Bitcoin as a travel currency

[Jamesaurus]

Any else use crypto as an easy way of waiving foreign transaction fees? If so what do you use? I found it pretty handy in a recent trip to Japan where all the major stores accepted it... the price even went up slightly in the week before I bought and used it so shopping was even cheaper!

 

[Daver6]

Interesting. I've not really heard of this. There are still transaction fees with processing crypto-currencies though.

Which ones did you use in Japan? How did you transact with a store to prove purchase? I mean do they just watch you transfer to their wallet and consider it a done deal? Given transfer can take a while, especially with bitcoin, you surely arent hanging around in a store for 10+ minutes for them to confirm the transfer.

 

[Jamesaurus]

Interesting. I've not really heard of this. There are still transaction fees with processing crypto-currencies though.

Which ones did you use in Japan? How did you transact with a store to prove purchase? I mean do they just watch you transfer to their wallet and consider it a done deal? Given transfer can take a while, especially with bitcoin, you surely arent hanging around in a store for 10+ minutes for them to confirm the transfer.

BTC off coinjar and a travel buddy has a tenx card which is pretty cool. Merchants seem to just look at your iphone which is fine by my with the language barrier at times! I didnt really think about it from their POV but I'd assume litecoin and other crypto with faster transactions would be better. I would consider moving to coins with better privacy like DASH if the laws tighten..

 

[Daver6]

Agree on the privacy. Zcash is another option. It's kinda funny when the media suggests how anonymous bitcoin is. It's actually the exact opposite, with every transaction publicly available. The exact reason why it is a really poor choice to use for ransom-ware. As soon as you attempt to cash out, you'll be caught.

I'm not really convinced with these methods that you're saving on FX fees though. You still have the initial fees to purchase the crypto-currency plus the transaction fees when spending.