Ok So I Just Sent £1000 of BTC to a Friend in Northern Namibia.. Now What?

manselr

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Quote from: redsn0w on March 24, 2015, 08:27:42 AM

Quote from: GoogleBit on March 24, 2015, 07:53:14 AM

Interesting discussion.
So it is still a probelm for a unbanked African, without a passport and just a mobile phone.
Hmm, I thought, that was fixed somehow...

SO BITCOIN DOES NOT WORK FOR THE UNBANKED YET !!!

...and it looks like there is no reason for them to jump in, before a new created service is providing a solution...

If you are clever, this might be a big business!

Yes of course but if you will find someone that wants pay you with cash I think you can sell bitcoin to him. Bitcoin is not ready for the "mass" and it will be never ready if someone will not create an user-friendly system withou the help of the banks.The banks is the cancert at the moment.

Here a fantastic article about Uganda & bitcoin : http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/05/22/using-bitcoin-to-send-money-to-your-brother-in-uganda-would-be-awesome-if-it-actually-worked/ but it is only an example.

SMS technology is availible almost everywhere and there's already things at work to allow blockchain operations with SMS, the problem is having people that accept BTC directly, or converting BTC in the local currency.

criptix

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Quote from: abyrnes81 on March 25, 2015, 10:52:24 AM

Quote from: criptix on March 25, 2015, 10:49:20 AM

OP was just a troll.

He neither have 1000 £ nor a wife with relatives in namibia.

There are solutions but he only bothered to point out what would not work.

How do you know that? Do you have some proofs or are your thought only a normal supposition? I also don't think he didn't (or will not) send money to Namibia.

its called logic and is quite obvious.

OP only points out options that doesnt work and ignores solution that are working and are cheaper.

No need to be a rocket scientist to see that.

abyrnes81

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Quote from: criptix on March 25, 2015, 10:49:20 AM

OP was just a troll.

He neither have 1000 £ nor a wife with relatives in namibia.

There are solutions but he only bothered to point out what would not work.

How do you know that? Do you have some proofs or are your thought only a normal supposition? I also don't think he didn't (or will not) send money to Namibia.

criptix

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Quote from: acquafredda on March 25, 2015, 03:59:44 AM

Quote from: ?? on ??

Quote from: bitcoinbot on March 22, 2015, 05:42:01 PM

OK, So I just sent £1000 of Bitcoin to a friend who is in Northern Namibia (just above South Africa).

He received the funds via an app on his phone - Mycelium..

The problem is we have no idea what to do now. Ideally he needs to transfer the btc to his local currency (NAD) or spend the bitcoin locally but noone there accepts bitcoin. How can we convert this money to something he can actually spend?

Thanks in advance.

I think that he should sell BTC and buy USD and then sell USD for NAD

you're late...
that was only an experiment. you should read everything before posting Wink

You should do the same Wink

OP was just a troll.

He neither have 1000 £ nor a wife with relatives in namibia.

There are solutions but he only bothered to point out what would not work.

acquafredda

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Quote from: ?? on ??

Quote from: bitcoinbot on March 22, 2015, 05:42:01 PM

OK, So I just sent £1000 of Bitcoin to a friend who is in Northern Namibia (just above South Africa).

He received the funds via an app on his phone - Mycelium..

The problem is we have no idea what to do now. Ideally he needs to transfer the btc to his local currency (NAD) or spend the bitcoin locally but noone there accepts bitcoin. How can we convert this money to something he can actually spend?

Thanks in advance.

I think that he should sell BTC and buy USD and then sell USD for NAD

you're late...
that was only an experiment. you should read everything before posting Wink

kingcolex

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Quote from: turvarya on March 24, 2015, 08:44:40 AM

Quote from: ChuckBuck on March 24, 2015, 07:12:38 AM

Quote from: turvarya on March 24, 2015, 05:48:02 AM

So, did OP try anything?
Reading through this thread, there seem to be ways, to make it work, even in Namibia.

