Reasonably safe Crypto funds when traveling.

[Franziska]

I had a thread which was destined to figure out how to cross from Europe to South America as a contingency plan.
It turned political but that was not the intention.

To all who commented on the subject, thank you for the replies.

As ai mentioned in there also how to deal with European funds if they are stored on Coinbase in €
I wanted to still add the solution I decided to take for some of them. This is the sole purpose of this thread.
Add that missing bit of info for others looking into this.

I was only looking at the aspect of how to get away in the worst case. Gladly I got a suitable suggestion as to where to head then too.

Regarding Crypto funds and Coinbase, they sent me a reply as to how the Coinbase Fiat (="real" non Crypto money) funds are insured in the US. No mention of funds in European Coinbase accounts as of yet.

If I receive a reply to that from Coinbase I let you know.

After a little research I opted for USD Coin, which in essence is a Crypto coin which, as a so called stablecoin, is directly linked to the $. So it does not fluctuate as much as Bitcoin or similar. 1USDC = 1$

As a special type of Cryptocoin this is now stored on a very secure type of wallet.
Something you can't do with real cash.

All based on the assumption that all the mess stays somehow predominantly in Europe and does not affect the US Dollar terribly.
To swap the USDC into US cash should be possible about everywhere worldwide and pretty much fairly quick.

Also exchanging this back into Crypto is easy and the transaction fees are near zero.
Probably even a lot cheaper to send money internationally this way than with banks.

It's as close to a digital $ as it gets.

Hope that helps someone else too.

[El Pinguino]

I don't know if they take crypto in Uruguay - maybe in Punta del Este but that place is horribly expensive.

Piriapolis is a good place to enter the country but the real jewel is further west at Colonia del Sacramento which is simply the most pleasant town I have ever visited.
There are also some nice little ports up the Rio Uruguay.

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by Franziska

I had a thread which was destined to figure out how to cross from Europe to South America as a contingency plan.
It turned political but that was not the intention.

To all who commented on the subject, thank you for the replies.

As ai mentioned in there also how to deal with European funds if they are stored on Coinbase in €
I wanted to still add the solution I decided to take for some of them. This is the sole purpose of this thread.
Add that missing bit of info for others looking into this.

I was only looking at the aspect of how to get away in the worst case. Gladly I got a suitable suggestion as to where to head then too.

Regarding Crypto funds and Coinbase, they sent me a reply as to how the Coinbase Fiat (="real" non Crypto money) funds are insured in the US. No mention of funds in European Coinbase accounts as of yet.

If I receive a reply to that from Coinbase I let you know.

After a little research I opted for USD Coin, which in essence is a Crypto coin which, as a so called stablecoin, is directly linked to the $. So it does not fluctuate as much as Bitcoin or similar. 1USDC = 1$

As a special type of Cryptocoin this is now stored on a very secure type of wallet.
Something you can't do with real cash.

All based on the assumption that all the mess stays somehow predominantly in Europe and does not affect the US Dollar terribly.
To swap the USDC into US cash should be possible about everywhere worldwide and pretty much fairly quick.

Also exchanging this back into Crypto is easy and the transaction fees are near zero.
Probably even a lot cheaper to send money internationally this way than with banks.

It's as close to a digital $ as it gets.

Hope that helps someone else too.

So crypto is almost the least secure way you could possibly store money. It would take more space than we have here to explain in full, but TLDR those so called "stablecoins" are a house of cards backed mainly with Chinese real estate assets that have since lost much of their value but are carried on the stable coin assets books at purchase price. And your regular funds with Coinbase are not FDIC insured. They use some very deceptive wording to imply that, but if you parse it carefully you can see that they're not actually saying what you're hoping and they're leading you to believe they're saying.

You can get a Wise card for a couple bucks and store your USD there. That money does go into an FDiC insured U.S. bank. Alternately, you can set up a brokerage account in your country with someone like Interactive Brokers and use their multi-currency feature to convert your currency to USD and hold it that way. It also ends up in an FDIC insured bank. Both far safer and just as easy as the crypto route.

[PaulCrawhorn]

Besides Wise, Revolut is pretty good, both have reasonable exchange rates

Personally I would use high quality CCs the most where merchants accept them.

Schwab HYIC I think is available to foreigners

Pretty sure both Western Union and MoneyGram have prepaid cards.

