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Crypto Nomads are Paving the Path for a New Remote Lifestyle

Even though the crypto community has gone through booms and busts over the past years, the number of crypto nomads continues

Once seen as a tech craze, cryptocurrency is now considered one of the top investment vehicles globally (1).

With speculations driving prices high and low, a group of investors, commonly known as  Crypto Nomads, are dedicatedly using these currencies for actual monetary exchanges (2).

These individuals are currently using cryptocurrencies for transactions like travel, lifestyle, or influencer-like efforts, considering their non-stationary nature.

Considering the impact of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic leading to a permanent shift towards home working, many have opted for a crypto nomad lifestyle. These people enjoy having a vacation environment while working, and why not use cryptocurrency for it since it is easier than ever to convert between two currencies.

As per the latest available data (3), thousands of crypto nomads are already using their digital assets to explore the world, living the millennial lifestyle dream.

And even though the crypto community has gone through booms and busts over the past years, it continues to grow stronger each year.

With the rise of places like the crypto castle and Utopia, nomads are finding more and more homes worldwide. Keep on reading to know about crypto nomads, their lifestyle, their legality, and more.

Read Also: India to Define Cryptocurrencies As Commodities: Full Story Explained

The Lifestyle

While looking for the lifestyle of crypto nomads, we came across multiple news, interviews, and videos about them and how they developed the lifestyle they have today.

We found one thing common among them; every crypto nomad has a local SIM card and internet connection no matter where they are traveling or how long they plan on staying there. And it is quite logical considering the volatile nature of the crypto market.

In a 2018 interview published on Forbes with Blake Sandall, a crypto nomad, he explained why he opts for his daily crypto updates via SMS instead of emails (4).

According to Sandal, it will ensure that you don’t have to rely on the local internet or any cafes or hotels. This way, you also won’t have to worry about connectivity in remote locations, where internet connectivity may not be stable.

In the same interview, Sandall further talked about how he made about 960 USD in profit in Etherum sales one time. Long story short, he used the profit to finance his trekking trip to Mt. Everest base camp.

Another well-known crypto nomad is Felix Weis, a software developer. He has earned himself a reputation in the crypto community by traveling across the globe using only cryptocurrency within 18 months in 2015.

As per Weis, the most challenging part about the tour was eating at any cafe or restaurant, especially back in 2015 when only a few accepted Bitcoin.

Weis used a handy smartphone app that helped him find places accepting cryptocurrencies. Otherwise, he used the website, LocalBitcoin to find locals who would convert his BTC for fiat money.

In 2016, he announced to have successfully used cryptocurrency as a global currency to carry out business, including peer-to-peer exchange, trading, and purchasing in 27 countries (5).

Crypto nomads are not limited as individuals; we found an entire crypto nomad family, too, while finding data for this story.

In 2017, the entire Taihuttu family, Didi Taihuttu, his wife, and three kids sold everything and invested the proceeds into cryptocurrencies. The family started a new life and documented their travel stories on YouTube and other social networking websites.

As per the family’s website (6), they have gone backpacking worldwide with no luxury goods, living in more than 40 countries. Notably, they don’t own a house or bank account, referring to their lifestyle as decentralized crypto nomads.

In a recent interview with CNBC (7), Taihuttu discussed how the family safeguards most of their fortune in secret vaults across four continents.

He also talked about keeping about 26% of their holdings in a “hot wallet” for trading and making risky bets on the crypto market. The rest 74% of their holding is in cold wallets, two in Europe, two in Asia, one in Australia, and another in South America stated Taihuttu.

“It is easy to top up your crypto storage with new coins. However, you will have to travel to the physical location to retrieve them,” said Taihuttu, while talking about how he intends to store a cold wallet on every continent of the planet to have easier access as they continue to travel across the world as crypto nomads.

A cold wallet is when you turn your crypto holdings offline instead of storing them on web-connected computers, free from the risk of potential theft by hackers.

Read Also: Elon Musk’s Influence on the Cryptocurrency Space

Ideal Places on Earth for Digital Nomads

Last month, the co-founder of Ethereum, Vitalik Buterin, the world’s youngest crypto billionaire and living the life of a crypto nomad, answered various questions on his nomadic lifestyle on Twitter. He also listed some of his favorite places on earth as a crypto nomad (8).

“Toronto and Singpore are my favorites for interesting culture mix and beautiful parks,” said Buterin.

In another response, he also stated, “It was interesting to be by yourself and your thoughts for the first time in a decade.”

According to the tech entrepreneur, Mexico is also a friendly nation with good food and a welcoming government for a crypto nomad. Buterin stated that they wouldn’t annoy you about the purpose of our trip.

He also put Berlin on his list for its brilliant hacker culture.