It really get on my nerves, how people always just suggest, that it wouldn't work, making statements about a country, they don't know anything about.
Fun fact: Not everybody in Africa lives in a hut, with no clean water. Your educations system obviously failed you.

Nope, it was merely a hypothetical question to stir up discussion. No attempts have been made yet...

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.10857611

and there were suggestions. Are all this suggestions crap?
This thread was made to tell everybody, that it doesn't work without even trying.
I see that really often. People complain about something, and when you offer help, they just don't want it, they just want to complain.

Seems like it, there were solutions and he didn't answer any. The localbitcoins seemed overly easy and quick.

turvarya

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Quote from: ChuckBuck on March 24, 2015, 07:12:38 AM

Quote from: turvarya on March 24, 2015, 05:48:02 AM

So, did OP try anything?
Reading through this thread, there seem to be ways, to make it work, even in Namibia.

It really get on my nerves, how people always just suggest, that it wouldn't work, making statements about a country, they don't know anything about.
Fun fact: Not everybody in Africa lives in a hut, with no clean water. Your educations system obviously failed you.

Nope, it was merely a hypothetical question to stir up discussion. No attempts have been made yet...

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.10857611

and there were suggestions. Are all this suggestions crap?
This thread was made to tell everybody, that it doesn't work without even trying.
I see that really often. People complain about something, and when you offer help, they just don't want it, they just want to complain.

redsn0w

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#Free market

Quote from: GoogleBit on March 24, 2015, 07:53:14 AM

Interesting discussion.
So it is still a probelm for a unbanked African, without a passport and just a mobile phone.
Hmm, I thought, that was fixed somehow...

SO BITCOIN DOES NOT WORK FOR THE UNBANKED YET !!!

...and it looks like there is no reason for them to jump in, before a new created service is providing a solution...

If you are clever, this might be a big business!

Yes of course but if you will find someone that wants pay you with cash I think you can sell bitcoin to him. Bitcoin is not ready for the "mass" and it will be never ready if someone will not create an user-friendly system withou the help of the banks.The banks is the cancert at the moment.

Here a fantastic article about Uganda & bitcoin : http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2014/05/22/using-bitcoin-to-send-money-to-your-brother-in-uganda-would-be-awesome-if-it-actually-worked/ but it is only an example.

ChuckBuck

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Activity: 1372

Merit: 783

better everyday ♥

Quote from: GoogleBit on March 24, 2015, 07:53:14 AM

Interesting discussion.
So it is still a probelm for a unbanked African, without a passport and just a mobile phone.
Hmm, I thought, that was fixed somehow...

SO BITCOIN DOES NOT WORK FOR THE UNBANKED YET !!!

...and it looks like there is no reason for them to jump in, before a new created service is providing a solution...

If you are clever, this might be a big business!

Only works in Kenya and Tanzania so far:

https://www.bitpesa.co/

GoogleBit

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Merit: 104

Interesting discussion.
So it is still a probelm for a unbanked African, without a passport and just a mobile phone.
Hmm, I thought, that was fixed somehow...

SO BITCOIN DOES NOT WORK FOR THE UNBANKED YET !!!

...and it looks like there is no reason for them to jump in, before a new created service is providing a solution...

If you are clever, this might be a big business!

ChuckBuck

hero member

Activity: 1372

Merit: 783

better everyday ♥

Quote from: turvarya on March 24, 2015, 05:48:02 AM

So, did OP try anything?
Reading through this thread, there seem to be ways, to make it work, even in Namibia.

It really get on my nerves, how people always just suggest, that it wouldn't work, making statements about a country, they don't know anything about.
Fun fact: Not everybody in Africa lives in a hut, with no clean water. Your educations system obviously failed you.

Nope, it was merely a hypothetical question to stir up discussion. No attempts have been made yet...

https://bitcointalksearch.org/topic/m.10857611

vrm86

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Activity: 676

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Quote from: maku on March 24, 2015, 03:59:45 AM

without 3rd party infrastructure bitcoin is nothing more that just line of code unfortunately.