Whatever you do, have at least 4-6 backups for every essential function.

[El Pinguino]

What ever happened to Kruger Rands?
https://sashares.co.za/krugerrands/#gs.ssyf60
Back in the old fashioned days you could make a pretty penny buying them in the Channel Islands ex VAT and selling them the next day in the UK.

Almost as good a return as smuggling sugar into Argentina from Uruguay.

Pic is the 'sugar express' in Nueva Palmyra (Ur ) that runs to Tigre (Ar) through the delta.
Happy days!

In SA I think USD cash will always be king - but stick with new uncirculated notes for the larger denominations.

[PaulCrawhorn]

Yah carrying big bundles of cash USD would not be suitable for most real travelers.

[El Pinguino]

Works up to US$10K quite legally for 'real' travellers.
Want to move more ?
Try OFX
https://www.ofx.com/en-au/
Don't have an account in a safe haven?
Bad luck you.
Ping - Real Traveller .

[letsgetsailing3]

If dollars, euro, and banks stop working, I don't think crypto is going to be worth very much.


Maybe a few gold coins, in addition to some cash and some bank cards.



Just sayin'.

[PaulCrawhorn]

Legality is not the issue, security is.

[redneckrob]

Originally Posted by letsgetsailing3

If dollars, euro, and banks stop working, I don't think crypto is going to be worth very much.


Maybe a few gold coins, in addition to some cash and some bank cards.



Just sayin'.

If dollars, euro, and banks stop working then Jack Daniels and concentrated food will be worth far more than a piece of metal. Gold wouldn't have much practical use beyond perhaps throwing at someone trying to take your Jack Daniels or food?

[dannc]

Originally Posted by El Pinguino

What ever happened to Kruger Rands?
...

How do you buy a loaf of bread with a gold coin?

An expensive coin will have to be traded for something and then be traded for things that are worth much less.

Old US silver coins would be more easily traded, but one still has the problem that the coin is worth more then a loaf of bread. I guess at some point, one starts chipping off a part of the coin, i.e., a Piece of Eight.

Having the gold coin for big purchases is a good idea but one has to figure out how to break it down....

Course, a bag of silver coins is harder to hide and protect than a gold coin.

People have been known to sew diamonds of various values into their clothing....

Later,
Dan

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by redneckrob

So crypto is almost the least secure way you could possibly store money. It would take more space than we have here to explain in full, but TLDR those so called "stablecoins" are a house of cards backed mainly with Chinese real estate assets that have since lost much of their value but are carried on the stable coin assets books at purchase price. And your regular funds with Coinbase are not FDIC insured. They use some very deceptive wording to imply that, but if you parse it carefully you can see that they're not actually saying what you're hoping and they're leading you to believe they're saying.

You can get a Wise card for a couple bucks and store your USD there. That money does go into an FDiC insured U.S. bank. Alternately, you can set up a brokerage account in your country with someone like Interactive Brokers and use their multi-currency feature to convert your currency to USD and hold it that way. It also ends up in an FDIC insured bank. Both far safer and just as easy as the crypto route.

X2. This is VERY accurate.

[Mike Banks]

This sounds like an advertisement n disguise. For anyone interested in currencies, any currency without registered tangible asset backing, is an elaborate scam.

Tread with EXTREME caution. I am amazed that governments have not stepped in to stop this rather obvious rort, where asset backing either does not exist, or is an amount FAR less than the vaunted worth of what is a nonsense.

[letsgetsailing3]

Originally Posted by redneckrob

If dollars, euro, and banks stop working then Jack Daniels and concentrated food will be worth far more than a piece of metal. Gold wouldn't have much practical use beyond perhaps throwing at someone trying to take your Jack Daniels or food?

Jack Daniels and food are great things to bring along, but they aren't money, and aren't the easiest to transport. Although if you have those things and shelter, you may not need money, for a while...

[onestepcsy37]

as far as bitcoin and it's ilk is concerned, it lives on the internet. if and when shtf the internet will be gone and so will everybodys bitcoin.

i have had a brokerage account with fidelity investments for decades. it includes a debit card which i can use at any atm anywhere on earth. there is no fee for using it. schwab and other big investment houses have similar programs. of course, when shtf i won't be able to use an atm.....