Read Also: How influence and social trends have made NFTs the new crypto craze

Many Other Countries are Opening Up Too

Thailand, for instance, has sets sights to create a cryptourism. The TAT, Tourism Authority of Thailand, is considering issuing a utility token entitled TAT Coin to attract crypto-savvy travelers.

The TAT Coin would let visitors transfer travel vouchers into digital tokens to help operators attain substantial liquidity. The authority is also coordinating with the Stock Exchange of Thailand on the possible introduction of the token.

In addition, as a part of the cryptourism initiative, the TAT is also considering offering Bitcoin debit card services at its airports. It will allow crypto nomads to make various purchases during their stay in Thailand without paying high fees for ATM withdrawal or currency exchange (9).

Bermuda is among the world’s most crypto-friendly destinations (10).

In a conversation with The New Your Times back in 2018, E. David Burt, the premier of Bermuda, stated (11), “We wish to position Bermuda as the industry’s incubator.”

In the same year, the territory with about 65k people across 20 sq miles of the island passed legislation that separated the class of banking licenses to favor fintech and encourage crypto investment.

Bermuda has also passed a law allowing rapid approval for ICOs. Notably, Binance is investing millions of dollars in setting up compliance operations on the island. Altcoin and iCash also set up their operations on the island.

In addition, Bermuda offers visas to crypto nomads. The application fee is about 263 USD with about five business days turnaround time. You can choose to work remotely in Burmuda for about 12 months under the Work From Burmuda Certificate permit (12).

As of 2021, cryptocurrency is completely tax-free in Portugal.

In addition, the country has also announced multiple incentives over the past few years to attract crypto investors and nomads. Apart from tax exemption, there is also less legal and regulatory burden overall.

Portugal’s crypto-friendly environment helps international entrepreneurs, investors, and crypto nomads generate their cryptocurrency earnings without the tax burden. While the country follows the EU guidelines on digital currency regulation, the authorities affirmed the cryptocurrency would be treated the same as any other currency.

Back in 2016, the Ministry of Finance had issued a notice stating that retail trades of cryptocurrencies will be non-taxable and only trades and income generated from professional activities will be taxed.

In April 2020, Portugal also approved a Digital Transitional Action Plan to encourage digitalization in the country. According to the government, the plans also aim to facilitate innovation in blockchain and other crypto-related technologies (13).

Last month, Ukraine became the fifth nation to set ground rules for crypto assets. It adopted laws that regulate and legalize cryptocurrencies amid governments worldwide accepting that cryptocurrency is here to stay.

While the Ukrainian government is not facilitating Bitcoin as a mode of payment, media reports suggest that Ukraine is looking to open up a cryptocurrency market for crypto nomads, investors, and businesses (14).

What’s Ahead for Crypto Nomads?

According to Jon Danielsson, an economist and Director of the Systemic Risk Centre at the London School of Economics and Political Science (15), the concentration of crypto asset ownership will create new multi-billionaires or even the first trillionaire.

While there are many uncertainties surrounding cryptocurrencies, it is for the fact that they will create a greater impact on the mechanism of monetary system functions in the near future. It makes cryptocurrency investments vital for the future, especially considering its transparent nature (16).

“There are numerous benefits of holding cryptocurrencies over fiat money and traditional banking,” says Gili Gershonok, a digital nomad who calls the world her home.

According to Gershonok, people familiar with traveling and living overseas are highly acquainted with setting up new bank accounts and are more apprehensive about the advantages of having borderless money.

“A crypto-friendly world makes being a digital nomad easier. It allows your mind to this decentralized idea,” added Gershonok(17).

“Crypto is not going away,” quoted Mark Cuban, the billionaire entrepreneur, TV personality, and cryptocurrency enthusiast, about the crypto-orientated nomadic lifestyle.

At present, the count of unique cryptocurrencies or altcoins in circulation worldwide is over 1200.

Many are quite fleeting, but a significant proportion of crypto tokens has been created for specific uses cases and illustrates the flexibility of the crypto phenomenon timing the next crypto boom.

With many new countries rapidly legalizing digital currencies, the future is looking bright for crypto nomads (18).

Read Also: Shiba Inu: The Rising Popularity of Dogecoin’s Spin-Off

Wrapping Up

Even though the adoption of cryptocurrencies has been global, there is still no solid regulation in place yet.

Furthermore, traditional finance is still wary of these highly volatile crypto assets.

All these make a living, and traveling with crypto and crypto alone is a bit challenging.

However, with each passing year, the world seems to be more accepting of it.

Being a crypto nomad doesn’t mean you are disconnected from the world or a particular system.

Instead, it indicates how people are no longer tied to one place or root. And it only opens up more possibilities and opportunities for everyone!

Do you wish to live as a crypto nomad? Do you know someone with a lifestyle of a crypto nomad? Let us know in the comments below!

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