Bitcoin economies are the antidote to financial surveillance - be it CBDCs or intrusive regulations that come with fiat interaction.

Any bitcoin merchant is a no-KYC bitcoin off-ramp. The more merchants accept bitcoin, the less Bitcoiners have to interact with fiat, go through regulated exchanges that require ID, utility bills, ask where your funds are from and make you upload a headshot etc.

A merchant that accepts bitcoin will not ask for any of this. He'll see the green checkmark for payment confirmation, and be happy.

The growing number of bitcoin circular economies prove that this vision is achievable. Lightning payments are ready for mainstream and a massive improvement over other digital payment methods, especially in regions where traditional finance has failed and left entire populations excluded from access to financial services.

Additionally, Lightning offers excellent privacy for payers. Improvements for receivers are in development with route blinding and trampoline routing to name but a few.

Soon, merchants will become no-KYC on-ramps, too, when they start selling bitcoin for cash over the counter, simply by creating a LNURL withdraw QR and showing it to the customer. This development will have the added benefit of allowing merchants to make a small commission by selling bitcoin and turn them from mere "bitcoin accepted here" merchants to "bitcoin preferred here" ones.