I come from a family of immigrants. At present, we live on three different continents in three different time zones, although we’ve been spread over four in the past. We’re fortunate to all live in economically stable countries, but every time the Holidays roll around, I’m reminded of the limitations of the existing banking system in modern life. Whether it’s trying to gift my nephew some money for video games, or sending funds my sibling desperately needs after an unexpected crisis, the traditional banking world is not built for the increasing number of multi-national families out there. This is the space where I personally believe that cryptocurrency can shine – or at least, those that we treat as currencies rather that vehicles of investment.

You see, trying to send money to family in other countries can be expensive, time consuming, and to get technical for a moment, an utter faff from start to finish. For anyone unfamiliar with the process, allow me to explain.

First, you need to find an exchange that operates in both your country and that of your loved one, but that is also accessible to you both, either digitally or in person. This is not always as easy as you think it will be, especially if one of you is located in a remote or politically unstable location. Even if you both have traditional banking accounts, you have to be able to access them wherever you are.

Next, you must register with this exchange and provide proof of identity, which can take time to be accepted the first time you use the service. If you are “lucky”, you will both have accounts with traditional banks that operate their own exchange and talk to each other, but even then, you might have additional hoops to jump through in order to be allowed to send or accept international money transfers. It is also worth noting that some exchanges charge you for the privilege of having an account with them. Sometimes they are upfront about it, other times it is hidden in the transactions. You have to read the terms & conditions carefully, which isn’t always easy if the person you’re trying to send money to is in crisis.

Once you are both set up with your exchange or bank, the sender will now have to transfer the money – but not to their family member. The money goes to the exchange first, where it will be subject to a minimum transfer amount and a transfer fee. You might see companies advertise that you can send as little as a dollar to your loved one, but they forget to mention that the transaction will cost you five more. Others will charge you a percentage as the transfer fee, which can be anything from 0.15% to 5% or higher.

Now the exchange has your money, they do not immediately send it to your family member. Instead, it sits in their bank accounts making them interest for anything between one and five days before the transaction continues any further – hardly helpful if your loved one is in crisis and needs the money immediately. Once the waiting period is over, the amount you sent (minus fees) is converted to the recipient’s currency and made available for collection. Here is another point at which you lose money: most exchanges and banks do not exchange the currencies at their actual value, but at a rate preferential to them. For example, if the currencies you were exchanging were both worth exactly $1USD according to the foreign exchange index, your loved one would only receive 98 cents for every dollar you sent them.

Congratulations, your loved one can now collect their money! If they are lucky it has been deposited directly into their bank account, but it might require collecting in person or for them to access an account on the exchange. Despite all the costs you’ve already paid in getting the money to your family member, don’t be surprised if they now have to pay for the privilege of accessing it, too.

Like I said, an utter faff.

This, then, might explain why I have a particular interest in cryptocurrencies that actually function as currencies. As someone that uses Nano and Banano already, but who is also paying attention to the Stellar network, it often irritates me that many crypto investors dismiss any projects they don’t think will make them overnight millionaires as irrelevant.

Look, I get it. I hold Ethereum, Bitcoin, and a range of other coins for investment purposes, but just like I wouldn’t trade my stocks for groceries, I’m not about to pay a fortune in gas fees to send some Eth to my family abroad. There is room in the crypto world for multiple projects with different areas of focus, and the currency aspect of cryptocurrency is an important function that too many people are overlooking.

Take Nano, and it’s meme offspring Banano, as a case study. Fast, feeless transactions for any amount from micro payments up to thousands of dollars are what makes these projects worthwhile. I can send my sister, who lives on another continent, 100 Nano right now, and she’ll receive 100 Nano in her account seconds later. When my nephews beat me at some stupid bet we have running, I can sling them a micro amount of Banano as forfeit whenever I lose, knowing they will receive the exact amount that I sent them even though they live half a world away from me. Banano has the additional benefit of being fun, and my relatives get more of a kick out of receiving “fake bananas” as a gift than they do cold hard cash, which is a nice bonus.

For me, being able to make these kinds of transactions as easily as handing a coin to someone stood next to me not only makes sense financially, it also makes me feel closer to my loved ones, and more able to support them no matter how many oceans lie between us. Just because we live all over the world doesn’t make us any less of a family, and doesn’t change that fundamental desire to take care of one another.

Now I know there’s still many limitations to using crypto as a borderless currency, because until mainstream businesses the world over accept these types of feeless cryptos then there is still some exchange or middleman profiting off the fact my family is an international one. Projects like the Stellar Network are working to address this, but as we are still in the early days of crypto there is a long way to go before it reaches its full potential. At least in some countries there are businesses willing to take Nano as direct payment already, but at the time of writing that doesn’t include the local grocery store in any of the countries my family lives in. Projects like these, however, are a real start to fixing a real problem in the modern world, and is the reason that I hope more crypto investors will start to support projects that focus on being a borderless currency rather than purely a vehicle of wealth production. There is room for both, and I for one am glad of that.