Are we really making money by blogging and commenting? Is this REALLY real or are we just deluded fools?
We Are Not Deluded Fools And Here's The Proof!
In my previous article I reported that my debit card had arrived a week after ordering it.
What Happened Next?
- I went on line to advcash.com and activated my card.
- I exchanged some of my SBD's for Bitcoin using my exchange of choice, Blocktrades.us
- I then sent the Bitcoin to my advcash.com account and converted it to Euros. (they also use US dollars and Russian Rubles)
- Once the funds were in Euros I had to load them onto the debit card. Having the funds in your advcash account does not mean that they are loaded onto the card! Don't forget this step because I made several attempts to use the card without doing this and I was sure that the card didn't work. After many messages to the help desk another Steemit member that also uses this card pointed this out to me and Voila!
What Happened Last Night?
- I made a debit purchase in Italy.
- I withdrew Swiss francs in Switzerland!
2.5 kilos of meat, 7 bottles of premium beer, and some errrr snack food (I'll blame my son for that). Total Euro 34.78
Did I Really Just Pay For Groceries Courtesy of Steemit.com? Oh Ya!
My wife, my son and I went over to Italy to buy some groceries and to test out the debit function of the card. There is no charge for this service and so it is an attractive feature.
We were all so excited when the payment went through without any hitches and for the first time we saw the real power of Steemit! We were actually laughing with joy and in a bit of a state of shock. After all, I'd been blogging for over a year and had accumulated more than 41,000 Steem Power (worth about $70,000 at the time of me writing this article) but somehow it was still all so theoretical!
I needed to spend some of my Steem and the time and the means had arrived!
Did I Really Just Withdraw 50 Swiss Francs Courtesy of Steemit.com? Oh Ya!
Still high with elation after the successful trip to the grocery store we decided to attempt an ATM withdrawal in Switzerland. This meant paying an exchange rate on top of the 2 Euro debit fee and so it cost me 2.81 Euro to get the 50 Francs. It was, however, just a test and all of us were wide eyed with elation when again the card worked to perfection! Since we often use Euros I'll just make the withdrawals in Italy or Germany in the future and avoid the extra charge.
This shows my situation after the withdrawal and purchase. I had 101 Euros in The account and I've "spent" a total of 82.50. To summarize 101-82.50 = 18.50. My account shows that I have 15.69 Euros left and that means that I've paid a total of 2.81 Euro in charges. Remember that for debit card purchases there are no charges so these fees are from the cash withdrawal.
Some Final Thoughts
- I'm happy with the card and will now load it up for my Steemcation to the Black Forest next week.
- I am confident that more and better solutions are on the way and we'll be able to spend Steem directly. For example check out the project Blockpay by searching articles by @kencode
- I would like to see a resource for Steemit.com members where they can see the best on and off ramp solutions for their country.
- I believe in the future of Steemit and I will continue to keep most of my "holdings" in SteemPower!
Will You Get a Debit Card And Empower Yourself?
- Do you already have a debit card?
- Are you happy with it?
- Are you searching for one?
I hope that you enjoyed this article about getting a debit card and empowering yourself by spending some of your Steem!
Until next time,
@kus-knee (The Old Dog)
Remember, if you upvote my post and leave a comment I will do my best to upvote it with some of my 41,000 plus Steem Power!
I have an advcash virtual card and have used it to pay for server hosting.
For the cheapest option for physical purchases in Australia, I have been using Coinjar Swipe.
I am happy with it. An ATO ruling states that in certain circumstances bitcoin used for private purchases in capital gains tax exempt. I think a card will make it easier to show that purchases are private in nature. So, I have been spending bitcoin with it for months now and it gives me satisfaction every time a transaction goes through.
Whenever I think about spending crypto currencies in the real world, I remember the 10000 BTC pizza story.
Exactly my thoughts.
I think the opposite. If that guy (and noone else) had ever spent a single bitcoin, its value would still be in the cents range. Currency needs to be used to have value.
How about, spend a little, keep a lot. By spending you are increasing the utility (and hence value) of the portion you hold).
There is much to be said for holding although it can backfire as well.
Thank you so much for the follow up post!
I was reading this offline and told my friend about it.
Thank you - from them for the links and the advice
hopefully they could use it now :)
Have a great vaca and cheers to your Steem funded purchases
I bid you a fun, safe and relaxing vaca with the bird!
Yeah seriously!! That has to really hurt that guy... But who would have known how much that would be worth today.
Just like this!
Hey @kus-knee I'm making a similar project - to spend SBD for a romantic dinner in Russia.
All the best on your romantic dinner!
Thank you!
THIS IS GREAT TO FINALLY SEE A "LIVE & IN ACTION" POST ABOUT THIS!
