Why would someone prefer to use crypto over fiat cash in the first place? Banks exist—why doesn't everyone use them?

Unfortunately, 1.4 billion people are unbanked. Roughly 1.1 billion people have access to a mobile phone. Crypto bridges the gap.

Why are people unbanked in the first place?

There are a slew of reasons including:

• No ID
• High fees and minimum balances
• No physical access
• Lack of trust
• Unstable or restricted economies

For these people, crypto makes sense. All they need is a wallet downloaded to their phone. As long as they hold the private keys, they hold the crypto. The cool thing is that these people don't even need a phone, necessarily. They could store the 12-24 seed words on a piece of paper or in their mind. As long as no one gets their hands on those words, the crypto is safe and sound. They could create a paper wallet or better yet use a hardware wallet to increase privacy, but the phone offers a viable solution to many.

Still, though, many people are banked (or at least have the option to be) and still choose to use crypto as their currency.

Why?

What are the advantages crypto has over fiat whether someone is unbanked or not?

The advantages include the following:

• Decentralized
• Security
• Immutability
• Privacy and Anonymity
• Low TX fees
• Inflation resistance
• Transparency
• Purchasing power

Let's see what some members of the crypto community say about why they use crypto rather than cash...

"I use crypto instead of cash because it’s fast, secure, and often has lower fees—especially for sending money internationally. Crypto gives me more privacy and control over my funds since there’s no central authority, and all transactions are transparent on the blockchain. It’s also accessible to anyone with an internet connection, which is great for people who don’t have access to traditional banks. Plus, I like that there’s no risk of chargebacks, and there’s even potential for my holdings to appreciate over time."

- Frank J Trezza (ۗۗۗH∆MMΞR)⁩⁩ | steeletrezza.com/

"I use crypto as cash because i like that it's fast, (can be) private and p2p."

- Anonymous

"I use it out of necessity for privacy, where the amount of privacy I use and hold is up to me. I also find it easier to manage in most instances with many online orders; especially overseas online orders. When you are not just always switching to the newest whatever (wallet/chain), the way you use your crypto slowly feels safer and you don't fall for fomo or hype as much cause you have your own way. And that feels kool sometimes too, cause my way may not be like your way with crypto."

- 3D | @Z0M8I3D

As you can see crypto has many benefits over the old and outdated monetary system. The beauty begins to unfold the more you use it. As you go through your crypto journey, you'll wonder how you ever did without it in the first place.

🪙 Cash-Like Cryptos

Before we dive into how you can earn crypto and spend it, let's first discuss which cryptos are best used as cash. Some behave better than others of course. You are looking for speed and low fees mainly.

There are probably a lot of others worth mentioning but these will get you started at least.

🫴🏻 Earning

So if cryptocurrencies can behave like cash, how might you get your hands on some? How can you earn crypto as an income either actively or passively? Let's review the main ones below.

✍🏻 Writing

Platforms like read.cash, Publish0x, Steemit, and Hive allow you to write and publish articles in exchange for some crypto. It is not necessarily guaranteed you will be tipped crypto on these platforms, but there is always the opportunity! Might as well try, right? Rather than posting on social media where you won't earn a dime, try spending your time elsewhere. What've you got to lose?!

Alternative Writing Platforms:

• Binance Square
• Ghost
• HackerNoon
• Hive
• inLeo
• KuCoin Content Creator Program
• Mirror.xyz
• Publish0x (earn by reading too)
• read.cash
• Steemit

Please comment below if you have found any not mentioned! 🙂

Platforms like Ghost exist where you can add the ability to earn bitcoin via donations, paywall, and membership. It requires a bit of technical work, but it seems fairly straightforward.

A bonus tip on these platforms is to add your payment link via cointr.ee, coindrop.to, or gravatar. Alternatively, you can post your public addresses or FIO address at the bottom of your posts.

👛 DCA and HODL

Perhaps one of the easiest entry points into getting your hands on some crypto is to DCA and HODL. DCA stands for dollar cost average and HODL means hold on for dear life! If you've never heard these terms before, don't let them scare you off.

Dollar-cost averaging is simply when you invest a fixed amount of crypto (like Bitcoin) regardless of the asset price. For example, you could invest $100 in bitcoin every week or month. The advantage of this is that it takes the emotion out of the game. You can even set it up to automatically do it for you. This is very easy to do on Cash App.

📰 Block, Inc. announced it will launch bitcoin payments on Square. Yet another way to stack sats.

Another easy entry point on apps like Cash App and Strike is that you can set up direct deposit with bitcoin. This way every 2 weeks you could be stashing a percentage (%), if not all of your paycheck. What an easy way to DCA!

Head to dcabtc.com to see how much you can accumulate by DCAing and HODLing bitcoin over time!

🚩 Staking

Staking is where you lock up a cryptocurrency to support its operations [securing the network or validating transactions]. By doing so, stakers earn rewards. It's very common in Proof-of-Stake [PoS] blockchains like Ethereum, Cardano, and Solana.

