This African Town is Living in the Year 2030: Bitcoin Witsand
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- Опубликовано: 24 июл 2024
- Visit Bitcoin Witsand if you can-it's a beautiful spot in South Africa.
Thank you to Edwin, Ellie, Kwaga and many other wonderful souls for treating me and hosting me in your town.
I can't wait to come back in 2030 and fly around on your hovercars.
Not everyone needs to understand Bitcoin for it to be widely adopted. And whether you like it or not, Bitcoin is being adopted.
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Please note, Witsand uses a lot of tools from LN Bits: lnbits.com/ (Whenever you see a big tick on their terminals or their pay screens, it's from LN Bits!)
I used Phoenix Wallet with my phone and CoinCorner with my ring. Sophie uses CoinCorner to buy me lunch (the big lightning bolt animation)
Joe Nakamoto.
My usual things:
📍 Location: Witsand, South Africa 🇿🇦
⛓️ Block Height: 826136
📆 Date: 17th January 2024
💰 Bitcoin Price: $40k ish
Timestamps
0:00 Intro
1:07 Can I live on Bitcoin here?
2:33 Ho Ho a bottle of Rum
3:37 What is the halving?
4:58 The Bitcoin Critics are coming around
5:44 Ramble at the Nocoiner Hairdressers
6:41 The gym likes the coin: here's proof
7:37 What are Sats or Satoshis?
8:05 Loud Minorities CAN create change-look at food
9:17 Key Ingredients for Bitcoin Circular Economies
12:46 What happens if Witsand gets VERY VERY rich?
13:48 A local boat captain's experience
15:13 Power cuts AKA Load Shedding
15:45 A local business owner's insights
17:13 What is an onchain transaction?
17:40 Ellie's Bitcoin origin story
18:33 Not everyone needs to understand bitcoin
19:53 Thanks and a clue for the next video
Summary of video:
Bitcoin Witsand, a small town on the southern coast of South Africa, has embraced Bitcoin as its primary currency, creating a thriving Bitcoin circular economy.
Highlights
🌍 Bitcoin Witsand operates as a Bitcoin circular economy with high adoption rates, where residents can pay for almost everything with Bitcoin.
💰 Hospitality staff earn and even split their tips using the Bitcoin lightning network, demonstrating widespread acceptance and usage of Bitcoin.
🏘️ The town boasts Bitcoin graffiti, giant Bitcoin signs, and the Bitcoin white paper displayed in many establishments, showcasing its dedication to Bitcoin adoption.
📈 Bitcoin adoption in Witsand has led to neighboring towns also onboarded to accept Bitcoin, indicating the potential for broader adoption beyond the town’s borders.
🚀 Despite initial challenges, including slow merchant adoption, Bitcoin Witsand has seen exponential growth, with a significant increase in the number of businesses accepting Bitcoin over time.
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🇪🇺 if you're looking for somewhere to stack sats (buy bitcoin) in Europe, use Relai:
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Your content is accessible to people who are not necessarily chairless, laser-eyed cast-iron grassfed beef enthusiasts. This is important.
as a South African, i now am going to spend some BTC in Witsand! Local is Lekker!
I DID NOT KNOW THIS PLACE EXISTED.
TOTALLY GOING THERE SOON
Fantastic! Let me know how you get on dude!
Same - Looks like a nice place
16:30, that's called "localism." Is a "my community first" mindset that makes stronger communities, and stronger communities will make for stronger cities.
That’s the word! 🎯
@JoeNakamoto indeed it is! We have too many people thinking we need global solutions to global problems, but the core of the problems is global control. Bitcoin and community values fixes this.
i talk to my mom mostly about bitcoin because people in real life don’t care about it.
I send her this video friend! Thank you!
Thank you so much! Hoping she sees your comment here 🧡
I love Witsand! Love the video! Thank you Joe! 🧡⚡🇿🇦
Glad you enjoyed it! It’s well worth visiting 😉
Great vid. I like knowing there are options of places to live that support a new economy
Me too!