I am going to be ordering one card within 2 weeks and plan on using it very soon. I'll be posting about it too as I am almost at my final destination and about to start posting on here again...
Thanks a lot for this "proof of usability", namaste :)
I love it. Just been on their website and got an account. in the process of verification but it seems really easy to navigate around. Also spotted a bug on the site, so I will be letting them know (they have a cool bug reporting tool). Looking forward to getting my plastic mastercard too! And really pleased that they can do paypal transfers!
Looking forward to reading more of your experience!
So cool , I did not know you could do this , Thank You for sharing this information , I might give this a try. upvoted and followed :)
Now that i have seen this post i will think about to have one! 😃
Here is a similar post by @solarguy
https://steemit.com/use-sbd/@solarguy/loading-your-cryptopay-bitcoin-visa-credit-card-and-buying-breakfast-with-cash-start-using-sbd-with-instructions-no-id-required
oops, just saw you made the first comment on that post xD
Ah well, it might be usefull for the other readers here ;)
@kus-knee Thank you for sharing this experience which makes Steemit experience a REAL EXPERIENCE. Through your two blogs on this subject, you have effectively demonstrated the connection between crypto and real world.. I showed your blog to my family as proof of Steemit being a great platform. Of corse, I have a long way to go till I accumulate enough Steem to matter. However, I am going to keep on Steemit! Upvoted.
Update at my end - I have posted a blog with a concern about 🅴🅽🅳🅰🅽🅶🅴🆁🅴🅳 species of Ground Hornbill. I would be honored if you take a look and help me spread the message. Your valuable comments will be eagerly awaited. Thanks
I'm glad that the articles were of some help!
Great blog, thanks sharing this... I can share this article to some of my friend who are still skeptical regarding this revolutionary thing happening right now... I posted a blog co-related with this with my Payza Debit Card it works like yours like a charm... if you have precious time please check it out as well... resteeming your blog and followed you! steem on!
https://steemit.com/steemit/@hiroyamagishi/payza-prepaid-card-arrived-in-my-house-after-8-weeks-the-gateway-of-cryptocurrency-to-fiat-money
Great, I'll have a look!
that's amazing. I WANT one of them cards! ;)
Then you shall have one!
Thank you for the usefull informations and for giving a try and sharing the results with us! Just to make shure, let's say I charge the card with euros and then I spend in swiss francs (no cash), is there any fees for that?
I haven't tried it yet but under FAQ's there is the charge for currency conversion.
"What currencies can I make shop purchases in?
You can make purchases in any currency supported by your MasterCard-enabled merchant. Purchases in your card's currency, USD or EUR, are free. Purchases in any other currency other than the currency of your card incur a currency exchange fee of 2.95%."
Ok thanks for the information!
N.P.
Good to know that this can reliably be translated into spendable money. One question, it seems that the STEEM Power gives you some sort of multiplier to accrue the other two tokens (STEEM and SBD). Is this right? If so, any idea what that multiplier is?
Steem Power gives you a stake in the company. In essence your vote is like Proof of Stake or "mining" to compare it with Bitcoin.
The more Stake you have the more value your vote will add to the value of someone's post. You also earn (based on the value of your stake) by curating peoples posts. That is, the voters are a given a share of the "money" that each post makes.
I would suggest that you search for some videos that explain how all of this works and watch them. In the meantime I will upvote your comment with 10% the value of my stake and lets see how much value it gives you!
This service seems really great. What are txn fee or charges for using it? Suppose I transfer btc equivalent to 100$, how much will I get as withdrawn amount?
All of their rates are listed at the website.
Great info. I'll be bookmarking this for sure.
Another way to do this is through coinbase which can be linked to PayPal.
So the process would be steem>BTC>Coinbase>PayPal
PayPal has a debit card and when traveling I've consistently gotten better exchange rates than the local banks. And 1% cash back bonus on all debit card purchases.
I understand your elation when making a purchase with crypto. I had the same "this is for real" moment the first time I had a box of Cuban cigars arrive at my doorstep from a BTC purchase.
Upvoted and followed!
Thanks for sharing your methods and experience!
I never had any doubts about Steem but I was little shocked to see how it's being used. Sorry, I ain't upvoting this post. It makes me feel like I'm generating Steem for you which could be used to murder animals for purchasing their meat!!! 😡 👹 👺
I really don't appreciate it! 😟 😢 😭
I respect your sentiments and I upvoted it.
Thanks for the info and just wanna ask does it works at east ? I mean Asia !?
At the site you can see in which countries it works. The problem for you would be the exchange rate from Euro or US dollars to your currency of choice.
Oh yes the fees are still high. Thank you for this very useful feedback.
