Brains, ambition and bitcoin: The tween sisters launching 'Bitcoin for Kids' series

If you are looking for any examples of people flying in the face of every gender and age-based stereotype, you need look no further than the Sabra Sisters. To say that these girls are three, young, bright ‘kidpreneurs’ would be a vast understatement. JuJu, GiGi and JoJo (all pen names) are all award-winning inventors, best-selling authors, and professional bloggers and vloggers and the eldest, JuJu, is only 13 years old. Their favourite subjects are science and math-based, they are keen on healthy eating and possess a maturity of thought and moral code that would put some adults to shame.

Their latest venture, BitKidz, is a three-book series, aimed at children to help them become interested in bitcoin and teach them what it is, how it works and some of the benefits and uses of digital currency.

Written by themselves, with a little help from their mom, Ponn, and edited by prominent bitcoin advocate and entrepreneur, Trace Mayer, the books are now available to buy for bitcoin and also for sale on Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

It is not their first foray into publishing as they have previously written a range of books on subjects, from blogging to smoothie making, all aimed at making learning fun for kids.

It comes as no surprise because all three girls clearly gain a lot of enjoyment from learning themselves - something that takes place wherever they are in the world and anywhere but sat at the back of a classroom. They call home Connecticut, USA, where their grandfather is based but when we interviewed them, they were travelling in the Middle East. The girls are prime examples of how to turn learning into something fun and profitable. “This is the beauty of home schooling,” explains JuJu. “We blend our “work” into our “school” and vice versa.”

Their “work” to date includes eight separate blogs as well as their books. Each focuses on a different area of interest including nutrition, blogging, web designing and what they call STEM subjects: Science, Technology Engineering and Math. They say the latter is their “biggest passion” and so the concept of bitcoin was something that triggered their imaginations.

“May 30, 2013 was a life-changing day for my girls and I because my younger brother, known as Uncle I.J., introduced cryptography and bitcoin to us,” says their mom, Ponn Sabra. “We openly discussed the possibility of this truly fascinating innovation, and he never got bored by our many questions.”

That introduction led to a challenge to write a Bitcoin For Kids Fun Facts book and less than 24-hours later, BitKidz.com was born, dedicated to their bitcoin learning journey. So far, that journey has seen them grasp some of the concepts of bitcoin that many adults struggle to comprehend.

By Kids For Kids

They say their interest in promoting bitcoin to kids is because they believe it will be children driving forward the bitcoin economy. “Sure, we may invest, save and keep some,” says JuJu, “but we’ll be the driving force of reducing its volatility and making it viable money. Kids will circulate the money and force mainstream businesses to accept it. Therefore, people will stop speculating on bitcoin as an investment and start using it as a value transfer in our daily lives, making the world smaller, safer, more secure and a happier place to live.”

Like them, they also hope that bitcoin will inspire children’s entrepreneurial spirit and whereas some people may be deterred by the idea that bitcoin or finance is confusing, particularly for children, the Sabra Sisters believe valuable life lessons can be learnt by exposing children to money from a young age, particularly if they have earned it themselves. They cite money management, comparing budgeting to spending and investing to saving and international financial markets as some of the key areas in which children would gain knowledge, stating that “[Kids] become more informed consumers.”

“Kids will spend money more wisely because when they learn to watch the international market rates they will learn to be frugal and only spend when the rates are in our favour and holding it if the value dips a bit,” JuJu explains.  

They are the “real-life hands-on” experiences that they think will enable their generation to appreciate the value of something as well as learning “subjects most kids hate and life lessons in a fun way.”

Their book primer, (“Kids Making Money Online. 12 (17) Inspirational Bitcoin Stories That Will Motivate You To Action!”) introduces bitcoin by way of telling children’s own stories of how bitcoin “changed their lives” and the sisters say this was not just monetarily but also through the relationships forged with colleagues and friends, young and old, all over the world. “It was about the feeling of getting paid from someone online for a computer program a kid developed all by himself, then buying a computer with his profits. It’s about getting excited about becoming closer to an uncle we always loved but never talked to, or saw often enough—like in our case,” they say.

