account now?”

in europe, restriction is 300 euros par ATM or 600 euros in a day (all ATM in 3 countries in the same day) .
deal with it ?

NO ! (bitcoin)

[thebohemian]

Hey, compare this to my rather smooth experience with BTC in South America:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=902745

[Jammalan the Prophet]

I recently had the honor of being flown to Dubai, in order to teach blockchain technology to Nigerian government officials.

[ab8989]

Let us know what you think:
...
It’s good to know that almost anywhere in the world, I can find a Bitcoin ATM, change my bitcoins with a local currency, and meet some new friends along the way.
...

I know I cannot invent a more unbelievable scenario even if I try than being flown to Dubai from other side of the world to deal with Nigerian officials with some shoestring arrangements. Even if that would somehow miraculously be true, I know I would replace that with something remotely believable just for the sake of story.

Why did he feel sensible to first write a long rant of basically of how bad it is needing to use 5 different ATMs to get 5 different local currencies and then come to the conclusion that he would really like to use 5 different ATMs to get 5 different local currencies?

Why does he feel it makes sense to write a praise about how conveniently easy it is to find bitcoin ATMs if it is backed by a story where he did not actually find any of them forcing him face all the troubles with fiat?

Come on. On what kind of level does this story make any sense at all?

[QuestionAuthority]

Let us know what you think:
...
It’s good to know that almost anywhere in the world, I can find a Bitcoin ATM, change my bitcoins with a local currency, and meet some new friends along the way.
...

I know I cannot invent a more unbelievable scenario even if I try than being flown to Dubai from other side of the world to deal with Nigerian officials with some shoestring arrangements. Even if that would somehow miraculously be true, I know I would replace that with something remotely believable just for the sake of story.

Why did he feel sensible to first write a long rant of basically of how bad it is needing to use 5 different ATMs to get 5 different local currencies and then come to the conclusion that he would really like to use 5 different ATMs to get 5 different local currencies?

Why does he feel it makes sense to write a praise about how conveniently easy it is to find bitcoin ATMs if it is backed by a story where he did not actually find any of them forcing him face all the troubles with fiat?

Come on. On what kind of level does this story make any sense at all?

I was thinking that too. Pretty unbelievable story. I guess he never heard of travelers cheques. You can exchange travelers cheques for local currency from Mogadishu, Somalia to Daejeon, South Korea. In fact, it would probably be all but impossible for any one person to be able to get a visa to enter all of the countries that travelers cheques are accepted. I suggest that until Bitcoin spreads worldwide carry a few cheques with you. And, for christs sake, stop trying to use ATM cards in a foreign country. That's where credit cards become handy. I recommend American Express.

[countryfree]

The person relating his poor experience is obviously totally inexperienced with banking outside of his own country. I've been traveling the past 3 months without using a credit card nor BTC. Well I made a few BTC transactions, but I didn't need to do them.

I'm living fine with cash and bank wires, BTC could help, but with so few people using it right now, it doesn't help much.

[countryfree]

in europe, restriction is 300 euros par ATM or 600 euros in a day (all ATM in 3 countries in the same day) .
deal with it ?

I've already made €1,000 cash withdrawals.
It depends of your bank. Rich people have much higher limits, with ATMs where you can't withdraw less than €50.

[Meuh6879]

When ... ?

when a friend of mine want buy a apple tablet with cash ...   it can't and is bank account is full of money (it can view is account on the ATM) !
it have standard credit card with no option (50 euros per year for the cost of this "standard" card).

[ab8989]

I have credit/debit cards from 3 different european banks and on all of them I have personally decided at the time of ordering the card what is the limit I want to have on withdrawals or paying bills from the accounts and on some of the cards I can change the limits myself easily by logging on to the banking website. I know because I have done on this a couple of times when I have something bigger to buy I rise the limit and after completing the purchase I lower the limits back down for my own safety.

On couple of times I have got a call out from a blue from the bank security department when they have tripped some safety check on my cards that they see suspiciuos. They have called me on my phone to check whether I have made those suspicious withdrawals and when I answer the call and say all I recognize those withdrawals they have been satisfied with that and dropped the issue. I am actually quite pleased with the service I have got from them on this security issue.

[The Bitcoin Co-op]

Granted that "dough" eyes was an unfortunate typo, but your theory that this story is false is a lunatic conspiracy. Allow me to present a picture of me with my Nigerian students in Dubai:



My boss runs http://datapronigeria.com/; he's the short one in-between the two white guys. I'm the white guy on his right.