Welcome to Witsand!
Stay Humble - Stack Sats
Need to visit this place, thanks for sharing Joe!
Ace. You should! It’s bloody windy though!
Amazing Video! Thank you for your great work. Very interesting.
How wonderful. I do hope more towns like this spring up in SA and the world.
Me too!! ... so i can visit :D
Great video Joe. Really useful the explanations you did in between the video.
Glad you enjoyed it and thanks for spotting those. I’m working on making this kind of thing shareable to anyone, regardless of bitcoin experience. Gracias y hasta pronto!
Quality stuff, Joe. Incredible work. Keep it up!
Thanks! Will do :D
Quality documentary. Can't wait for the return and for the Ekasi episode!
You are a class act Joe 😁 such a cool story, useful info and fun way of presenting 🎉
Best video I’ve seen in a long long time !!
Aww thank you!
Brilliant video, loving it! 👊👍
Thank you! Glad you liked it 🤙
Great video. ✌️🧡
I'd never heard of this place. Very cool, great vid.
Thanks matey! Glad you liked it
Really great one here. Thanks bro. Love to visit witsand soon :))))
You should! Thanks for the kind message 🤙
Great video, thanks Joe! I'd love to know how South Africans transacting like this manage their tax returns. In South Africa Bitcoin is not a currency, meaning that every transaction is a capital exchange, which incurs a capital gain (or loss) for the holder that is supposed to be tracked and declared in aggregate each year. A massive burden for average Joe who just wants to pay in Bitcoin.
Awesome content Joe!
Btw - excellent additions and cut-ins for the slang and tougher accents!
Sending to SA friends now!
Share away!! Thank you and appreciate the praise 😃
Loved that Joe! I have forwarded to my family living in the Western Cape. See you at Cheatcode!
Awesome! Hope they like it 🇬🇧 🇬🇧 ⚽️ 🤙
Great job Joe!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Absolutely brilliant. Well done!
Thanks Chad! :D
love the vids exploring btc circular economies... we need more of this!!!
On the case sir! More coming within a fortnight. Subscribe for more 😃
Quality content. Keep it up 🙌
Thank you! Working on it 😃
Definitely going to visit thanks for sharing
Have fun!
Amazing! we need more places like this around the world, I would love to visit Witsand👌👌
Thanks dude! Yes we do 💪
Brilliant video!!
Glad you liked it!
good job Joe.
AWESOME 👌
Cheers mate!
Great segment!
Thanks!!
❤ video!! Bitcoinwitsand 🧡🚀
Shot Bru. Great video
Thank you bro! South Africa is so awesome - I wanna come back
It's got a lot to offer, that is for sure, as well as the continent as a whole! 52 countries 3000 tribes 3000 languages 1.4 billion souls. Maybe stay on for 3 months after Capetown next year and do Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, and Zambia back in to SA. Just planting seeds minding my own business. You, have a great day, mate.
@@user-hu3sc5ck7v Yeah my dream was to go north to south in a land rover and so far i've lived in the ivory coast, tunisia, south africa and morocco. Visited Cape Verde, Senegal and Togo.
It's a continent that fascinates me and the fact that bitcoin is spreading makes it even more interesting!
I will take my kids and wife to BTC Witsand soon soon. I loved it.
Good on you dude!! 😃
Protect this man at all costs. Great bitcoiner!well done joe!
Thank you ser! I’ll watch my step 👀 😜
Brilliant! Great initiative!
LNbits in the wild ❤😜
My brother lives there!
wow bitcoin to the world 🪙❤
I live in the province and had no idea about this lmao. Cool stuff, nice to see local communities sticking together when the state fails.
You get it! I'm sure Edwin and co would welcome your visit
Great to see encouraging progress being done on the ground in real life communities. So many talk fests today about bitcoin which is good but more practical stuff like your podcast is more needed. Thanks for sharing. Watching from Australia.
Thanks Darren! Appreciate the thoughtful comment. I don’t have a podcast and I’m not sure bitcoin needs another podcast - we need more examples of bitcoin in the real world.