The sisters also hope that through these stories, the world will see “how ingenious and inventive [children] can be—if given the opportunity. Bitcoin affords kids from all over the world the opportunity,” says JuJu, who describes bitcoin’s inventor, Satoshi Nakamoto as “a genius”.

“We really believe Satoshi was a kid-at-heart, because everything stopping us from entering the free global market was crushed the day he released bitcoin.” She adds, “Never before in history have kids had the power to earn and spend their own money without a third party, such as parents, credit cards, banks, PayPal, etc. legally. With the right parental moderation, kids have the power to affect the world by preventing social harms caused by the lending industry and fiat currency, such as divorce, defaulted loans, foreclosures, and even world wars. Kids CAN make a difference one bit or bitcoin at a time.”

For them, bitcoin is the vehicle to get children interested in not just earning money but doing good with it as well and they believe learning about bitcoin could promote more charitable giving. “Never in our short lives and mommy’s longer one, have we witnessed so much charity given, be it publicly or anonymously, until the Bitcoin community came to existence,” say the sisters. “It’s hard to see which came first: charitable people using bitcoin, or bitcoin making charitable people. People need to hear these bitcoin stories more often, and we’re eager to share them!”

To prove they are backing up their words with action, they are donating ten per cent of the BitKidz book profits to charity, split between SeansOutpost.com and TheBitcoinAcademy.com. During November, they were also donating a percentage to the victims of the Philippines typhoon. Although they don’t know anyone personally affected, it was a cause close to their hearts. “Our late Gramma was Filipino, and we’re extremely close with our extended Filipino family, so this was really devastating news to us,” they say. “We wish we could help more.”

Their travels have helped inform this attitude but equally, they think having more children involved in bitcoin will help boost charitable donations.

“We’ve travelled in the poorest of places, and we see homeless kids begging for money [out of] necessity,” says JuJu. “While we can’t give them bitcoin (yet), we can definitely donate more to them because as kids we can give our own money.”

 She also thinks that the technology of bitcoin will be another big attraction for youngsters. “We see very poor kids tinker and play in the garbage in the streets, as if to build—which is technology at its best. If we can donate even more technology, like electronics, to them as a means of education (which is already being done with ideas such as laptops for kids), more opportunities can be made, by those whom desperately need aid.” She sums it up with: “Put bitcoin in kids’ hands (digital wallets) and let them explore all the ways to help others!”

The world as a classroom

Despite the time they dedicate to their entrepreneurial ventures; their blogs, books, and bitcoin, they are not, they say, “stuck on screen” for hours. Their mom, Ponn, a bestselling author herself, ensures they get a well-rounded education and they embrace the concept of the world being their classroom.

“The girls have experienced every kind of schooling available, and we continue to explore other methods as we travel throughout the world,” she says. They have trialled both the public and private education systems, tutors, online classes, various methods of schooling around the world and even participated in the Stanford University EPGY (Educated Program for Gifted Youth).

“[My husband and I] are extremely strict with them,” she admits but adds, “we do our best to keep them grounded at all times. That’s why they see volunteerism and donating to charities as an obligation.”

With herself a biologist, her husband a biomedical engineer and with grandparents having worked in the fields of chemistry and engineering, it is no surprise that an interest in science and technology was “highly encouraged.”

The girls say their parents are their biggest inspiration, however despite their mom’s guidance, the children are encouraged to gain a mastery of a subject and explore the answers for themselves rather than having them spoon-fed.  “We don’t like superficial knowledge, or bits and pieces gained for fact-based tests. We prefer assessments that they have to report, write or present the whole topic in simplified terms for any lay person to understand,” Ponn Sabra explains. “I always ask them would their six year-old cousin understand this or that explanation. If not, try again.”

