Bitcoin - My Story
My story with Bitcoin began the day that bitcoin saved me from a very complicated economic situation when I did not have money to buy a loaf of bread. It was thanks to the fact that I had saved some satoshis acquired a few months ago that I was able to solve such an economic problem. I was lucky enough that the price of bitcoin tripled in that period of time.
I work as a Freelance Web Developer and my main working tool is the Internet. My general method of receiving payment was via PayPal, but after the recent events where this most used means of payment in Venezuela stopped providing services in the country, I decided to fully devote myself to collecting my professional fees in the only good money - Bitcoin.
Moving my life to bitcoin
It was not until the beginning of this year 2020 when I decided to solely collect my professional fees in BTC. I did this in response to the above described situation, and to avoid any future problems with my payments that may prevent me from continuing to practice my profession. Another reason was undoubtedly due to the Covid19 pandemic since it was practically necessary to develop digital products and use Bitcoin as a means of payment.
To change from fiat to Bitcoin was radical. I am very conscious about it. Furthermore that change caused me to lose all my clients and will lead me to look only for those who will accept to pay me in Bitcoin. It was not easy but neither was it difficult; however with a little luck and good presentation of my personal brand I found new clients at https://www.reddit.com/r/Jobs4Bitcoins/.
New to the bitcoin world? Some real tips here
When working as a Freelance Developer it is important to maintain a digital portfolio and the platform that I recommend to upload your work is Github or Gitlab also that on these platforms most of the Bitcoin and LN projects are stored here, being a showcase of your projects for recruiters and new clients.
Once I had captured my new clients and a secure income in bitcoin. The most complex part of living with Bitcoin came to me, which is using it as a medium of exchange. In my case I negotiated with some pre-coiner friends so that they will buy me certain foods (Proteins, Fruits, Vegetables, etc.) in exchange for bitcoin.
To pay for services, I use bitcoin to purchase gift cards in order to load my balance on my phone and my Steam account since I like to buy video games. The rest of the services such as Internet, Light, and more I negotiated again with pre-coiner friends. They paid for my services in exchange for bitcoin. That is the good thing about having enthusiastic friends who are always ready to help you and always trust Bitcoin.
This was a quick glance of my first month spent using only Bitcoin. However, I have to be honest that living in Venezuela, using Bitcoin is very complicated as a means of exchange. Although there are generally ways to get around it as I have done, this does not always work. Although there are crypto payment processors in-store in some well-known franchises, the truth is that fees are very expensive. It is generally cheaper to use VES or USD rather than BTC when using these crypto POS.
Conclusion
Could you live on Bitcoin in Venezuela if you receive bitcoin either for professional fees or remittances? Of course, I recommend using both FIAT and Bitcoin. Save your bitcoin in a safe place and spend only what you need.
Finally be your own custodian of your private keys and don't hand over confidential information to exchange platforms, use Non-custodial Wallet and save your seed phrase securely in case you need to get your bitcoin back. Please remember this: Unfortunately, Bitcoin cannot save Venezuela but it can save you individually and that is more than enough.
"No society can prosper and be happy if the majority of its members are poor and miserable" Adam Smith
Author: Azor
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