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Ask CryptoVantage: What Are Some Interesting Ways to Use Crypto?
Cryptocurrency has been gaining a great deal of mainstream attention in recent years but unfortunately not always for the right reasons. The FTX debacle will be a painful part of the collective crypto history forever.
However, with the rise of crypto coins like Bitcoin and Ethereum, more and more people are starting to explore the potential uses of crypto in their daily lives. While cryptocurrencies are still mostly associated with buying and selling on crypto exchanges, the potential uses of crypto go far beyond the usual day-to-day financial transactions.
In this article, we will explore four interesting ways where crypto is being used today, from sending money overseas to crowdfunding, and more.
Charitable Donations
One very interesting use case for cryptocurrency is in the field of philanthropy. Charitable organizations can use cryptocurrency to accept donations and ensure transparency in their financial activities. Cryptocurrency can be used to track how the donated funds are being used, and to make sure that they are going to the intended recipients. This can increase trust in the charitable organization and encourage more people to donate a healthy part of their crypto gains.
Some of the world’s biggest charitable organizations, including the Red Cross, United Way, and Greenpeace gladly accept your crypto donation. Also, donating crypto directly to an organization could potentially result in a bigger chunk going to causes you care about. That is because according to the IRS, donating crypto is not a taxable event, so you won’t realize any gain or loss when donating crypto.
The opposite is true in Canada. When you decide to donate crypto in Canada, you’ll pay capital gains tax on any profit. Something to keep in mind.
International Remittances
Another exciting use case for crypto is in the area of international remittances. Sending money across borders through traditional channels can be expensive and time-consuming, with high fees and long waiting times.
Bitcoin and other cryptos offer solutions to make cross-border transactions faster and cheaper. This is because cryptocurrency transfers are decentralized, which means you can bypass the exorbitant fees charged by traditional banks and services like Western Union. This has made crypto a popular option for migrant workers sending money back to their families in their home countries.
Besides being faster and cheaper, the recipient of your international cryptocurrency transfer does not need to be the owner of a bank account. You can send cryptocurrencies directly into the recipient’s wallet. Once it reaches their wallet, the recipient can hold the cryptocurrency or decide to cash it out.
This particular use case for crypto can have a massive impact on people who have no or limited access to bank services. Especially if you consider the fact that nearly two billion people remain unbanked across the world.
Online Gaming
Not only did crypto change the way how we think about sending and receiving money, it has also changed the way how we think about the online gaming industry. Gamers around the world have been using crypto to purchase new virtual goods, pay for online services and upgrades, and even receive rewards for making it to the next stage, or being the last man standing.
One of the most popular ways that gamers spend their crypto is to make in-game purchases. There are also numerous games out there that allow players to trade virtual currency or weapons for crypto tokens that can be cashed for real-world money.
Crypto has quickly become an integral part of the gaming industry and has provided gamers with more control over their experiences and how they spend their time behind the screen. This will only help improve the overall quality and profitability of online games moving forward!
Crypto Crowdfunding
“What is crypto crowdfunding?” we hear you ask. Well, in short, crypto crowdfunding provides a financial lifeline to projects, associations, start-ups or people who are trying to generate crypto funds to support and develop their unique ideas.
One recent example is the Ukrainian government which turned to crypto crowdfunding to help it get through the initial brutal invasion from Russia. The invaded country took to Twitter to post the addresses of several crypto wallets to accept Bitcoin, Ethereum and Tether.
Less than two weeks after Putin started the war in Ukraine the global crypto community donated more than $50 million in crypto to aid the Ukrainian government and its people. To date, Ukraine received over $180 million in crypto donations, including $5 million from Vitalik Buterin, the co-founder of Ethereum.
In conclusion, while buying and selling crypto is the most common use, cryptocurrency has a wide range of interesting use cases. From storing value to micropayments, and online gaming to remittances, charity, crowdfunding, and NFTs, crypto has a wide range of applications that are being explored and developed.
As the cryptoverse continues to evolve we can expect to see even more innovative uses for this digital asset in the nearby future.