Bitcoin has without doubt changed their lives and their mother has found it also provides many different learning opportunities.  “For example, JoJo and I spent a fun hour playing with fractions and decimals, then applying our newfound knowledge to the current bitcoin rate. GiGi is learning more about investments, when’s the best time to buy, how to read market charts, etc. JuJu is insatiable about learning more computer languages, software programs, and seeing how she can be a better asset to the bitcoin community. She’s always been into Tech News, but now she watches it with bitcoin and the world of finance in mind and the implications the two have together.”

Whatever they learn for themselves, they share with their followers online and are already planning content for the next books to come out. International finance markets, economics, math and decimals, the protocol, cryptocurrency and cryptography are among the topics they are studying and will be included in the series expansion.

Aside from bitcoin, the girls are also exploring other avenues, stating they would “all LOVE to be polyglots, but we have a long way to go.” They are currently fluent in English and Arabic and have a growing vocabulary in American Sign Language.

“We always tell people we’re mastering Math as a language,” says JuJu. “We’re trying to pick up as many computer languages as possible; right now we know html, CSS, Visual Basic, and just started Java Script and Python recently.”

Away from learning the girls say they enjoy cooking and hiking together as a family and also trying out new sports such as soccer, rollerblading and martial arts. They say their friends are “their biggest fans!” when it comes to reading and commenting on their blogs and although they are not bloggers, authors or entrepreneurs themselves, they give them a lot of support. Bitcoin seems to be the one area that is capturing the most interest among their friends. “We’re telling our friends one by one, and they’re taking bigger steps online based on our advice and encouragement than any topic we’ve personally shared before,” JuJu says.

The future

Despite the girls’ voracious appetite for all things science and technology, they say they are desperately lacking in their own hardware. JuJu says,” My sisters and I have laptops from 2009 and mom’s is a clunky one from 2006! Even though we’re Kindle publishers, we don’t have our own ereader, Kindle or tablet.”

With ambitions to head to a bitcoin conference next year and have their books translated, there is plenty they are saving up for in their “savings wallet”.

Just a new concept to the girls a few months a go, bitcoin is now a fundamental part of

their lives and they have each found their own interests within it.  JuJu finds the protocol “fascinating” and believes there is much to be explored “beyond just money transfer.” GiGi finds online shopping has become easier and when the value of their bitcoin went up she says, “We were able to buy three times what we planned and gave gifts to a friend, and four family members.” For JoJo it is all about the money and the math. “Counting in decimals is so cool, watching the daily market values, and playing with different Bitcoin apps on mom’s phone is awesome,” she says.

For the sisters there is a lot more at stake than just learning at home. Their business looks to be taking off and the BitKidz series will be the first of their Kindle books made into paperbacks. The Bitcoin Academy and Bitcoin Bootcamp plan to use them in their curriculum and they are trying to raise up to $3000 to self-publish them so that they can be used in a pilot after school programme in San Diego, California.

“It’s truly an amazing time in our young lives,” says JuJu, “and we really want to encourage all kids to get involved—it’s NOT limited to white, high-tech, Libertarian, freedom-loving men either. My sisters and I are breaking the mould since we’re three tween sisters—yes, we love technology; but most of all, we’re just girls interested in making a difference in this world and bitcoin couldn’t have come at a better time to help us out!”

She and her sisters are not just breaking the mould, they are smashing through it and proving that bitcoin bears as much relevance to them as it does the IT wizards and “hi-tech, libertarians” they describe.

Where people so often struggle to come up with a simplified explanation of what bitcoin is, these three tween sisters have made the job look easy:

“Bitcoin is digital money that can be used by anyone of any age, anywhere in the world, anytime. It’s the safest, most secure, cheapest, easiest and most fun way to transfer money no matter how small—even a single US penny can be sent all the way to China online! It’s as easy as sending an email or SMS text message. How cool is that!?”

