What is crypto?
Cryptocurrency, or crypto, has always been perceived as an extremely speculative field and investment decision. This is certainly valid in many respects.
Bitcoin was only invented in 2009, and this year marks its 10 year anniversary. Other cryptocurrencies, such as Ripple or Ethereum, have been around since the early or mid-parts of the decade.
The market is extremely new and therefore volatile. This creates fear and uncertainty in many people looking or considering investments.
How you can use it!
Why is this good for digital nomads like you?
- Bitcoin (and some of the other cryptos, although certainly not all) are a solid investment (for the long run). To remain conservative as far as crypto goes, let’s just discuss Bitcoin for now.
Over a period of 2 years or more, Bitcoin has *always* gained in value. Hard to believe with the crazyness since 2018, but it’s true! So, your money will be working for you as you travel.
Also, it’s a totally new and refreshing asset class; this is still a relatively early stage of a potential massive explosion!
Of course, there are people who complain about Bitcoin’s price stability versus fiat currencies (ie, the US dollar) and to be honest you can debate both sides with valid arguments. Although the debate is beyond the scope of this article, let’s just show you the Bitcoin price in USD over the last 5 years.
Short term, let’s say in a period of 2 years or less, you’d be entirely correct in saying Bitcoin’s price fluctuates wildly. Over the long term, however, would you rather have held US dollars or Bitcoin?
The wise answer, of course, is both. You never want to put all your eggs in one basket, and the percent you hold in bitcoin versus other assets and fiat currencies depends on your appetite for risk, your current life/expense needs, etc. The simple fact remains though, that $1 placed into Bitcoin a few years ago would be worth well over $10 now.
Before we go any farther down that rabbit hole, let’s look at….
2. It enables you to transfer money to others cheaply. Where international bank wires take several business days and cost usually at least $30 or $40, Bitcoin transfers usually takes seconds or minutes depending on how busy the network is at that time (and almost always less than an hour). The price for transfers fluctuate as well, but now (and for most of Bitcoin’s history) you’d pay no more than a couple bucks to move the equivalent of thousands of dollars.
3. You’re able to get discounts for buying products or services, and more! For instance, check out the app Purse.io. With this service, you can get up to 33% off! Yep, this is for real 🙂
4. A Bitcoin wallet offers a safe place for your money to sit while you travel. Technically, all you need are to remember a series of numbers (your private keys) and you can literally cross borders with nothing except that in your head. That would be pretty tough to steal from you (short of a mind probe!)
Once you have access to the internet, with those keys in your head, you can access your Bitcoin instantly. Anywhere in the world.
In fact, Obama was famous for stating this several years ago…
Bitcoin’s purpose and utility
Many don’t know the true purpose of Bitcoin. Central banking authorities have the power to raise or lower interest rates with little to no checks or balances. This gives them almost complete control of the monetary system and our currency.
Giving anyone or any entity almost full control of the power to print money is an extremely dangerous thing. It has been detrimental to financial systems and economies, especially in the United States. Debt continues to climb and climb, while people’s purchasing power diminishes with almost every year that goes by.
Just use this as an example: go back to 100, or even 50, years ago. One family member would usually work and the other would stay at home and take care of the house or the kids. This means that one person’s income would be sufficient enough to provide for a family of relatively three to four people.
Nowadays, we can barely take care of ourselves, let alone additional people. Some of us even have to take out massive loans or sink ourselves deeper into debt.
Bitcoin was designed for many purposes but specifically to give people a way to transact money safely without an intermediary or middleman (such as a bank). It also provides a currency that hedges against in inflation so we retain our purchasing power.
We’ve already seen Bitcoin being used for its true purpose in Venezeula, where there is massive hyperinflation. People are starting to survive by transacting in Bitcoin, although the government is continuing to try and ban the cryptocurrency.
Crypto as Payment: Job Opportunities with Crypto Companies
How does this relate to freedom?
The answer is simple: more money, more opportunity. Investing in cryptocurrencies gives you the opportunity to grow your money in potential amounts/gains that have never been seen before!
We are still in the very early infant stages of this possible phenomenon. So, don’t be one to miss out! Even a small investment could go far! In a year or more, you could see yourself sitting on some extra cash. That can give you enough wiggle-room to quit your job, move to another country, travel for a few years, or more!!
There are many remote jobs that are related to cryptocurrency because it’s all digital. The more the space develops, the less technical desired positions will become. Companies will focus more on marketing, operations, hiring, etc.
Now, the space is mostly about coding and developing to build out software. But, just wait: these currencies could eventually become massive and influential projects.
There lies an opportunity for you to pick up some remote work! You can even get paid in the coins. You could build wealth as the token(s) appreciate. Cryptocurrency presents a new alternative to cheap money transfer and investing for all digital nomads!
