Continuing my story - Renting an apartment for bitcoin
Hi everyone. Just wanted to share a continuation of the story. I decided to try to act as an intermediary (for starters) for other tenants so that they too can pay rent to the landlord directly in bitcoins, as he requested. They are a young couple, let’s call them Alice and Bob))
When I went to visit them the other day and tried to discuss this topic I was met with a harsh negative reaction and was rebuffed. They said they wanted nothing to do with “crypto” and would continue to pay the landlord in fiat. But it was going to be a long evening and I postponed this conversation for later to better think about my next move and try to start the conversation again, but without the counter negative reaction. And here we can once again mention how “crypto” spoils the impression and attitude towards bitcoin in general. People don’t see the difference and don’t want to see it, thinking it’s all scam.
For the time we met, we were chatting, playing board games. And somewhere during this time period, I texted my bitcoiner friend to play along and supposedly ask him to top up his phone number with bitcoin, as he had run out of money on his card. When he texted me, I defiantly threw him some sats, dubbing the action for Alice and Bob. (I’ve done a post on SN before about how this method helped me do my friend’s orange pilling.)
And it worked again, Alice and Bob were surprised that “crypto” (oh shit) could be used to top up a phone number. And then began my 40-minute monologue about what crypto and Bitcoin are, the difference between them, and that phone top-ups are just a drop in the ocean of possibilities that Bitcoin offers. I tried again to offer them a rent-paying scheme with the assurance that if they were afraid of losing their money, I would pay them back with interest if the money didn’t reach the landlord. But they still weren’t completely convinced.
Then I suggested to them that we call the landlord via video link and I would personally transfer my bitcoins to him and Alice and Bob would give me the dirty fiat when he confirmed receipt. To this they agreed. It took a couple minutes, the reaction was predictable, but by this point after my 40 minute lecture this couple had a knowledge base and they eventually agreed to pay the rent through me, but eventually learn to do it themselves so they wouldn’t have to ask me. I’ll even be happy to waive a small brokerage fee if we get 2 more new bitcoiners in our ranks)
The first payment was made. And since then, Alice and Bob have been asking me tons of questions and asking me to share useful links on learning about Bitcoin rather than “crypto”. I consider that a small victory)
What did Alice and Bob have to gain from doing this in btc?
What reason did you give them for why you cared how they paid their rent to a third party?
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Alice and Bob are also expats from Russia. They work remotely and receive their salaries in rubles on a Russian bank account. They have to withdraw money from Russia to Georgia every time through different payment systems to live here and pay for housing. Russian bank cards no longer work outside of Russia. Bitcoin solves this problem.
Now I am teaching them how they can easily buy bitcoin in Russia and bypass exchangers and payment systems with their commissions to transfer money to themselves and their landlord in Georgia.
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I would call that a LARGE victory.
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Sounds like a win!
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Very nice.
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I wouldn't mind)
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Well done!
And even if you hadn't succeeded, just planting bitcoin seeds by mentioning it helps. I find that people eventually find their own reasons for needing bitcoin. Usually because of the unfairness of banks and/or of the legal system...
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All in good time.
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stackers have outlawed this. turn on wild west mode in your /settings to see outlawed content.