- The Sabra Sisters

They are fortunate enough to claim Trace Mayer as one of their “biggest bitcoin mentors” and say they are “honoured” to have met Jason King and his family from SeansOutpost.com. The third book in their bitcoin series also has interviews with some of the world’s best-known bitcoiners including Mike Hearn, Vinny Lingham and David Johnston.

If there was one other person the girls could interview, I expect it would be the bitcoin creator himself. “We think Satoshi Nakamoto is a genius on many levels,” says JuJu. “He took two things kids love most ­—technology and money — and combined them together! We believe it’ll be kids that will drive the market into full adoption.”

With kids such as the Sabra sisters paving the way I have no doubt they could be right.

By Louise @ BitScan

BitBuzz Daily: Black Friday Special

Well, on this side of the world, the sun has already risen on Black Friday so we thought we would take a look at what's going on for bitcoin's own take of the biggest annual shopping extravaganza in the USA.

In a bid to drive the bitcoin economy forwards, Bitcoin Black Friday was started by Jon Holmquist last year, giving bitcoiners the chance to get discounts when spending bitcoins too.

It's fair to say, a lot of bitcoiners might be feeling a little flush at the moment if they take a peek at their wallet blance and see how much it has risen over the past few weeks. So what better way to celebrate than with a little retail therapy ahead of Christmas?

What is more, in this season of giving and goodwill, there is an opportunity to donate to several charities. With offers ranging from honey and T-Shirts to domain names - there are a few deals for everyone. All the information can be found on their website: http://www.bitcoinblackfriday.com/ and you'll find deals of 50% or more off, so it's well worth a shop around.

One company getting into the Balck Friday groove are Mt.Gox who are eliminating trading fees for four days starting from Friday morning. They've also announced the launch of bitcoins.com offering a guide to bitcoins and how to use them. All the information can be found here.

With Gyft having just announced that you can now purchase cards for Target, one of the US' largest retailers, shoppers will be pleased to know they too are participating in Bitcoin Black Friday and offering 4% points back on all purchases. You can buy Gyft cards for companies such as GAP, Sephora and Amazon so you can celebrate Black Friday with a shopping spree as normal, while using your bitcoins!

If you fancy doing your bit for charidee, BitGive are donating all Black Friday donations to the Philippines Typhoon Haiyan Children's Relief Fund. Put a warm glow in your heart and donate a few of those bitcoins. Let's face it, you've probably made a fair amount of profit on them recently!

BitGive are not the only charity getting involved. In fact you can donate to over thirty, all listed on the Black Friday website.

Source:bitcoins.com 

Now, not every deal available for bitcoiners is going to float everybody's boat. There are a few unusual items on offer such as bacon flavoured lollipops and nerd Christmas ornaments, but Bees Brothers, whom we featured here are offering 20% off all their products and if you're looking to jet off anywhere in the New Year, you can even get discounts on flights bought with bitcoins too.

In total, more than 400 companies are taking part in Bitcoin Black Friday and although not yet competing on a scale anwhere near the traditional shopping event, it's certainly going some way to making bitcoin more consumer-friendly.

BitBuzz Daily: A look at what's new on bitcoin around the web

It probably hasn’t escaped your attention that bitcoin has broken out and topped $1000. Of course it has ignited talk of bubbles and popping again. This short piece by Maureen Farrell in The Wall Street Journal looks at the impressive rally over the past two months and how bitcoin has jumped in value since 2010.

Bitcoin topped $1000 for the first time Wednesday morning. It’s the latest milestone in yet another epic rally for the four-year old virtual currency created a man or group of people going by the name Satoshi Nakamoto.

As of early 2010 was valued at just 4 cents, according to Mt. Gox. That’s a 2,499,9000% jump.

As of Oct. 1, 2013, bitcoin closed at $140.3. The jump in less than two months: 614%.

