How to get bitcoin without having to give up your personal information? The best way is probably good old fashioned work – earning it.
Ways And Means
We tend to like our Bitcoin decentralized, anonymous, and peer-to-peer. After all, wasn’t that sort of… the whole point? So why do most people acquire it through centralized, third-party exchanges who demand to know our identity? There is another way, of course. We can earn it.
A new post on the BTCPay Server Blog, details a number of ways to accept bitcoin payments. Among the noted benefits of receiving BTC as payment is the power of self-sovereignty. Plus, a knock on benefit to the entire ecosystem comes when a bitcoin earner goes on to spend those earnings.
People getting paid in BTC, have no other choice than to spend it from time to time, helping other merchants in the ecosystem stack sats, organically distributing sats all over the world.
Naturally, the focus of the original post is on using BTCPay Server, but the principles also apply to other means.
Invoice In Bitcoin
As a freelancer or small business owner you may want to accept BTC for the products or services you provide. However you may want to initially agree prices in a fiat currency, to allow for any fluctuation in bitcoin price [coin_price].
You could just stick your wallet address on the invoice and rely on the client to calculate the exchange rate at point of payment. Or you could use a new BTCPay feature called Payment Requests.
A ‘Payment Request’ is a time-sensitive, customised invoice page, sent as a simple URL. Exchange rates update automatically, and clients can choose when to pay; perhaps in instalments, using Lightning Network or even multiple tokens.
Shopping Around
There are many options for accepting bitcoin for goods in either an e-commerce or bricks and mortar store. Many popular e-commerce platforms, such as WooCommerce, have plugins available to easily incorporate bitcoin payments.
And physical stores also have a number of bitcoin-enabled point-of-sale apps available, from the simple to the all-encompassing.
Pay For My Genius
As a creator of unbridled genius, your content deserves to be paid for, right? You may choose to locate your work behind a paywall, or rely on the general public to recognise the value of your talent by tipping. Either way, there are several solutions available, such as those we mentioned in our recent Lightning Apps article.
Or perhaps your expertise is in the field of coding, marketing, or selling Bitcoin projects to the masses. The number of opportunities for employment within the wider cryptocurrency industry, has continued to grow, throughout the crypto-winter. From innovative start-ups to established players in the field, many crypto-companies compensate employees either in-part or entirely in cryptocurrency.
Maybe you are the innovator? You see a need, a niche, an opportunity, which is just so momentous it would be a travesty were it not to see the light of day. Depending on the scale, you could crowdfund it in BTC (again BTCPay server has options for this), or even launch an ICO/STO. Some of those tokens you raise need to pay your wages.
No Skills Required
Of course, now that you’re earning all these lovely bitcoin, the only thing you really need to worry about is how to spend it.
But if your very particular set of skills can’t be turned any of these options, don’t worry. There are still methods to get hold of bitcoin without going through KYC, such as using some Bitcoin ATMs or buying bitcoin vouchers as we pointed out back in January.
Have you tried earning bitcoin? Share your experiences below!
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