You see, presumptuous reader, Dubai has little-to-no visa restrictions. Nigeria does not. Further, Nigeria is a very impoverished and dangerous country, while Dubai is a playground for rich people. Nigerian officials therefore hold their annual compliance course in Dubai, where I was summoned to teach them because they'd read my Bitcoin Magazine articles.

That aside, I'm not sure how tackle the other points made. Yes, there are more fiat ATMs in convenient places than Bitcoin ATMs. That's because more fiat ATMs exist. It is stunning, therefore, that they do not place them effectively given their available numbers--the logical conclusion is that it is often intentional, to serve a middle-man profit motive.

And why would I ever need to withdraw bitcoins separately from an ATM in each country I visit? In the future, everybody will accept cryptocurrency. I will not need to withdraw fiat, and I won't.

I don't possess a credit card, to answer one of the later questions. I don't use our even understand cheques, because I grew up in the post-Internet era, and what the fuck is a cheque? Honestly. Just take my bitcoins, guys.

[ab8989]

Well, You did ask for feedback, didn't you.

All I was saying as a feedback that a story is better if the first sentence is written such that it does not cause the reader to seriously doubt the whole story. Just honest feedback that you asked for. Next time I know not to say anything.

I also have not used travelles cheques for decades. They are some steam engine era shit.
However I have always some cash in with me so I am not left out in the cold if my cards suddenly stop working. Some amount of euros to last for a week or two in various size notes are pretty much accepted anywhere even if local currency is something else. USD also works as universal currency.

[QuestionAuthority]

Granted that "dough" eyes was an unfortunate typo, but your theory that this story is false is a lunatic conspiracy. Allow me to present a picture of me with my Nigerian students in Dubai:


My boss runs http://datapronigeria.com/; he's the short one in-between the two white guys. I'm the white guy on his right.

You see, presumptuous reader, Dubai has little-to-no visa restrictions. Nigeria does not. Further, Nigeria is a very impoverished and dangerous country, while Dubai is a playground for rich people. Nigerian officials therefore hold their annual compliance course in Dubai, where I was summoned to teach them because they'd read my Bitcoin Magazine articles.

That aside, I'm not sure how tackle the other points made. Yes, there are more fiat ATMs in convenient places than Bitcoin ATMs. That's because more fiat ATMs exist. It is stunning, therefore, that they do not place them effectively given their available numbers--the logical conclusion is that it is often intentional, to serve a middle-man profit motive.

And why would I ever need to withdraw bitcoins separately from an ATM in each country I visit? In the future, everybody will accept cryptocurrency. I will not need to withdraw fiat, and I won't.

I don't possess a credit card, to answer one of the later questions. I don't use our even understand cheques, because I grew up in the post-Internet era, and what the fuck is a cheque? Honestly. Just take my bitcoins, guys.

ROFL
Are you sure you're old enough to be traveling without adult supervision?

https://www.americanexpress.com/us/content/prepaid/travelers-cheques.html

[Jammalan the Prophet]

[



in europe, restriction is 300 euros par ATM or 600 euros in a day (all ATM in 3 countries in the same day) .
deal with it ?

NO ! (bitcoin)

BULLSHIT

It depends on bank/cc type.

I have a 2500 euro limit on one and just 300 euros on a cc i use mostly online

[The Bitcoin Co-op]

Well, honestly, what the fuck are your banks doing in other countries? Here in Canada, I can send money via e-transfer as easily as sending an email, but those Nigerians demand to pay me by wire transfer. If they weren't fancy and important, I would have complained to them directly, but alas.

Pardon me for living in a city where I can get literally everything I need in Bitcoin (and even the banks are usually somewhat competent), but I don't feel like learning about stone-age financial technology. It would be more efficient for society if people learned crypto, instead, and because I am pathologically obsessed with efficiency, I intend to complain until they do.

[QuestionAuthority]

Well, honestly, what the fuck are your banks doing in other countries? Here in Canada, I can send money via e-transfer as easily as sending an email, but those Nigerians demand to pay me by wire transfer. If they weren't fancy and important, I would have complained to them directly, but alas.

Pardon me for living in a city where I can get literally everything I need in Bitcoin (and even the banks are usually somewhat competent), but I don't feel like learning about stone-age financial technology. It would be more efficient for society if people learned crypto, instead, and because I am pathologically obsessed with efficiency, I intend to complain until they do.

It's nice that you live in a place where Bitcoin is so entrenched. I wish everywhere in the world was the same way because I would profit. I think you're the first person I've ever seen call Bitcoin "efficient". That's not really the first word I would choose to describe Bitcoin. You may want to spend a few minutes learning about "stone aged" financial technology if you intend to keep traveling around the world. For the next 30-40 years that knowledge might come in handy. That knowledge may even feed you someday when you're hungry.