今天是个好日子！Today is the day!

今天是个好日子！！What a wonderful day!

After some long and hard brainwashing by me, my boyfriend finally decided to buy Bitcoin! Of course, he's an intelligent person and he has done his due diligence in research before taking this action. He's also looking to diversify his investment in other altcoins with good potential.

经过我长久以来不断的洗脑和怂恿，男友终于决定买比特币啦！当然，他是一个有智慧的人，自己也做了不少研究和学习，才会最终采取行动。他也打算通过用比特币来投资一些其他前景相对乐观的加密貨幣。

I bought my first Bitcoin in Feb 2016. Bitcoin price dropped to around US$400, i thought it was a good opportunity, so i bought a small amount on localbitcoins.com. As you can see, this is the screen cap then:

我自己是在2016年2月开始投资比特币的，当时比特币价格跌倒了400多美金，我觉得时机不错，就在localbitcoins.com买了一点点。这是当时的屏幕截图：

Even in Singapore Dollar, it was just above S$600. And you could use FAST (a local inter-back transaction method) to complete the deal, which took less than 10 minutes. It was so convenient! But these days, you have to upload your ID for verification before a transaction, unless you contact the seller for a cash deal in person. Usually the sellers who accept cash would command a higher price though. So we decided to buy directly from a Bitcoin ATM (vending machine) instead.

大家可以看到，新币的价格也就才600出头。而且当时可以直接用 FAST （新加坡银行之间的联网汇款系统）转账，整个交易过程不过10分钟，非常便捷。现在可不同了，需要先上传你的身份证明，交易才可以进行，除非你是当面付现金。但现金交易一般卖家开价都相对高一些。所以我们最后决定，直接到比特币 ATM 购买。

Right now there are only 2 Bitcoin ATMs in Singapore, one is in Chinatown, and the other in Clarke Quay. The one in Chinatown is not attended by anyone, while the one in Clarke Quay is. Therefore, we chose the later. Its shop name is Silver AG.

目前在新加坡有两处比特币 ATM ，一处在牛车水（地名），另一处则在克拉克码头。牛车水是无人销售，克拉克码头则是有老板坐镇的。我们选择了后者，店名是Silver AG。

地址/Address: Silver AG, # B1-33 Clarke Quay Central Mall

Silver AG started as a silver/gold dealer over 10 years ago. The (co)owner is Ronnie, a young and friendly Indonesian Chinese, and he runs the shop with his Singaporean wife Wendy. Ronnie first learned about Bitcoin in 2010, but had dismissed it because he didn't believe that Bitcoin had an intrinsic value, or it was a legit financial instrument for investment. (Below are some of his products for sale:)

Silver AG其实是以卖白银（及少量黄金）起家。老板叫Ronnie，印尼华人，非常年轻，人也很和蔼。他和新加坡妻子Wendy共同打理这门生意。他说早在2010年他就知道比特币了，但当时觉得比特币和金银相比，不能算避险或投资资产，就没有在意。（以下是他们店里的一些商品：）

嗯，这应该没有什么储值的功能吧，不过金灿灿的，很漂亮！This doesn't seem to have much value, looks pretty though.

这些看起来还不错！These are not bad!

There is lots of silver, but i'm not gonna show them all. According to Ronnie, the silver here (excluding the ones in their warehouse) is enough to buy a few apartments in Singapore. This is like a bank!

白银很多，就不一一展示了。据老板介绍，单是店里（不包括他们仓库）的白银，就足以在新加坡买好几间公寓，简直和银行差不多。标准说法，这应该叫“银庄”？

However, as Bitcoin (and Blockchain) was developing rapidly, Ronnie's clients encouraged him to sell Bitcoins too. Therefore, he finally bought a Lamassu Bitcoin vending machine last year, and hasn't looked back since.

