Private Bitcoin to Cash Pathway Discovered!

After 3 weeks trying to find a way to privately convert Bitcoin into cash, Crypto Lunch has a potential solution! The answer was staring us in our faces, until it suddenly dawned on me yesterday: PRECIOUS METALS can bridge the gap between cryptocurrency and fiat cash, without giving up the user's privacy or relying on centralized systems like banks or government. As a longtime silver stacker, advocate for physical bullion as savings, and former precious metals dealer, I should have clued in sooner, but I take solace in the fact that this puzzle has stumped everybody. In this post, I'll explain how it appears to work. With your help, I'll confirm and document the entire process!

The missing link between digital crypto and fiat cash is.... gold and silver! Online precious metals dealers are now accepting cryptocurrency as payment, and metal can be sold for cash at local dealers!

Week 1-3 Recap

Last week, I used this currency flow image to visualize what was working and what wasn't:

I can move my crypto income into Bitcoin, which is more widely accepted and more useful, but that still doesn't get me the groceries I need to cook up the lunch I want, let alone achieve my ultimate goal: a pathway to privately spend my crypto income on things I need to live.

For 3 weeks, Crypto Lunch bemoaned the sad state of privacy in the crypto sphere:

"Crypto" MUST be able to function WITHOUT identifying the user (private) and without involving governments, corporations, or banks (decentralized). There's NO way to convert Bitcoin to cash without identifying oneself. I believe this is one of the main issues preventing mass adoption of cryptocurrency, and I think it needs to be acknowledged and solved ASAP!

Eureka!

Like many great ideas, it came to me in the shower. I was considering bringing a 10oz silver bar in to a local shop and selling it for cash, as I have some extra expenses coming up soon.

I then recalled seeing that some online bullion dealers are accepting cryptos as payment:

That's when it clicked: This is one solution to the Crypto Lunch problem! Buy bullion with crypto, and sell it for cash at a local dealer! Privacy retained, not too expensive, not too difficult.

Note that it says they might need to see your ID, and they'll email you if that happens. I think that's only for large orders, but we'll find out when I proceed with this method. There are other companies accepting crypto, so if this one doesn't operate the way I like, I can use others. I don't have enough in the lunch budget to make it happen quite yet, but here's an example of a possible order:

So for about 32 Canadian dollars I can get troy ounces of silver bullion in hand.

_{Note on shipping privacy: If you don't want the bullion company to know your home address, one workaround is a PO Box. Many towns (including mine) have businesses that accept cash in exchange for renting a mailbox. Some don't require you to identify yourself, so long as you pay up front. You receive a key, and can check for new letters and packages whenever convenient. Result: the bullion company only knows your shipping address, not where you sleep at night.}

Local bullion dealers (and coin shops, pawn shops, even mall kiosks) generally pay cash for gold and silver up to at least $1000 (sometimes $3000) without looking at ID. Precious metals are unique in the tight (small) margins between buying and selling. What this means for us is there won't be much lost to costs at this step in the pathway. Using crypto to buy furniture, or diamonds, or electronics, and then selling that for cash, would result in massive losses and make this method impossible. Converting through bullion is relatively efficient, and simply becomes a % cost of doing business - the way you want to do it.

Now that I have a potential pathway, all I need is a little more capital! We have about $15 in cryptos thus far, but even a small test order of 3 ounces of silver will be about $100. I'm trying to step up the effort I'm putting into these Crypto Lunch posts, to attract Steem and Hive blockchain curators! Last week, I included details of a meal I made using some garden ingredients.

I was able to pull in a few bucks, and I'm thankful for that! But I can't help but wonder what I need to do, in order to bring in the kind of payouts my friends are getting for their posts about lunch:

That one is already at $21, and even a snapshot of some bananas or a sunset brings him at least $10, without fail. Not even my full length documentaries reach those levels.

Here, my friend shows off a table full of food she bought with recent post payouts. Her crypto lunch is now served! And that photo has itself already brought in another $7.

I am happy for my friends, but left wondering what my posts are missing in order to earn generous $10 and $20+ upvotes from the curators. That kind of income - if I can get it - could power a bullion purchase and lead to my crypto lunch! Suggestions gladly welcomed.

Lunch Budget

Last week's Hive post brought in $0.71 for the author, paid out as 3.23 HIVE. The Steem post brought in $2.23 for the author, paid out as 10.62 STEEM.

BTC: 0
HIVE: 17.15
STEEM: 14.48
CAD: 0
USD: 0

Thank you to those who pitched in with an upvote!

How to make Crypto Lunch happen

All are welcome to follow and enjoy the weekly adventure. But hopefully some curators also provide crypto to make the whole process happen! Here are a few ways to do that: