The following may not be true about me, but it is a true story.

I recently went to Medellin, Colombia to accompany my friend Andrew on medical tour. (Medellin’s healthcare industry provides world class, inexpensive service.) He did not speak any Spanish and wanted me around to translate.

He also did not know a good way to exchange our US dollars to Colombian pesos. On Previous trips he used currency exchange brick-and-mortar shops upon arrival in Medellin. Currency businesses in Colombia value dollars more than those in Miami, but there are restrictions on traveling out of the country with large amounts of cash. Most credit cards charge foreign transaction fees, and don’t necessarily use a favorable exchange rate. (Same issue as trying to buy COP, Colombian Pesos, in USA)

None of the apparent options appealed and I decided on a lark to test a use case for Bitcoin and cryptocurrency. Not an advocate, though a curious voyeur, I already understood the basics and signed up for a simple Coinbase wallet, which I linked to my bank account allowing instant purchase of BTC. Once in Medellin we could meet with someone through the Localbitcoins network, however we would need some money until such a meeting.

From a previous job I knew managers at a local currency exchange shop, and got the fee waived, but with the unfavorable exchange rate lost near 12% of my purchasing power. Once in Colombia we paid a driver from the airport to our apartment, and for dinner that night in a local fast food joint. (In Latin American fast food, or comida rapida, is a genre of food, and not a speed of production.)

I met someone from Localbitcoins for whom I got a recommendation from a fellow on twitter. I chose a local Juan Valdez cafe, as I knew they had wifi, and my local sim card had not yet been activated. My espresso always came burned.

I didn’t know what to expect, though certainly the gentleman was no surprise. He had social media, and finding pictures of him was a simple task. A few minutes after our designated appointment he arrived and sat down next to me.

“I need 1,100,000 pesos for the next few days.” At the the time it was around $400. He pulled up the Localbitcoin website to cross reference his offering price. (His ask/buy prices run algorithmically) He ran a few calculations and showed me his phone: 1.53294042.

Using the Coinbase wallet application I bought that amount of bitcoin, and they charge me an additional 1% of the dollar value. This is commonplace for purchasing bitcoin so I held my breath.

I asked him if I could count the money before sending him the bitcoin. He agreed, I did, and immediately sent the designated quantity to his personal bitcoin wallet, shook his hand, and walked away with my pesos.

Due to the difference in price of bitcoin on Coinbase in dollars and what this man was willing to pay for them in pesos, I ended up making a near even exchange. I lost less than 1% of my total purchasing power overall in the quest to acquire Colombian pesos.

I did a few other exchanges over the remainder of my trip, which worked more or less in varying degrees. I provide this initial example only as an anecdote to spur dialogue.

Bitcoin as digital currency floats freely compared to state currency and can vary widely from one to another. Much more might be said but I just wanted to get this out of the way.