Getting Paid in Bitcoin as a Freelancer
block #806622
synopsis
Mandana goes on an extended tangent about Buy Nothing groups and their philosophy of giving/receiving goods outside the consumer economy. Ian then pivots to the main topic: getting paid in Bitcoin, drawing from their experience hiring a podcast editor through Upwork and the friction of offering Bitcoin payment to non-Bitcoiners, particularly a freelancer in India.
quotes
Ian: "Bitcoin is the people's money. If I wanted to work with a person in India, I don't have to worry about converting my dollars into rupees and all of the nonsense that that entails."
Ian: "People who are celebrating income tax return refund checks, you're hustling backwards."
Ian on UPS: "Imagine that same group of people demanding to be paid in Bitcoin. They would pay them in Bitcoin immediately."
Mandana: "I should write a book, Confessions of a Bitcoin Wife."
Ian: "If you're laundering money $600 at a time, you are a bad money launderer."
Mandana on Buy Nothing: "It feels better to just give it to the group... your things are getting a second or third life."
topics
Buy Nothing groups as an anti-consumerist movementGetting paid in Bitcoin as a freelancerBitcoin as "the people's money" — bypassing intermediariesUpwork's fee structure vs. direct Bitcoin paymentIndia's supposed Bitcoin "ban" and the reality of peer-to-peer labor exchangeTax reporting thresholds ($600 PayPal/Venmo rule)The difference between trading and savingPodcast production — hiring editors, maintaining quality