One of the questions I often get is how to convert cryptocurrency like Hive, HBD, Dash or bitcoin to real money. Even on HIVE there are newcomers that wan to know ways to send their earnings to Venmo, PayPal or directly to there fiat bank.
To this I'd like to ask
What is money?
Money is a medium of exchange that people use to buy goods and services. It’s a system society agrees on to represent value, making trade easier than bartering. Historically, it’s taken forms like shells, metal coins, or paper notes—anything widely accepted as payment. Today, it’s mostly digital, stored in bank accounts or in the case of freedom-lovers, on blockchains.
At its core, money has three main jobs: it’s a medium of exchange (you give it, you get stuff), a unit of account (it measures value, like $3 HBD for a coffee), and a store of value (you can save it for later).
When it comes to fiat money, it’s also a tool for power and control. Governments print it, banks lend it, and debt keeps the system spinning.
Horror stories of fiat
You might have met a fellow Hivean named Jon Olson. I don't know all the details of his story, but I do know that he was operating an online business and accepting payment via PayPal. Well, one unfortunate day, someone at PayPal decided Jon no longer needed his money and proceeded to seize his hard-earned Benjamins. Just like that. No warning letter, no follow up email; nothing.
Or how about the Canadian truckers who refused to get vaccinated back in 2022? Do you know what happened to them? Well, they protested in Ottawa because it was a violation of their freedom of choice.
photo by Maksim Sokolov (Maxergon) - Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0
The government decided that in order to keep people safe, they would enable an emergency act to freeze personal accounts of anyone linked with the protests. And just like that, without court orders or anything, the Canadian truckers had no way to pay for gas or food.
source: aa.com.tr
In fact, the government even punished restaurants that were selling or donating food to the protesters.
You can read the story on Without Papers Pizza here, a guy named Jesse Johnson was forced to shut down his restaurant because the city of Calgary froze his bank account.
He's since then filed a $3.6 Million law suit against the City of Calgary as well as Alberta Health Services (AHS) chief medical officer and I'm pretty sure he's going to win.
The banks, corporations and governments control fiat money. Why do you want to continue playing by their rules in their system, in their gilded cage that can shut the door in your face at any time?
We are witnessing the revolution of money thanks to ecosystems like HIVE, why don't you want to stay digital?
Stay digital, frens
Every day there are more and more businesses that are willing to accept freedom money like HIVE, HBD, Dash and bitcoin. Find those places and buy food there. Make an online business and accept decentralized digital currencies. Hire designers, virtual assistants and programmers. Pay them in decentralized digital currencies like $HBD.
Most important of all: build your stack.
In a few years, when cryptocurrencies like HIVE are worth $69.420, you won't have to exchange it for paper dollars, pesos or whatever your government calls its broken money. you'll be able to stay digital and rich.
We are witnessing the financial revolution. We are our own banks.
In the words of Andreas Antonopoulos
I'll use my digital currency directly without re-entering your system to which I was never invited.
Shut down the on-ramps, shut down the off-ramps and I will stay on board, I will stay digital. I won't touch your gilded cage anymore 'cause I don't need you, I exit”
-Andreas Antonopoulos