The best bet is a Steem to Steem transfer. No fees!
yeah nothing like taking it out and making that real world connection, this equals that, using technology and process and ideas of value we have always had and then applying this crypto layer over the top, it really sinks in when you have funds in usual money in your hands. it kinda connected the dots and the two worlds together. personally, it's made me consider money, value and exchange completely differently. which i believe is a good thing!
As actual spending in the offline world becomes easier values will increase so any innovations in this area are great for all crypto currencies.
Well said!
I really enjoyed your comment and your new way of thinking. This is the Wild West and we are entering a new frontier. No one really knows what will happen next especially with the banking industry and government regulations.
I recently received the Bitpay Visa card. I love being able to spend crypto via the card, it's not only convenient but empowering as you stated.
Well done and congrats @wthomas. We are all pioneers!
Upvoted and Resteemed by xx-votesplus, the dropAhead curation team! Want more earnings? Join @dropahead in Streemian https://streemian.com/profile/curationtrail/trailing/396, or delegate/donate some STEEM POWER to @dropahead!
Please upvote this comment! We will earn more STEEM POWER (SP) to give you more earnings!
Keep up the good work!
Most recent post: First 7 weeks of xx-votesplus: YOUR dropAhead Curation Team!
Thanks a lot!
Great post. Must be Nice feeling to actually do it.. i hope to go to the us in 2019 And could spend Some steem.. Youre post About the card is a great help
Great, let's keep making our dreams a reality!
Indeed .. Lets hope So.. Thx for your support
really great article :)
I got myself a wireX debit card about a month ago and made a small test withdrawal, which was a great feeling indeed :D
but won't withdraw more in the short term, since I am holding for a longer time ;)
Your strategy to hold seems sound. I'm going to pay for this vacation with Steem as a small reward and a social experiment but otherwise I'm in for the longer haul.
nice :)
good choice ;)
Hey kus-knee! This is indeed so interesting, I don't have that much Steem but like everyone I am curious if all of this is true :D
I just registered on advcash but after doing all the verification process they are now telling me that they can't make cards anymore! I copy paste their answer here.
"Unfortunately, we have to let you know that Wave Crest, our current card solution provider, has unilaterally shut down our card program. New virtual and plastic cards are no longer issued to any users whether or not they are EEA/SEPA area residents. "
What do you think of this?
Is the card they issued you still working?
What about today's solutions?
Thank you so much again ;)
MasterCard stopped issuing through the supplier of those cards. You can use Coinbase and have the funds deposited into your account or Lykke works well to deposit to your bank. There are more and more off ramps all the time depending where you are located. In the USA many use the Shift card.
I see that you're in Germany. Try and message @uwelang
Thank you for your answer @kus-knee ;)
Would love to know exactly why they stopped, maybe new laws or something. Anyway, indeed it's not that complicated to withdraw to a bank account. The card would have also be rather a test ;)
Wonderful post @kus-knee because I loved you explained every step of your story. So glad you have finally put your Steem beyond theory and got some real food with it. So happy for your family members as well. Keep sharing such expeirences because they are educational as well as entertaining.
Let me answer some questions asked by you.
I will surely come up with a resource on this topic, generally for all and particularly for my country. Happy for you and have a wonderful Steemit year again!
Please do create a post telling of your experience. We need all members to have suitable off ramps world wide!
Thanks for asking. I think the post is much needed because many people are asking me.
This is a great feedback! I already materialized some Steem into Euros using Coinbase that is linked to my Euro account (just to feel it in reality). I need to study this AdvanceCash better. In Coinbase we pay 1,49% of the amount of BTC to be converted in Euro and 0,15€ to transfer it to my Euro account.
It sounds like you have a good deal in place.
It seems so, but I always like to have an alternative ;)
Thanks
I've got a debit card, but I still haven't jumped through all the hoops to get a digital wallet and the other steps so I can buy crypto currencies. But your last two posts are nudging me in the right direction :-)
Have a blast on your Black Forrest vacation! I lived in a condo on the Northern end of Black Forrest Highway for seven years. It's a beautiful place for a vacation & use your debit card!
Baden Baden
upvoted @roused
Great, thanks for the pick. We were in Baden Baden once in the winter...fabulous but summer even better?
I have buy me several things with steem , have the card but never use it . We have easyer servises in Bulgaria :)
Have you written about the services that you use. It would make a good resource for members in Bulgaria!
I may do this :)
Upvoted this because it is well worth the 100% upvote. Thank you, kus-knee for sharing this. It is practical and something we can all relate to. I'm thinking this is going to work well with US Dollars also.
Question, what do you recommend for the Visa Debit Card? There are several available. Any input you have would be most appreciated.
Thanx for yet another very helpful article here on Steemit.
For the Visa Card I just saw a video by @craig-grant that you could look at.