Only if you treat BTC as an temporary asset, that in the end will be converted back to fiat money. Point of view may change if you can spend bitcoins to buy something.

turvarya

hero member

Activity: 714

Merit: 500

So, did OP try anything?
Reading through this thread, there seem to be ways, to make it work, even in Namibia.

It really get on my nerves, how people always just suggest, that it wouldn't work, making statements about a country, they don't know anything about.
Fun fact: Not everybody in Africa lives in a hut, with no clean water. Your educations system obviously failed you.

Jeremycoin

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Activity: 1022

Merit: 1003

𝓗𝓞𝓓𝓛

Maybe he can exchange from here
https://bitx.co/za

Vhawk23

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Merit: 101

buy gold bars, and send it to him Grin

anyway, i almost read the title like 100000 BTC
with no £ before BTC Grin

maku

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Quote from: Kprawn on March 24, 2015, 03:26:24 AM

Quote from: ObscureBean on March 23, 2015, 10:52:34 PM

I guess the safest way would be for them to get a verified account with an exchange like Bitstamp which would allow them to convert the BTC to USD and have it transferred directly to their bank account. You can also convert BTC to USD through Virwox and then withdraw it to a Skrill or Paypal account but they have some nasty fees.

Well, a friend of mine solve this problem by using his family and friends in a city where there are Bitcoin Atm's.... He sends them money to their bank accounts and they buy him BTC. The opposite can also be done, if he wants to sell it. Cheesy

You have to be creative, if you live in a 3rd world country. {Not saying Namibia is 3rd world} The technology will catch up, if their are a demand for it..... look what Mpesa did for Kenya. Grin

I is nice that you think everything bitcoin related can be done just by being creative. But I am not so sure it is possible. After all, you need to have that bitcoin ATM, you need to have dedicated service which is available in your country without 3rd party infrastructure bitcoin is nothing more that just line of code unfortunately.

Kprawn

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Quote from: ObscureBean on March 23, 2015, 10:52:34 PM

I guess the safest way would be for them to get a verified account with an exchange like Bitstamp which would allow them to convert the BTC to USD and have it transferred directly to their bank account. You can also convert BTC to USD through Virwox and then withdraw it to a Skrill or Paypal account but they have some nasty fees.

Well, a friend of mine solve this problem by using his family and friends in a city where there are Bitcoin Atm's.... He sends them money to their bank accounts and they buy him BTC. The opposite can also be done, if he wants to sell it. Cheesy

You have to be creative, if you live in a 3rd world country. {Not saying Namibia is 3rd world} The technology will catch up, if their are a demand for it..... look what Mpesa did for Kenya. Grin

ObscureBean

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Activity: 1148

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I guess the safest way would be for them to get a verified account with an exchange like Bitstamp which would allow them to convert the BTC to USD and have it transferred directly to their bank account. You can also convert BTC to USD through Virwox and then withdraw it to a Skrill or Paypal account but they have some nasty fees.

ToshiOcean

newbie

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Merit: 0

Go back to square one.
Have your friend send the Bitcoin back to you, and then send money in his own fiat via Western Union or whatever is the most liquid for his location.

duckydonald

sr. member

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Merit: 250

Pre-sale - March 18

Quote from: vm_mpn on March 23, 2015, 01:16:01 AM

I think we are missing the point here... OP's imaginary story has hit the nail on the head - truth is Bitcoin is not ready for remittance around the world, not without support of WesterUnion or MoneyGram like services able to exchange it to local currencies. Bitcoin is too new and not very good at most things it's designed for. With time this will change but for now we just have to take a punch instead of sending Namibian man to a Machete exchange (sorry, local bitcoins).

World Mitter accepts bitcoin, its bitcoin transmitter, this is what we need?

The demand is not there yet, we are still int the adoption phase

Topic: Ok So I Just Sent £1000 of BTC to a Friend in Northern Namibia.. Now What? (Read 4218 times)