Read more

Here’s an interesting interview with Futurist, Heather Schlegel on Tech Crunch all about the future of money. It is a subject she has researched for several years and why she is now crowdfunding her TV series to talk about The Future of Money. Peer to peer crowdfunding is, she says, one trend we will definitely be seeing more of…

 

Read more 

So, why is debt the source of income inequality and serfdom? According to Charles Hugh Smith on his blog: OfTwoMinds.com, "It’s The Interest, Baby". Here he takes a look at how being locked into the current fiat system is subjecting us to a life of servitude – both financial and political. It’s a discussion that will make anyone holding bitcoin, glad they have taken steps to remove themselves from a system likey to “self destruct.”

"Governments cannot reduce their debt or deficits and central banks cannot taper. Equally, they cannot perpetually borrow exponentially more. This one last bubble cannot end (but it must)."

I often refer to debt serfdom, the servitude debt enforces on borrowers. The mechanism of this servitude is interest, and today I turn to two knowledgeable correspondents for explanations of the consequences of interest.

Read more

Bitcoin and wallets go hand in hand and so security of those wallets is paramount to any discerning bitcoiner. So, we thought we’d share Four Facts About Bitcoin Wallets, which Bitcoin Examiner thinks you should know…

Read them here

And there's something about bitcoin that seems to be attracting the young entrepreneurs, and when I say young, I mean, really young. We first told you about Bees Brothers a few months a go, then BitKidz came along and today, Emily Spaven on CoinDesk tells us about the nine-year-old who is “bullish about bitcoin”.

Andrew Karam isn’t your average nine-year-old. While most kids his age ask for the latest must-have toy for their birthdays, Andrew requested shares in Apple.

His parents bought him $120-worth and Andrew watched the price of the stock with interest, checking regularly whether his investment had gone up or down in value. Andrew’s dad, Steve, later told him about bitcoin and the schoolboy was well and truly hooked.

Read more

Bitcoin and The Wild West: Interview with Austin Craig from Life On Bitcoin

THE BEGINNING

"Hi, we're Beccy and Austin! We're working on a documentary about bitcoin; have you heard of it? No? Bitcoin is the first decentralized digital currency. Just as email overtook paper mail, and Wikipedia has overtaken the paper encyclopedia, bitcoin is poised to overtake paper money. It's like cash for the digital age. For you as a merchant, it offers a lot of benefits. You'll never have to deal with charge backs, cancelled transactions, identity fraud, or even network downtime. With bitcoin, you can have total confidence in your payments, and stand the likelihood of your money growing over time, without any additional work on your part. Bitcoin will bring you new customers from the community, and show what a forward-thinking company you run. We'd love to show you how it all works. Do you have a smartphone with you?"

There must be hundreds of merchants across several continents who have heard that same bitcoin elevator pitch; the introductory spiel to the dozens of retailers, stallholders and service providers that newlyweds Austin and Beccy Craig used when trying to convince them to accept bitcoin.

It is now more than one hundred days since the couple embarked on an ambitious experiment to live their first months of married life only on bitcoin and it has taken them from their home town in Utah, USA across the States and into Europe, and Asia.

Austin and Beccy: https://www.facebook.com/LifeOnBitcoin

It is a journey that has seen them attend bitcoin meetups and conferences, appear in international media and even be interviewed on The Keiser Report. Some might say they have become the poster guys for bitcoin.

For those that wonder if they really did manage to purchase their every need using digital currency, the answer is emphatically, “yes.”

“We were committed personally and publically,” says Austin. “We were surprised how many of our friends and family thought we wouldn't be able to do it, that we'd break down somewhere and have to use dollars. That never happened. It was 100 per cent bitcoin, all the way through.”

They even succeeded in persuading their landlord to take bitcoin for their rent, albeit with him knowing he had do so or evict them, and eventually they found an insurance provider in Indiana who would give them cover.

It’s quite an achievement given the immaturity of the bitcoin ecosystem. With bitcoin’s volatility often regarded as a barrier to mainstream adoption, it is only the early adopters who have climbed on board and are mostly saving their virtual coins until that moment the market levels out and they can either start transacting with bitcoin or perhaps cash out a (hopefully) lucrative investment.