Staking is comparable to a savings account in a bank, but it's not quite the same. When you stake crypto, you’re essentially pledging it to help validate transactions and create new blocks on the blockchain. Your funds are still yours, but they can be locked for some time or subject to penalties if the network rules are broken.

The MetaMask wallet makes the staking process super easy.

👁️ Browser Ads

You can earn passive income on Brave's browser by viewing ads. You earn Brave's native token BAT (Basic Attention Token) by doing so. The setup is simple and is tied to your payout account like Uphold. Just be sure to send this to a non-custodial wallet since Uphold is a centralized exchange (CEX).

🔎 Search

You can earn crypto just by searching as you normally would. All you need to do is sign up for Presearch with an email and you are good to go. You are rewarded .25 PRE per search. Aside from the earning aspect, Presearch offers privacy when compared to Google.

👨🏻‍💻 Work

Sites like CryptoJobList and LaborX allow you to find work in exchange for crypto. You'll earn crypto and both client and workers will be protected via escrow.

Be sure to check out other platforms like:

• Braintrust
• CryptoJobs
• CryptoJobsList
• Cryptotask
• Freelance for Coins
• r/Jobs4Crypto
• r/cryptocurrencyjobs
• X
• Gitcoin
• DAOjobs
• Web3.Career

Be wary of any scams you may find. You'll want to understand wallets and tax implications in your country too. To avoid market volatility, you can always accept or trade to a stablecoin like USDT or UDSC.

While I'm on the subject, if anyone is looking for a Writer/Videographer/Video Editor/Customer Support—check out my portfolio and hire me (3gxd+hire at pm dot me).

🖼️ NFTs

NFTs or Non-Fungible Tokens offer a unique way to earn crypto for your creativity (or whatever else you can imagine). They get their name because you cannot replicate the digital work. Each piece is one of one.

Artists can create and sell their NFTs on marketplaces like OpenSea, Zora, Objkt, and Foundation. One cool thing a creator can do is set royalty percentages. This way whenever an NFT is resold they'll automatically be paid. This is a win-win for both the creator and the collector.

✈️ Airdrops

Airdrops are an easy entry point for newbies to get their hands on some crypto. You don't need technical skills or upfront capital. All you need is a compatible wallet.

Airdrops will usually happen in 2 ways:

1. Retroactively - tokens are rewarded to users who previously interacted with a protocol
2. Task-based - users complete simple missions like following a project on X (Twitter), joining a Discord, or trying out a beta dApp

Airdrops function as a way to distribute ownership and bootstrap communities, not to mention the free crypto. 🤑

⛏️ Mining

As a miner, you are validating transactions on a blockchain network. For doing so, you'll be rewarded in the respective crypto. There will be some upfront costs as a miner, but if your computational power can solve the mathematical puzzle, you will be rewarded handsomely.

If you are just starting on your mining journey, you could always pick up a BitAxe solo miner.

🤖 Running a Node or Validator

PoS blockchains allow you to operate as a validator node. By securing the network, you will be rewarded. You may have to stake a substantial amount of crypto to become a validator though. Ethereum, for instance, requires staking 32 ETH to become a validator.

Check out the Ethereum Node Validator Guide to get started.

🎮 Play-to-Earn (P2E) Games

Imagine instead of punching into your 9-5 your job was to play games and earn a living. This is exactly what happened at the height of the NFT craze in 2021 with Axie Infinity. During this time in the Philippines, people were breeding and battling virtual creatures called Axie in exchange for real money.

Other popular P2E games include:

• Gods Unchained
• Splinterlands
• The Uplift World

Compare this to popular games today where you are paying to play (although some P2E games could stand for "pay-to-earn"). In a game like Fortnite, you could earn their currency, but there isn't much you can do with it outside of the game. You are essentially "locked in". Play-to-earn blockchain-based games flip the industry on its head where you can earn and move your crypto wherever you damn well, please.

🏃🏻‍♂️ Move-to-Earn (M2E) dApps

Wouldn't you like to earn something just for working out? STEPN and Sweatcoin allow you to do so!

You'll need a smartphone with GPS to take advantage. With STEPN you'll need to buy an NFT sneaker to start earning.

As you stack tokens on these dApps you can then hold, trade, stake, or spend them.

🏫 Learn-to-Earn (L2E) Platforms

Learn-to-earn presents yet another entry point into the crypto community. The way it works is simple. Head to an L2E platform (listed below) and choose something you'd like to learn. These range from blockchains, crypto, tokens, protocols, etc. Once you're done with the learning process (text, videos, etc.), you'll take a short quiz or perform tasks. For each quiz or task, you'll earn some crypto! Don't just stop there though. Use what you learn and spread the knowledge. You could even turn what you learn into an article or video and earn a little more crypto!

Be sure to check out these L2E platforms:

• Coinbase Earn
• Binance Learn and Earn
• CoinMarketCap Earn
• BitDegree

If you're a no-coiner but crypto-curious, this is one of the safest on-ramps into crypto. Once you earn the crypto, be sure to move it off the exchange (not your keys, not your coins).