That’s what I’m trying to work on!
@@JoeNakamoto Couldnt agree more.
Good one.
Loving your content Joe. The Bitcoin Reserve booklet (10.40) isn't available anymore...any other freebie you know of?
Oh no that’s not good news! No I don’t actually and that book is great. Was it open sourced? Could just copy it out again?!
Amazing work 🎉. Any commentary on how the towns relationship with their national govt.
Gosh i wouldn't know. The ZA govt is in a really troublesome period rn. Rampant corruption, horrific public services and utter unreliability.
(I've more content on this very soon)
These bitcoin economies show it's possible to stand on one's feet despite the challenges gov't pose!
Would love to hear the local Saffers take though 🇿🇦
Wonderful
Thank you! Cheers! 🧡
Commenting for the algorithm 🎉
I genuinely appreciate that. Danke!!
Great documentary. Slowly, ever so slowly, but surely, minds are changing.
Hope you visit Prospera sometime.
I’d love to get over there soon!
Thank you.
Welcome! Hope to see you back here soon :)
11:26 Does he say, "BULLboards?" 🧡🐮🧡
Incredibly good spot. 100% 🐂 🐂 🐂
Im South African and this is news to me.
Happy to share - go check it out and maybe Ekasi as well 😊
Thank you. Will by BTC there next time kitesurfing there. Where do I find the Bitcoin accepted map?
btcmap.org/ - I have it on good authority that the kitesurf teachers accept btc 🤙
According to a quick google search there were ~320 residents in that village in 2011. Any updates on this statistic?
Sounds about right for winter time. Maybe 500 nowadays but it’s still tiny. In summer there’s a lot more though as it’s a holiday destination
Great video. I always get excited seeing this but a word of caution. Bitcoin Island in the Philippines rolled out quickly and all the stores had stickers saying they accepted Bitcoin but there wasn't a lot of education follow up and the owners of the shops lost interest when not enough tourists came to spend Bitcoin. Now only a few shops accept Bitcoin. Very sad.
Sure but “A few” is maybe an overstatement. I’ve followed that project and it’s very very different to witsand from what I can tell. Here people are earning, hodling and they are wealthier (broadly speaking).
From chats with Ethan and watching the Philippines content, bitcoin island is a merchant adoption story - and doing just one vector of bitcoin is not enough I don’t think. Thank you for the insight though, I’d love to visit there soon!
@@JoeNakamoto ruclips.net/video/uaqx6794ipc/видео.htmlsi=hrk1u_SxiWjwB7oB
i live in this country, been there a bunch of times and only found out they use bitcoin now
The "W" in Witsand is pronounced as a V. Great video love your content
Vank you very much! :D
🥳🥳🥳
Hey Joe, you travel the whole world. How do you do your wallet management? Does a video like this exist? Would be interesting to see! Cheers
Happy to give this a go! What would you like to know? Happy to answer questions in video or short format!
@@JoeNakamoto Do you have a hot, warm and cold wallet? Whats a proper ratio/share of sats to hold in each of them? How to store your seeds to all of these wallets (especially when on the road all the time)? How should/would a digital nomad do a proper key management, when they have no permanent residency (stamped metal around the neck? ... how to prevent x-ray at the airport etc.) ... Bitcoin will allow more people to choose a life nomad style as time passes by. Hence, this question rises up but there isn't much content about it. Thx for your work!
@@ChristianPecksteiner Great idea-i think this could make for a good FAQs video. Personally I wouldn't be recommending that people do what I do, as it works for me and it may work for you-plus i'm not an authority of bitcoin security-however hopefully my experience with this would help you or viewers make better decisions 💪
joe what is that lighting wallet showing the light after sent 2:25
i've got crap internet so can't see but if it's the lightning bolt that sophie uses then it's CoinCorner. They're now sponsoring me (yay!) but i use the wallet anyway - it's connected to my ring!
great video! bitcoinize devices 👀🙌
Yes they’re sick!