I'll look into the video by @craig-grant. Do you happen to have a link to that?
https://steemit.com/steemit/@hiroyamagishi/payza-prepaid-card-arrived-in-my-house-after-8-weeks-the-gateway-of-cryptocurrency-to-fiat-money
It was based on this post!
https://steemit.com/steemit/@hiroyamagishi/payza-prepaid-card-arrived-in-my-house-after-8-weeks-the-gateway-of-cryptocurrency-to-fiat-money
Wow, it does not get any more real than that!! I bet you all are more pumped up than ever for steemit now!
I really hope to one day get to the point where I am able to do this:)
You'll get there just keep having fun!
One day I hope, I am focusing on SP for now and just enjoying myself along the way:)
Do you have any price predictions for the price of steem?
Great post, i will surelly do the same soon. Resteemed!
Thanks so much!
Go dog Go!!!!!
Woof!
hahahahahahah yea dog! Maybe I should start calling you dawg hahhahha
Your success I am sure is helping more and more people see and believe in the real potential of Steemit!
Keep up the great work, it helps us all even if the ones complain or jealous do not yet know!
Good morning my friend. I am glad for you, that with the debit card without problems ran with you. I've been using a Visa debit card from Bitwala for several months. I have thus only made positive experiences. Both in cash withdrawals and when paying in shops. Thus, Steemit contributes to my financial relief.
That is great news and I am sooo happy for your success!
Thank you very much my friend. I do it all for the family to be better and we can meet some dream.
Ahan! Its really nice to read your experience. I don't have any debit card but I would love to have one in future and spend some steem in real life.
Right now I don't have enough steem or SBD to withdraw and spend, as I'm new so my focus is on learning more and more about the platform and to increase my reputation plus SP.
You are doing well! Learn, interact, have fun, earn and you'll get there!
Thank you!
Oh ya!
Oh ya ya!
This is really exciting knowing people out there are using Steem to do/pay for quiet abit of goods and services out there. This is as REAL as it gets. Thanks @kus-knee
It is exciting!
Definitely is👍
I did this too :) and it feels very good :) Especially if you buy for food and use steem.
Right on bro!
Yes :)) And soon I go more :)
OK, I've just seen this one and you've answered pretty much all my questions from there!
Great to see, I think I will get one now; I like the sound of this, I may compare with one, maximum two more, then make my decision :-)
Thanks again!
Cg
Glad that it was helpful.
Are the "Advcash" affected by "European Union Regulation 648/2012, known as the 4th Money Laundering Directive" ... i.e can only hold 250$?
For non verified accounts yes.
Awesome information. I'll definitely be looking to your for information about blogging and growing in the steemit community.
Thanks for sharing your experience! It's great to hear that it gets more and more common that we are possible to connect blockcain technology with fiat currencies. Happy sunday and keep writing and upvoting!
Thanks so much!
I am delighted with your success @kus-knee! Can we do this in Ukraine? I invite you to go with me on a hayfield trip!
https://steemit.com/beautifulsunday/@olga.maslievich/my-journey-during-the-hayfield-7-original-photos-of-summer-paradise-for-beautifulsunday
Thanks for the invitation!
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Thanks!
I have thought of getting a debit card, either AdvCash or BitPay, but think we're getting one soon through the VIVAconomy so I'm waiting on that one! Glad to see they are so easy to use. Have a nice vacation in the Black Forest!
Yes, I'm waiting for the next step in the VIVAconomy as well!
Nice post @kus-knee
I am glad you are getting to see the joy of spending your crypto earnings!! It's a fantastic thing. I love those cards.
Full steem ahead @kus-knee
It was about time. Now my wife really respects me. I handed the 50 francs directly to her!
Haha, yes it is a similar type of arrangement I have with my wife. At first she thought steemit was silly until the first time I handed her money from it!!
Oh wow, this platform truly is revolutionary. If in a year you can earn $70k that is spectacular. It has the potential to change so many people's lives for the better. Unlike Facebook which just steals your content, this place rewards you for it.
Btw thank you for showing us all how easy the transaction process it. I think we need more of this because if this is to become really mainstream anybody needs to be able to do it. Like you I think things can progress and it can be furthered simplified but it is definitely going in the right direction.
I bet after that purchase, everything became real to you, didn't it? And your hard work over the past year must have felt completely worth it.
You are now your own central bank and only rely on fiat currency for the final portion of your transaction. I wonder how long it will be until that part fades in to the long forgotten past.
Yes it was a big thrill to use it!
looks like i need to get one too !! time to spend some cryptos too and make it more popular among people
World has change time to change our self's too
Go for it!
Ah I see the proverbial Old Dog can indeed learn new tricks! Im most assured this will make the Missus happy! From my experience, women seem to delight at the sight of a new card LOL! They say diamonds are a girls best friend, but Im willing to bet plastic is their second best friend!
I think that you just may be right!