I know that griping about governments and banks are two of the more popular gripes in the cryptosphere... and usually, I'm a bit indifferent to them. Sure, I do think that they have gotten corrupt and inefficient, but that is the problem with the long-term inability to disrupt entrenched power structures... and I don't mean that it needs to be all burnt down, but removing some of the more overt forms of possible corruption should be possible without people putting the hands on their hearts and PROMISING that they couldn't possibly be corrupt!

... a bit like the entire crypto-ethos... don't rely on goodwill and trust, just make it impossible.

Anyway... most of my gripes with government stuff is the sheer inefficiency of the whole thing. Quite often, the onus is dumped to the public to do a crap-load of work... or to pay for someone else to do it. Anyone who has tried to report anything to do with crypto is definitely going to be crazily aware of that... even if you don't have that much to declare, but you want to do it right!

Anyway... our latest, is the fact that we were still collecting childcare subsidies from the Netherlands.... to the grand total of ZERO euros per year. But to make sure that all the boxes were ticked, we needed to show our worldwide income. GAAAAHHHHHH... anyway, to avoid problems, we did it. Which is tricky given our freelance working lives, the exchange rates, and the out of sync financial years.

But we did need to prepare everything for the Australian tax year anyway... and so, doing this sort of gave us a head start on doing that particular nightmare (which we have about two more months or so left before the self-reporting deadline!).

So, with it was with a sense of relief that we posted the two forms back to the Netherlands last week... with a pretty rough calculation, but at least we tried! And to our immense frustration... for some reason, the post office decided to send one straight BACK TO US! ARRRHGHGHGHGHG..... anyway, a quick fix... back down to the post office to explain our situation... an apology, and a possible explanation... and then it was send back into the system, no extra cost to us. People are nice sometimes!

Meanwhile... banks... a sort of integrated evil into the modern system. Sure sure, self-custody and all of that... but most people aren't able or willing to do that sort of thing. So, some sort of custody is required... and banks have built themselves into the modern fabric as that sort of middleman. Which would be fine... except that they suck at what they do. The digital wrapper over archaic systems that make it appear to the general public that everything is all working and fine... and new-fashioned!

So, first gripe of the day... I want to send money Europe to a library to get some digital copies of some music manuscripts in Austria... they have the ONLY copy in the world. So, straight to the bank... and it will cost 19 euros to pay 14 euros... and there is a minimum of 100 euros to send. FFSFSFSFSFSFSSFFS!!!!!

... and of course, the old library archives in Europe haven't adopted crypto-payments either. They have barely managed to digitalise some of their collections. So, straight to a fintech app called WISE that I used often to get euros and AUD going back and forth.... Previously, I would just use it for international transfers to myself... but it seems like you can have different currency wallets in the app, and then just send them onwards as local transfers! Screw the bank costs, as you are local transactions at both ends.

... but then, the local transfer option was disabled in Australia. Poops... so, I would have to wait till the next day.

Anyway, long story short... it was all done, without the dubious help of the banks, aside from local transfers, and that is already middleman enough. And now, I have set up several currency wallets as well, just so that I am ready for next time!

I can also be found cross-posting at:
Hive
Steem
Publish0x

Handy Crypto Tools

Ledger Nano S/X: Keep your crypto safe and offline with the leading hardware wallet provider. Not your keys, not your crypto!
Coinbase Wallet: Multi chain wallet with lots of opportunities to Learn and Earn!
Binance: My first choice of centralised exchange, featuring a wide variety of crypto and savings products.
WooX: The centralised version of WooFi. Stake WOO for fee-free trades and free withdrawals! This link also gives you back 25% of the commission.
GMX.io: Decentralised perpetual futures trading on Arbitrum!
Coinbase: If you need a regulated and safe environment to trade, this is the first exchange for most newcomers!
Crypto.com: Mixed feelings, but they have the BEST looking VISA debit card in existence! Seriously, it is beautiful!
CoinList: Access to early investor and crowdsale of vetted and reserached projects.
Cointracking: Automated or manual tracking of crypto for accounting and taxation reports.
KuCoin: I still use this exchange to take part in the Spotlight and Burning Drop launches.
MEXC: Accepts HIVE, and trades in most poopcoins! Join the casino!
ByBit: Leverage and spot trading, next Binance?
OkX: Again, another Binance contender?