Sent BTC remittance to family in Argentina. The future is here.

Family member's landlord wanted hiked rent to double what she was paying. He did that in the middle of a pandemic; her savings were depleted, and was facing exorbitant prices to move into a new place. PANIC.

BTC was made for this, I thought, so I offered to help with the cost of moving. When she said yes, I suggested using BTC.

Helped her open an account with a local exchange. It took a total of 30 minutes until all transactions were completed. By the next morning, she had the $ in her bank account, in the local currency. It was Saturday. The cost for all this, $2,30 USD.

I knew this was possible, but I couldn't believe it. She had never heard of BTC, and she couldn't believe it. Now we both know, that if she ever needs financial help, it is literally 24 hours away, at almost no cost.

Consider the alternatives:

• A wire transfer costs $25 USD. Would take days/weeks.
• With other services like Western Union, a transfer of $900 could cost $76.
• When she receives the $ in USD, she also faces local banking restrictions on how much she can use/withdraw per month. (Argentina always has a dollar liquidity crisis)
• Skipping USD, the banks, and other traditional intermediaries is cheaper, faster, freer.

With lightning it will become even more ridiculous. And when we can pay for things in BTC, it will be beyond ludicrous. But what BTC allows us to do right now, is already pretty cool.

Submitted January 24, 2021 at 12:28PM by ting_jun48 https://ift.tt/2Mnt0n5