👍
This is enough reason to visit, what wallet or pay apps are you using there in Witsand?
I used Phoenix wallet for payments and when I use my ring to pay it’s connected to my CoinCorner account. The guys there use a combination of lnbits and Blink wallet for payments.
Yay! Had no idea this existed in SA 🎉
I would just like to let everybody know the gym is under new ownership and is alot cleaner and more organized we still except
Bitcoin though the gyms name is river reps fitness
Great to know! When I’m back I’ll visit 😃
When in El Salvador..?🥰
I will be back this year - probably November 😃
Btcmap you can check its Brazil... rolante and porto alegre
Adding to the list, thanks!
Cute project! But how is this circular? It's just the use of a different currency that allows easy hedging against the rand. We didn't see any reuse-repair incentive, and there's no more incentive to buy local in bt then there would be in dollars or rands. Maybe it's fun? We also didn't see any function to increase velocity, like a demurrage, or to keep circulating locally, like a locally-bound currency.
On a different note, how do they manage the divergence in prices in rands to bt? Do they price in rands and convert at the till? That would make sense in a touristy area, but that would really make bt a vehicle for transaction, an alternative to visa or mastercard, it doesn't underpin anything. Slightly easier savings maybe? But if savings is the point, you can also just transact in rands and then buy bitcoins, it's not hard.
If i pay a Witsander in btc for boat hire or a meal or a kitesurf lesson (or any of the other things you can buy in btc), and they spend that at the local shop and the shop pays their employees in btc and that employee pays their rent in btc then is it circular?
IMO it's pretty damn circular.
At some point circular economies stop becoming circular, just like when i go abroad to South Africa i can't spend my euros. I also make that point in the video.
what is a reuse-repair incentive?
The unit of account is STILL the rand in Witsand but I would bet that they will soon convert to pricing things in Sats (bitcoin).
The idea is to phase out the use of the Rand and / or fiat money. If you create strong parralel institutions then it sucks the energy and power from the incumbent system.
Can i suggest you watching some of my other videos about circular economies to get a better sense of these things?
Sure bitcoin is a savings tool but it's also better money. That's kinda the point :)
@@JoeNakamoto If i pay a Witsander in rands for boat hire or a meal or a kitesurf lesson (or any of the other things you can buy in rands), and they spend that at the local shop and the shop pays their employees in rands and that employee pays their rent in rands, then is it circular?
I promise to check out some of your other videos. But in the sustainability world, a circular economy is one where products and materials are reused (reuse/repair/recycling and a few other R's). I could also imagine a circular economy being one where the multiplier effect is maximised by increasing velocity, and/or the currency is locally bound to prevent leakage, like the sardex, the chiemguaer or the Safaru credit system.
There's nothing wrong with using btc as a payment mechanism though.
wot is this ring used to dispense btc onto lightning ?????
It’s called a bitcoin bolt ring. Use “joeshowedme” for a discount!
bitcoin-ring.com/
hey, nice initiative. but is there a hospital in the town? how many people live there? I mean, is it possible to purchase a house there? live on bitcoin as a retiree? thanks
Thanks! I’m just covering it as a journalist and don’t know those answers right away.
Reach out to Bitcoin Witsand for more details and best of luck on your retirement. What a dream to retire there!
x.com/bitcoinwitsand?s=21
isn't there a capital gains tax on receiving BTC?
no :) tax is on the "gain", so depending on where you are in the world and its tax laws, you would only be taxed if there were a gain on the money you received that you then SOLD.
5:22 🥲🥹
I know right. Edwin was buzzing. The critic wasn’t happy with cameras so had to keep it to myself!!
How do they deal with capital gains tax with all the buying and selling?
I don’t know tbh - it didn’t cross my mind. For small amounts i don’t think it’s an issue.
For big amounts I don’t know - maybe one of the South Africans can chime in!
I'm not going there! I'm a hodler! 😂😂 Maybe they'll take some Solana instead?