As such, the number of merchants accepting bitcoin, although in its thousands and rising, is relatively low. Despite an abundance of technology and digital companies taking the currency, it is harder to find a grocery store or petrol station. Living day to day on bitcoin was always going to be tough and at times, that is exactly how Austin and Beccy experienced it.   

When we finally managed to interview them (they are quite in demand these days!) they told us they are currently trawling through more than 200 hours of video footage, filmed over the course of their experiment. The goal is to turn it all into a documentary and then hit the film festivals.

They know they have busy times ahead but at least now they can comfort themselves with the knowledge their nearest shop will accept the currency in their pocket and filling up the car will not involve a two-hour round trip.

“Honestly, it’s a relief,” admits Austin. “Using bitcoin for our necessities was never impossible, but it was frequently difficult. Even simple transactions became more complicated. It's not that bitcoin itself is complicated, but the ecosystem isn't very developed.”

“Education,” he says was the most time-consuming aspect, and that is why they have their bitcoin explainer spiel down pat and how in their own way, they have helped grow the bitcoin ecosphere a little more by spreading the word and getting more vendors to accept bitcoin and helping them set up a wallet.

THE UPS AND DOWNS

Their bitcoin journey has had its ups and downs, both literally and metaphorically. The 100-day challenge saw bitcoin perform its notorious leaps and dives, plunging in value after the Silk Road bust. “It immediately dropped a lot, maybe 30 per cent,” Austin agrees. “But we didn't panic. We knew that bitcoin's strength wasn't because of an online black market, and figured it would recover quickly. Thankfully, it did. Within just a couple days, it had jumped back up. Within a week, it had surpassed its previous value.”

In fact the volatility in price ended up working in their favour. When they set out in August, the bitcoin price was hovering just above $100, yet just days after they finished, bitcoin rallied to over $300 and we are still watching that price climb now.

“A funny thing happened as the value rose. We kept spending bitcoin, but the dollar value of our wallet tended to stay the same. It was like a bottomless wallet.” 

- Austin Craig

They reckon they spent less overall than they would have done if paying in dollars, mainly because there were fewer places to spend bitcoin. However, when they did manage to persuade a vendor to take bitcoin, they often paid them a little extra than the asking price to reassure them and sweeten the deal as “most merchants were careful dealing with a new and volatile currency, and some asked a premium over their regular price,” Austin says.

“We paid somebody in Chicago half a bitcoin for two train passes,” he explains. “At the time, we were overpaying them just a little, to put their fears to rest about this currency they'd never heard of. But now, that half bitcoin is worth $400.”

The Craig’s adventure has also ingratiated them to members of the bitcoin community across the globe and helped them to establish a network of bitcoiners, who they could call upon in different parts of the world, including in the dead of night after a long flight to Singapore when all buses and trains had stopped running. “We'd hoped to use a car service, who had agreed to work with us during the experiment in Singapore to arrange rides. But we needed a local phone, which we didn't have, and couldn't secure using bitcoin at the airport,” says Austin, adding, “We ended up using the help desk to call a local bitcoiner we'd been in contact with. We woke him up and asked if he could give us a ride. We felt bad, because it was the middle of the night, he has a wife and kids and a day job, and we didn't want to inconvenience him so, but we didn't have other options. He was extremely kind, came and gave us a ride to the hotel without so much as a single complaint.”

The stress of that night did not end there after they discovered the hotel had no free wifi.”We found out they didn't offer breakfast or room service, and that wifi was an additional charge. We also weren't able to charge it back to the travel agency like we had at previous hotels. It was a scary and disheartening night. Nothing was working the way we'd planned, and we were very very tired,” says Austin.

