Renting an apartment for bitcoin \ stacker news ~bitcoin

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22.7k sats \ 37 comments \ @Monotone 25 Sep 2023 bitcoin

Hi everyone. I was surprised that my previous post would get so much attention - My difficult transition to the bitcoin standard (almost). Thank you all for your support. This is my most popular post since I've been on SN)

So I would like to add to my story with how I was looking for a place to live in a new country. My previous post was mentioned by @k00b in the SN Saturday Newsletter 9/23/23. And here I would like to clarify that I am currently in Georgia, not Europe.

Georgia is a small country on the shores of the Black Sea. Here they are quite loyal to bitcoin (for now) and it made it easier for me to adapt to the new place and not even open a bank account. There are a lot of offline cryptocurrency exchangers in Georgia. Unfortunately it is not possible to switch to the bitcoin standard 100%, but I am striving for it, and in the meantime sometimes I have to use fiat.

Searching for accommodation took a lot of time. At first I tried to rent an apartment exclusively for bitcoins, but the landlords refused to accept sats, so I had to choose the option with fiat. But I didn't give up))

Having found a suitable apartment, I found out that the owner of the apartment lives in the USA, and in Georgia his relatives look after the apartment instead of him, and all transactions on payment for housing are made through these relatives. I gave them fiat, and they sent money to the owner of the apartment in the USA through the banking system.

I decided to take advantage of this and do orange pilling. I wrote to the owner of the apartment and offered him to simplify the process of transferring value to him, bypassing the heavy and clumsy banking system. I told him that he would not have to wait a few days for his relatives to take the money from me, find time to go to the bank, deposit the money into their account and send it to him in the States from their account.

I told him that the time could be reduced to just a few minutes with bitcoin. Obviously, at first he didn't want to get involved and figure it out, but he was hooked by the fact that he wouldn't have to wait a few days. Eventually he gave in and decided to give it a try.

And this is in lieu of an afterword :)

https://imgprxy.stacker.news/T_3uCbYTRM1Zq2N3jzFe1XrJhbjYvmvVPdXcK2-vow8/rs:fit:600:500:0/g:no/aHR0cHM6Ly9ub3N0cmZpbGVzLmRldi91cGxvYWRzL2hsQ0REWVd4Y2tidkE4dWZDR2tyLnBuZw

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219 sats \ 1 reply \ @DarthCoin 25 Sep 2023

You are a true bitcoin warrior! Well done man.

50 sats \ 0 replies \ @Monotone OP 25 Sep 2023

It's a really cool feeling when you witness the realization of the benefits of bitcoin by other people. I wish I could erase my memory and experience it again myself)

177 sats \ 2 replies \ @siggy47 25 Sep 2023

Great story and clever orange pilling! Can you tell us more about Georgia and its "loyalty" to bitcoin? Is there an already existing bitcoin community there?

490 sats \ 0 replies \ @Monotone OP 25 Sep 2023

Georgia is interesting in that the majority of the local population is rather indifferent to bitcoin, and any exchange points or stores with payment in sats are opened by expats who have moved to the country.

On a legislative level, "cryptocurrency" is virtually unregulated in the country. There are no taxes on exchanging bitcoin to fiat and back here.

Bitcoin communities I was not able to find. There are sometimes some small thematic meetings, but I have not seen any active movement. Perhaps I will try to create such a community myself and try to attract people, but I need to think it over carefully.

145 sats \ 0 replies \ @DarthCoin 25 Sep 2023

Yes SN loves stories like these!

109 sats \ 0 replies \ @BlokchainB 25 Sep 2023

Lol well if you ever move to the United States let me know and I’ll charge you bitcoin to stay at my property haha

31 sats \ 1 reply \ @birdeye21 25 Sep 2023

Amazing. Must be a great feeling getting that text

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @Monotone OP 25 Sep 2023

That's exactly right)

15 sats \ 1 reply \ @IgnaciobTato 25 Sep 2023

If after Georgia you move to Armenia, please let me know if you were succesfull doing the same. I'm kind of thinking of travelling there and check this possibility.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Monotone OP 25 Sep 2023

I don't plan to move to Armenia, but nowadays it's hard to plan something in advance)))

15 sats \ 1 reply \ @kristapsk 25 Sep 2023

I am currently in Georgia, not Europe.