No they don’t take solana because it’s like electricity in South Africa - it’s always turning off and breaking 💀
What platform do you use as a customer to pay at a local retail outlet ??
Bitrefill works, alternatively at Pick n Pay they accept Bitcoin Lightning
Hi. How do I pay in bitcoin ? I often pass through Witsand. Thks Adrian
First you need to earn or buy some bitcoin! For spending I would recommend Phoenix Wallet or BitKit.
What's the payment platform?
Witsand uses Lnbits and blink bitcoin wallet. I use Phoenix wallet and coincorner
Oepsie wondered what happpen to shopping last week when microsoft went of offline...word wakker Witsand as jul wssr kyk is dit swart sand..gn boer kan soooo dom wees nie.
Microsoft and bitcoin are quite different!
How do you work with taxation?
What do you mean?
You have to declare earnings and pay income tax on the ZAR value at the time of transaction. When you spend there is either a capital gains tax on any gains since the time of transaction or an income tax depending on whether SARS sees it as earnings from a long term investment or trading. The upside is that if BTC looses value any losses are tax deductible. Not sure how they want to keep track of it all but that's how it is for now.
🤣🤣🤣…”nice tasting nail polish”
lets hope craig white doesnt visit all those restaurants hehe
He’s barred from Witsand. I think 😅
Any chance I could ask you for someone at Witsand's contact details?
Yah - reach out to them on twitter!
x.com/bitcoinwitsand?s=21
Nice one. BTW it's pronounced vit-sunt.
Thanks man-it's an Afrikaans thing right?
@@JoeNakamoto yes sir. White Sand.
"Flat hirarchy" Sounds more like anarchy
you're.... not wrong!
It's pronounced - "Vit-sunt" meaning white sand in Afrikaans
Thank you! :D
"WHIT SIND"?!
lol sorry!!
😵💫
🧡
As a south african. My first question is how does the taxes work for the bunisses with bitcoin
Sorry I don’t really know. I live in a place where btc is tax free if you HODL for a year
"Bitcoin is the greatest distraction from the greatest disruption that is coming to financial services" - Franklin Templeton President and CEO Jenny Johnson
Erm bitcoin is the disruption!
Bitcoin HaVe NO UseCaSe 😵💫
really useful beany babies!
- Global liquidity for the working class and 3rd world.
- Defeats 3 centuries of elitist banking fraud.
- Makes international payments cheap and easy.
Clearly it has😂
Why would you transact with BTC, it’s not meant for transactions but more a store of value, much better and cheaper alternatives to use. Great idea if you are receiving the BTC !!
The point of lightning network is for transactions
Watch more of my videos to understand why, Gary
Afrikaners and Afrikaans speakers as usual leading the way in South Africa. Well done!
I can cut you hair for bitcoin in Montréal 😂
Seriously? For bitcoin? I’ll be there in a month!
South* Africa. Very different and ran mainly by non native Africans.
South Africa is africa my friend
Awful
How did it upset you big guy?
@@JoeNakamotoyou know how it is bro, even if you cure cancer, someone will be upset about it
@@adetorrentgood call!’
The guvvamunt will soon start regulating bitcoing out of existence in SA
They can't :)
@@JoeNakamoto no, they actually can they can shut down bitcoin in SA if they want.
@@craigsparks1442 no one can shut down Bitcoin :)
Even in countries where bitcoin is illegal and the government has tried to shut it down, people still use bitcoin!
@@JoeNakamoto dude, you cannot use crypto in China, believe me this is my industry. China has shut down bitcoin in China, you absolutely cannot use bitcoin in China, if SA government want to stop bitcoin in SA they can do it as well. It's as simple as shutting down access to bitcoin servers or any other crypto currency. Crypto currencies operate like any other online service, Bitcoin is also not peer to peer or Blockchain it is managed and controlled by a singular service for security reasons. So yes they can shut down your access to bitcoincoin services
You are a class act Joe 😁 such a cool story, useful info and fun way of presenting 🎉
Glad you enjoyed it! Would love to hang out with you one day 😃