The first time I received some decent SBD was when SteemStream got discovered and trending on the frontpage. I was tired after working long hours, and when I woke up I found the SBD's in my wallet and my SteemPower all up as well
My parents where visiting us that day and the sun was out. We decided to go have dinner outside at a nearby restaurant in my neighbourhood in Amsterdam and told them about 'Steemit'. Earlier I had introduced them to my 'virtual money machine' (my ETH miner) so it was not all jibberish to them...
At the end of the dinner I said: 'This one is on me, I had such a great day!' But then my mom replied when I came back from the waiter / cash register and asked: 'But you can't pay with it right?' And she was right, I had paid with my bank's fiat debit card. (In The Netherlands / Europe we have debit cards by default).
So I made it my quest to find a way of paying with Steem originated earnings, just for the heck of it:
Note: The following tutorial and knowledge is by far not new for everybody but n00bs like myself might like it:1. Register an account at E-Coin.io *ref link
- Note: the referral code gives you 25% discount on the $3 VISA virtual card creation fee - which you can pay with Steem too.
- E-coin will soon be rebranded to Wirex, but for now you should register via E-Coin.io
- Should the site directly ask to create a card after registering, cancel that part, and first get some Steem (BTC) in on your E-coin balance.
2. Put some BTC in your 'Bitcoin account balance' by clicking 'View Address'.
- This address will only be visible for 10 seconds so copy it with [CTRL / CMD] + C. Be sure to copy paste the correct address.
- Every time you click you will get a new address, but all previously generated addresses will still be tied to your account.
GIF link (if broken)
3. Use Blocktrades.us to conveniently convert and deposit some Steem or Steem Dollar in one step to your BTC address account on E-coin
- Pick either Steem or Steem Dollar in the left dropdown and Bitcoin in the right dropdown
- Paste the BTC address you generated in Step 2 (on E-coin) in the 'Your Bitcoin receive address:'-field.
- Hit 'Get Deposit Address':
- Copy the 'Memo' text as instructed per Blocktrades suggestion:
GIF link (if broken)
4. Go to your Steemit Wallet and click the 'linked' Steem or Steem Based Dollar and hit 'Transfer' from the pop over menu
- The transfer modal dialog appears
- Fill in all the blanks, including the correct 'to' (blocktrades) and 'memo' (the value you copied just now in Step 3.4)
- Hit 'Transfer'.
5. Let the magic happen!
- Blocktrades receives your Steem (or SBD) and converts it to BTC and forwards it to your account balance on E-Coin.
- E-coin receives the BTC from Blocktrades and you will be notified within about 30-40 minutes max. that your account balance was loaded with some BTC.
6. Create a Credit Card on E-coin for $3 25% discount
- If you pick a virtual card (VISA) for online shopping you will receive it instantly.
- If you pick a physical card (MasterCard) you pay a lot more $17, but obviously you can just go to the ATM with that one.
- Just hit 'Request new card' fill in the details (get as creative as you like here :D, not if you pick physical card ofcourse)
- And you will receive an email with your new card number, valid thru and CVC code.
7. Top up your card in the E-coin Dashboard page by hitting the 'Top up' link
Now go buy the whole internet, and then some :D
Some notes:
- I am not affiliated with E-coin. I wrote this tutorial as I undertook these steps recently
- I put in a referral link so you get 25% discount on your $3 dollar virtual card (VISA) or $17 physical card (MasterCard).
- Limits apply: $/€2500 (or £ 2000) lifetime use on your $3 virtual card (but you can just make another one) or get verified by uploading your passport scan... (mehhhh).
- You can't order a physical card in USA and India due to regulations... But who needs physical when you have mayonaise?