🐛 Bug Bounties

Crypto is code and code breaks sometimes. When this happens it can cost a company millions of dollars. Bug bounties offer a way for someone to highlight these vulnerabilities before a hacker does [and get paid some crypto for it].

Calling all people who have a background in coding, cybersecurity, or ethical hacking.

📺 Videos

If you're like most people, you spend a lot of time on YouTube and like watching videos. You're consuming content. What's the harm in that other than your time?

You may have heard the saying—"If the product is free, then you're the product". With Google's YouTube (and other similar platforms like TikTok), there comes a cost. You're being fed advertisements for your viewing pleasure. Not to mention, these advertisements track you. It is just too creepy being watched. And what do you get out of it other than entertainment and education?

With Web3 blockchain-based video platforms like Odysee (formerly LBRY), you earn $LBC (LBRY Credits) simply by watching videos. If you're a creator, you can of course also earn $LBC for that as well.

Alternative Video Platforms:

• 3Speak ($HIVE & $SPEAK)
• BitChute (No native crypto; not blockchain-based)
• DLive ($LINO — defunct; later integrated with TRON, but unclear current token use)
• DTube ($DTC)
• Flixxo ($FLIXX)
• LivePeer ($LPT)
• Theta Network ($TFUEL)

📈 Trading

Trading takes a bit more skill in the earning dept. There is spot trading, futures, DeFi yield farming, and arbitrage. You choose to perform your trades on either a centralized exchange (CEX) or a decentralized exchange (DEX). Centralized means you do not hold the keys to your crypto, so do not leave your earned crypto there.

Earning through your creativity is the safer bet, but if you can get good at trading you can make some big gains. Of course, you'll have to be mindful of taxes and all.

🫳🏻 Spending

Once you have acquired some crypto in your wallets, you may be asking yourself if you can spend it like "real money."

Yes!

While you may want to hold larger amounts of crypto as a store of value, there are other cryptos you'd want to use as your "cash". After all—crypto is cash!

Just as you would with dirty fiat, you are free to use crypto as a medium of exchange for goods, services, etc. Let's see how to do just that.

💳 Cards (Debit, Credit, Gift, Physical Storage)

Some debit cards like Fold and Crypto.com allow you to earn a percentage (%) back in crypto.

On Cash App, you can set up round-ups in bitcoin. Every time you spend fiat, it'll round up to the nearest dollar and buy btc.

Here is a list of crypto debit and credit cards.

• Fold (debit)
• Crypto.com (debit)
• Coinbase (debit)
• Binance (debit)
• BitPay (debit)
• BlockFi (debit)
• Gemini (credit)
• Venmo (credit)

Bitrefill and Coincards

Bitrefill and Coincards bridge the gap between crypto holders and real-world spending. When on these sites, you can simply buy gift cards from a healthy handful of the places you know and love—Doordash, Uber, Airbnb, etc. You can also refill prepaid phones and buy eSims.

The beauty of buying digital gift cards, etc. with crypto is that it enables cash-like privacy with no KYC (Know Your Customer). Travels and unbanked users can now enter into Visa's global payment infrastructure too.

Opendime and Satscard

The Opendime is a peculiar little cypherpunk device. It looks and feels like a USB stick. The cool thing about it is that you have to physically break the seal by poking a thumbtack through it to reveal the private key.

So what's the point? You can think of it as a way to spend bitcoin like cash. Load up the Opendime and gift someone bitcoin. The benefit is that it isn't recorded on chain so it maximizes privacy that way (private p2p payments). The only downside is that you can't use it anymore once the seal is broken.

The Satscard takes things a step further. It is an NFC Bitcoin card that can be used up to 10 times. Each slot has a private key. Once handed over to someone, they can verify the balance with a smartphone.

🫱🏻‍🫲🏻 Peer-to-Peer (p2p)

Peer-to-peer (p2p). The way Satoshi intended Bitcoin to be.

- The Bitcoin Whitepaper

Peer-to-peer is a badass way to spend crypto. There is no bank. No credit card. No company. No middleman. Just as you would hand someone $5, you hand someone crypto digitally.

The way it works is simple.

1. You and someone have crypto wallets.
2. You send them crypto (using an address or QR code)
3. Miners or validators confirm it (This is the digital equivalent of stamping a receipt — a permanent record that can’t be changed.)
4. The transaction is recorded on the blockchain

Use cases include paying freelancers or remote workers, tipping creators, and paying a friend back.

🫰🏻 Happily Bankless

You don't need a bank to store or spend money. All you need is a crypto wallet and you are good to go. No permission. No middleman. Just you and a counterparty.

We encourage you to try for yourself. Whether you are creating content, staking your claim, or are a merchant yourself. Whatever the case may be, be on the forward frontier of the crypto movement. Crypto is cash!

If you enjoyed this article, head to InformEmpower.com for much more crypto news and information!

If you enjoyed this article, please consider putting some coin in my piggy bank.

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