Hey r/bitcoin, I just thought I’d chime in from China (I live in Ningbo). A little perspective first, this is not a technical article and I am not an economist or academic. I’m just a white dude living and working in China. But I think BTC changes lives on an individual level, so I’d like to just give you my thoughts from my perspective from my life, nothing else. A lot of what I am writing about it anecdotal and non-scientific evidence. I am just assuming many other foreigners share the same problems as me.
That said, here’s how BTC makes my life easier in China and why I think it might really catch on with the other 21M foreigners who come here every year, 1M of whom live here permanently as I do:
- Ease of transferring funds to and from native bank accounts to Chinese bank accounts. <snip> Location just became irrelevent for my savings accounts, and remittances are now easy and cheap
- Ease of purchasing goods within China (not yet, but hopefully soon). <snip>I’m not sure, but I think it’s possible we will see major Chinese retailers accept BTC for payments again. If so, this makes buying stuff way easier as a foreigner.
- Compared to banking in China as a foreigner, BTC is a cake walk. <snip>Red tape and language difficulties make banking a bitch here. BTC can simplify 90% of this.
- Ease of purchasing goods from other Asian countries and around the world. <snip>people living in Asia don’t just buy stuff from where they live, they buy from all over the region. My disposable income in yuan/China is now disposable income in many other currencies/places. Hello global shopping.
- Purchasing BTC through Chinese exchanges is actually not that hard. <snip>You can get BTC in China. I’ve done it, and I’m a computer/tech idiot.
- BTC has the potential of permanently disrupting international trade. (I could write an entire article on this subject alone.)<snip>The financial industry is not the only multi-trillion dollar industry waiting to be disrupted. Dorian’s bitcom train is chugging along!! CHOO CHOO MOTHERFUCKERS!
- If cryptographic contracts ever take off, that would be a huge boon to foreign business people.<snip>Hiring Chinese staff is a legal headache (putting it extremely charitably). If a blockchain based contract solution comes to be accepted here, watch a ton of foreign entrepreneurs thrive in China.
- Shanghai is going to have a huge BTC conference in August I don’t know too many details about this, but I plan to attend myself. I can only assume that if a large BTC conference can be organized in Shanghai, China will not be turning its back to BTC any time soon.
Living and doing business in China (as a foreigner) can be a pain in the ass when it comes to money and financial services. BTC has the potential to make it 95% easier to live here, and I suspect the same for other expats living in other countries around the world.