It is clear they are extremely grateful for the support of the bitcoin community. “We literally couldn't have done this without the community. They not only helped us by crowdfunding the film, but they were helping all along the way, by pointing out services and merchants that we would have otherwise missed. They also kept us accountable,” Austin says.

Despite the occasional scary moment when they wondered where they would sleep, or how they would eat, they found they never starved and were able to purchase some items that genuinely took them by surprise.

“One of our favorite parts of the trip was when we met with a photographer and bitcoin enthusiast in Berlin,” says Austin. “Marcin Dzieniszewski of TinType Berlin does amazing tin-type portraits on glass plates. Think of US civil war era photography, and you'll know what I mean. 

“He messaged us on facebook and offered his photography services payable in bitcoin. It's something we never would have done otherwise, but was one of the most fun things we did in the whole three weeks, and now we'll have these wonderful portraits for years, maybe generations. Tintype photography will last centuries if kept properly.”

THE GLOBAL COMMUNITY

Meeting people such as Dzieniszewski and their friend in Singapore has given them a very positive impression of the bitcoin community with Austin stating it is “made up of people who really believe in bitcoin as a platform for global change.” He adds, “It can change not only their personal finances, but opens up a world of possibilities for new and better services and e-commerce. The people in the bitcoin community today are the ones that realize that we're only scratching the surface. And they're the ones with the itch to keep scratching.”

Their encounters within the community have also been diverse with Beccy finding a woman on a street stall willing to accept bitcoin for a henna tattoo and planning to buy traditional Polish slippers from a woman in Ottawa, in her 80s, who might be the oldest bitcoin merchant they have found.

From their small, hometown of Provo, in what they say is “conservative Utah,” to the more liberal Berlin neighbourhood of Kreuzberg, they have seen the way bitcoin is viewed and embraced around the world. Of Provo they say, “With a couple months talking to people about it, we have several businesses that gladly accept it now.”

However there is still a long way to go before bitcoin can be considered mainstream. Austin agrees, saying, “The truth is, even the most bitcoin friendly communities are still very small. Kreuzberg in Berlin had more businesses accepting bitcoin than anywhere else we went, but not by that much. In every city we visited, the strength of the bitcoin community could be traced back to just a few people. It was the owner of one restaurant in Kreuzberg who had persuaded the other merchants to accept bitcoin. He single-handedly spread bitcoin to a couple dozen businesses in his area, just by talking about it. The same thing is happening in Singapore, New York, and everywhere else we've been.”

He mentions Alex, at KnC Miner, a bitcoin mining hardware firm, who are also sponsoring their film. With Alex’s help, they were able to persuade a restaurant to accept bitcoin and have their accommodation upgraded to a boutique hotel. “In 24 hours, we went from a cramped hotel room and nowhere to eat, to an excellent Swedish restaurant, and a 4 star boutique hotel. 

None of that would have happened without the enthusiasm that Alex encouraged,” notes Austin. It seems wherever in the world you go, bitcoin or not, a smile is sometimes the best sales pitch.

The global community also ensured they would not end up destitute and starving when they arrived in a new place. “We tried to coordinate with members of the bitcoin community in the places we'd be visiting. They helped us find places to stay and eat,” says Austin. Although, of course, once they stepped into “uncharted territory,” they were often greeted with raised eyebrows and questions.

They say Singapore, Kreuzberg and Stockholm are some of the most fascinating places they have visited. “Stockholm was beautiful, but had fewer merchants accepting bitcoin. We'd love to come back to these places to meet up with the bitcoin community, but also we'd like to be regular tourists. That was one drawback; it was hard to "see the sights" like we would have with Euros or dollars.”

However, they found the differences in attitude towards bitcoin were not so much between national or ethnic cultures, but between large companies and smaller companies. “The smaller companies, in the US, Europe, or Asia, were always easier to work with,” Austin says.

His point was proved when they struggled to buy a data plan for Austin’s cell phone and resulted in taking a two-hour return trip just to fill up their car in Salt Lake City.

