Crypto seems like a same at times to me. I was guiding some young guys a few years back. I ask them what they do, they had the biggest shit eating grins I have ever seen come over their faces. They reply, we mine crypto. They had a warehouse in New Jersey with an electric bill they said was over most peoples yearly salaries a month running GPUs mining crypto. They had millions worth of the stuff, and I ask... So how can I order a pizza with my money, can I buy a house or a car. And this is where they claim up, well that is the hard part they say. Barely anyone accepts it, there is a huge penalty trying to get it out. And they both solemnly sort of admit that is an issue. But were both optimistic that it would change one day. It just smells like a scam, but the same was said after the change from the gold standard, paper money... who knows. But I am not investing in something like that.
Crypto is very risky. But as a Libertarian i love and support crypto. A nice pros and cons article here: https://cryptonews.com/guides/bitcoin-pros-and-cons.htm We all know reward and risk go together. If acceptance starts accelerating the days of the great investment will be in the rear view mirror. Contrary, governments and traditional financial multinational companies may regulate it to death, ban it, or sabotage it. I think these decentralized crypto currency networks will survive no matter what, but to what degree or acceptance i don't know. I have a feeling pseudo crypto currencies might dominate - central authority, government back doors, mega tech company controlled and monitored. I'll stick with the genuine stuff.
So, like a stock, if you buy and hold crypto on a US exchange and dont sell, no tax. Now, all exchanges have their own wallets for you. Also, any good exchange with insurance is going to report your profits you take. Most of the good ones require your social to sign up plus forms of ID. The only way to hide is to buy on a foreign exchange. Might not want to listen to Visa’s earning call then if you still think it’s a scam. Day by day it’s easier and easier to spend/trade/use. It’s already easier than using a bank.
So.... if I buy bitcoin or others... and tesla is accepting it how do I use it to pay them? I figure if I had the "wallet", I could them pay them.... but now, not so much since I have to convert it back to $s. What am I missing?
You don’t have to convert. Just transfer between wallets. Every wallet has a send to address. Like a routing number of sorts. Or like a QR code.
I have never seen one but in some places there are ATM machines that will dispense cash from your bitcoin wallet