然而，随着blockchain产业的发展和推广，Ronnie的客户也鼓励他投身加密貨幣的行业，所以他去年购买了一台Lamassu比特币贩售机，从此踏上不归路。

Lamassu has a very simple design and it's easy to use too! As long as you have an online Bitcoin wallet, you can scan your QR code then start inserting cash to make a purchase! The transaction speed of Bitcoin is pretty fast today! It was done in less than 30 seconds.

这台贩售机设计简单，操作起来也很方便，只要你有比特币钱包，扫一下QR码，就可以开始投钱了。今天比特币的转账速度很快啊！不过半分钟就能收到。我开始还有些担心呢！以为要等一两个小时。

The bitcoin price is S$3445 (US$2522) at the time of our purchase.
我们购买时的价格是3445新币（美金2522左右）兑一个比特币。

Besides cash, Ronnie accepts bank transfer payment on the spot too. However, cheque is not preferred as it usually takes at least 1 day to clear, and bitcoin price fluctuates constantly.

除了用现金购买，老板也接受本地银行的转账。支票则相对不便，因为最少要等一天才能确认付款，而比特币的价格则起伏不定。

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Something interesting happened when we were there. A junior high school boy (around 14, 15yr old) in his school uniform was buying Bitcoin before us. I was so impressed and thought WOW! What a young astute investor! So i was looking at him in admiration.

有趣的是，在我们买比特币之前，有一位14，15岁左右，穿着校服的中学生也在买。我心里不禁大赞他小小年纪居然这么有投资眼光，所以默默地望着他。

He was pretty cute, after he left, he turned around and tried to see what we were buying. I smiled at him, he blushed and walked away. Then in 2 minutes, he came back again. So I asked him, "Do you want to buy more bitcoins?" He said, no, but he wanted to find out why we were buying bitcoins too. We explained ourselves, and asked what was his reason of purchase.

他也很有意思，出了店门，回头看我们在买什么。我对他一笑，他腼腆地走了。过了大概两分钟，又折回来。我就问他，你是不是还想再买啊？他说，不是，我想知道你们为什么也买比特币。我们就简单解释了一下，然后问他为什么买呢？

His answer really surprised us! He uses bitcoin to shop online! Hahahaha..... his parents don't want to give him a bank/credit card. So he figured out a way to change cash into bitcoin for online purchases, mostly it's to buy digital devices and gaming stuff. Sometimes he has to use Paypal to change bitcoin back to Singapore Dollar/ USD from other users.... such twists and turns! He actually loses a certain amount in this process, however, it's a great learning opportunity for him! He knows something new that many of his peers are still unaware of. He also mentioned his interests in other altcoins. So if he spends some bitcoin and then saves some, invest a little here and there, who knows! He might become a very successful investor in near future. What a resourceful youngster!

他的答案令我们很吃惊！原来他是买比特币上网购物！晕。。。他的父母不给他银行卡，以限制他在网上消费。结果他就学到使用现金买比特币，再用比特币上网购物，电子产品，游戏等为主。但有时中间需要通过Paypal换回新币或美金。天啊，这么波折。。。其实他是有损失的。不过！因此他也学习到其他很多同龄人还不熟悉的比特币。言语中我们得知他也在关注其他的加密货币。如果他的比特币用一点，存一点，或投资，将来升值的空间还很大。他也算是一名成功的年轻投资家。真是后生可畏，前途无量啊！

Well, what do you think of Bitcoin and blockchain? Are you using it/them? Do you have any experiences in mining? Please share your thoughts in the comment below! Thank you! :)

好，说了这么多，请问各位对加密货币和区块链的看法如何？你们在使用或投资吗？谁有采矿的经历？请热烈地留言分享吧！谢谢！:D

Cheers 此致，
Journey 宛儒

P.S. It was getting dark by the time we left, many people were going to the restaurants and bars along Clarke Quay. Standing at the river bank, i thought it was a really beautiful moment.

P.S. 我们离开的时候天色已晚，克拉克码头的食肆和酒吧开始热闹起来。站在河边，觉得很美。