There are different definitions for borders of Europe, by some Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia are parts of Europe.

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @Monotone OP 25 Sep 2023

Yes, I agree with that, but we are the ones who don't consider Georgia to be Europe)

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @ch0k1 26 Mar

I love your story - keep up with your way of implementing the Bitcoin standard 👏

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Monotone OP 26 Mar freebie

Sure)

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @2bithits 25 Sep 2023

Just like that...

Another is born

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @pillar 25 Sep 2023

Doing the lord's work, congratulations! Keep up with the good work!

5 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei 7 Sep

This was a fun post to read. I hope you are busy orange pilling many others!

5 sats \ 1 reply \ @SatsArmy 26 Sep 2023

Awesome, I think you could be on to something here and could possibly generate further income via sats acting as an agent or go between on behave of your landlord and his tenants.

Which could assist with your transition to the bitcoin stand, I love to read stories like this they are inspiring and lead the way for others to follow.

I wish you the best of look

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Monotone OP 26 Sep 2023

Thanks) I'll probably work something out with that, yeah)

5 sats \ 1 reply \ @duvel 26 Sep 2023

Great story. Did he asked how he can convert the received bitcoin to dollars?

100 sats \ 0 replies \ @Monotone OP 26 Sep 2023

Yes, of course he did. He couldn't replace fiat with bitcoin overnight. I told him about the different options and that so many things and services in the usa can be paid for directly in bitcoins. He's still learning.

6 sats \ 0 replies \ @fm 25 Sep 2023

hahhaha, good outcome

5 sats \ 1 reply \ @ladyluck 26 Sep 2023

This is an awesome way to get people into Bitcoin

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Monotone OP 26 Sep 2023

yep)

5 sats \ 1 reply \ @elvismercury 25 Sep 2023

Did you pay exactly the same amount in btc as you would have in fiat?

I had an idea I mentioned on here once (hard to dig up or I'd link it) that I call "take 10" in my head -- the idea was that, if you're selling stuff ( goods, services) that you offer a 10% discount if they pay you in btc. That's not too much of a haircut, usually, and seems like a good way to begin to bootstrap the circular economy.

I wonder now if there's another side to it, for orange-pilling purposes: the 10% is a bonus that you could offer to pay for someone to accept btc who doesn't already? In other words: I'd like to pay in btc, I'll give you 10% more (this time -- or for a few times) if you accept payment in btc.

Obviously not everyone has the funds avail to make that deal, but it might be a solid orange-pilling strategy. Most of the people I talk to don't want to complicate their own lives with weird internet money, but for a 10% premium? Hmm.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Monotone OP 25 Sep 2023

Yes, I thought about it, but in my case this option did not work. We agreed to simply pay in BTC at the exchange rate in usd on the day of payment.

5 sats \ 1 reply \ @robbabuona 25 Sep 2023

My hero!

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Monotone OP 25 Sep 2023

ahah thanks)

5 sats \ 0 replies \ @anon 25 Sep 2023

Good one

5 sats \ 1 reply \ @Zepasta 25 Sep 2023

If he needs the fiat, he still needs to figure out how to sell the Bitcoin.

234 sats \ 0 replies \ @Monotone OP 25 Sep 2023

It's a start. The main thing is that he got interested and is now asking more questions. Step by step, if his interest doesn't wane, one day he will be able to give up the fiat.

5 sats \ 1 reply \ @Natalia 25 Sep 2023

I like Georgia. I was looking at the Bitcoin map the other night, and it turned out many shops have already accepted BTC there.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Monotone OP 25 Sep 2023

The problem is that most of the marks on btcmap are exchanges, or stores that accept payment through exchanges like binance. There are very few who actually accept directly in BTC

5 sats \ 1 reply \ @Ksjznxnxkxksn 25 Sep 2023

Bitcoiners wet dream :

43 sats \ 0 replies \ @Monotone OP 25 Sep 2023

Dreams are starting to come true)

5 sats \ 1 reply \ @Diego 1 Oct 2023

Thanks for the update and sharing. I’ve read that btc mining is big in Georgia because of cheap electricity. Is this something you’re aware of?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Monotone OP 1 Oct 2023

Yes, electricity is quite cheap in Georgia, but mining is not very publicized here. People are wary anyway.