He believes this is one area where there is a huge gap in the market. 

“If any oil or cell phone executives are paying attention, I'm telling you now that there is a huge opportunity here to be a first mover in accepting bitcoin. You'll set yourself apart as tech-forward companies. You'll be light years ahead of the competition."

- Austin Craig 

THE FUTURE

 “I'm not sure any place is resisting bitcoin,” says Austin but he adds, “Probably the single greatest weakness is that, in order to really use bitcoin, you must have an Internet connection. That wasn't usually a problem in the US when we had our cell phones, but, a cell phone plan was one of the hardest things to secure using bitcoin. It was a real challenge once we left the US.”

They acknowledge that bitcoin is “still very new and it’ll be a while before it’s fully a household name and even longer till it’s widely understood.” Even in shops where they advertised that they accepted bitcoin, the couple often found they were the first to actually do a bitcoin transaction.

Retail services is another area, that Austin believes is ripe for growth. “There are huge opportunities for bitcoin entrepreneurs to build the services that we'll all be using, from e-commerce to point of sale devices to secure cloud solutions,” says Austin.  “It's like the Web was in 1995. All the basic technology is there, but it might be years before it's fully developed and the network is widely utilized and trusted. So far, though, the adoption of bitcoin has moved faster than I would have expected. Maybe it won't take so long.”

There have been other positive signs throughout their experiment. Apart from finding they were always just missing out on a bitcoin meetup or conference wherever they went, they were aware of “groups assembling all over the place.” Austin adds, “Everybody has their reasons for getting involved, and there are many. But the common trait we saw everywhere is that people believe in it's potential for positive change.”

"Bitcoin is just like the Wild West. People will build the infrastructure and services necessary to settle that land, and they'll make a fortune."

-Austin Craig

So, are Austin and Beccy convinced of bitcoin’s future? “I'm more convinced than ever that bitcoin, or rather crypto-currency in general, is here to stay,” says Austin. “It offers a faster, cheaper, more secure means of moving money.”

By way of example he refers to the recent blockchain transaction of $147 million. “It happened almost instantly, and cost them the equivalent of 37 cents. With any other system, that would have taken weeks and cost a fortune. Within a few years, eventually even the most conservative business owner will realize the benefits, and start using bitcoin. But to get there, a lot of work needs to be done.”

The couple themselves benefitted from the low transaction costs and ease of use, and see this as one of the big selling points going forward. “We never once had to think about exchanging currency in the various countries we went to. It didn't even cross our mind till we were done. We didn't pay any foreign transaction fees as you would with a credit card. We never had to rely on an ATM, or the associated fees there. We weren't carrying around large wads of local cash, so there wasn't the concern of being pick-pocketed, as can so easily happen to foreign tourists in large cities. Any of the normal concerns about money while traveling were just gone,” says Austin.

He also believes that the closure of the Silk Road is another positive for bitcoin. “The funny thing is, the bust of Silk Road probably sent the price of bitcoin higher than it ever would have before, because with the black market gone, bitcoin was more legitimized, and all the talk increased bitcoin's public profile.”

So what about their future, and is bitcoin going to play a bigger part of it? “Before starting this experiment, neither of us had ever used bitcoin. We'd only read about it. We thought bitcoin was an extremely promising technology, but wanted to find out where it is today. How usable is it right now. 

“We still use bitcoin when it makes sense, but it's nice to not have to use it when we're filling up with gas.”

For now, they are concentrating on their documentary and looking at doing follow-up interviews, creating graphics, writing an original music score and translating it into several languages. 

And having put bitcoin through its paces and gained an insight into the global community very few others have, they believe the way is open for the trailblazers. Austin says, “In the US, the West was settled by tough pioneers, heading out into a place of high opportunity and high risk. There is free land out there, if you can survive. Bitcoin is just like the Wild West. People will build the infrastructure and services necessary to settle that land, and they'll make a fortune... if they survive."

By Louise @ Bitscan