I Drank My Steem - Shift Card Review

Okay, I need to post more. I really do.

In an attempt to get in a posting groove, the first thing I'm gonna throw at the wall is something I tried out yesterday:

The SHIFT Debit Card

It's a VISA debit card that you can link up to your Coinbase account. If I remember correctly, it costs 20 bucks to get one. No annual fee. Once I signed up, I received the card within 2 weeks.

Now the point of the card was to provide me with just enough liquidity to only withdraw STEEM when I absolutely had to. I don't want to convert Steem to Fiat, but hey--you gotta pay the bills, right?

So how did I drink my Steem? Here's how it went down...

I went to my Steem wallet, clicked on my Steem balance, then selected "Sell". As most of you probably already know, this navigates you to a Blocktrades page with a very simple form.

I typed in that I wanted to transfer 40 Steem to my Coinbase wallet. Coinbase doesn't let you hold Steem with them, so you'll need to select Bitcoin on the form as the currency you'll receive.

Once I had Bitcoin sitting in my Coinbase account, I decided to parch my thirst by walking into the local mini-mart and purchasing a Powerade drink. Now I know what you're thinking. "Nate, why are you drinking something that's pink? Surely, you went with one of the manly Blue or Red flavors?""

Look, everyone knows that Strawberry Lemonade is a widely respected summer time beverage choice. This is a fact. So I stand by my choice.

I plopped that bad boy (or girl...I dunno how to properly identify the Powerade's proper gender) on the counter, whipped out my shiny new Shift card, and inserted it into the point-of-sale system. A moment later, I was entering my PIN. Seconds after that, I had successfully purchased an advanced electrolyte sports drink with essential vitamins and hydration capabilities, and I had done it with crypto!

Say whaaaaaaat...?!

Yeah, I know. Cool.

Once I walked out of the store with my liquid prize, I checked the Shift card app on my phone. Sure enough, there was the transaction. It gave a clear rundown of how much, to who, and when.

Neat.

Overall, I'd say this is a pretty awesome step in the right direction. Easy to use, easy to understand. I dig it.

What I like most about this process is that I don't have to fully convert all the way from Steem to Fiat. If I think that the market is improving and I don't want to miss out on any gains, I can literally keep the funds as crypto until the very last second leading up to the transaction. That's better than pumping the crypto into a checking account where the money just sits there doing nothing for you. So that's definitely a plus.

There ARE some kinks to work out though. Issue #1 is that the card can only be linked to a Bitcoin account. This sucks, because I definitely don't like the transaction fees in converting Steem into Bitcoin. Bitcoin is too expensive too convert. For example, converting like 40 Steem might cost you like 4 bucks to turn into Bitcoin compared to only a little over a buck if you were to convert it into Litecoin.

So basically, if you're gonna "cash out" (deposit your Coinbase crypto into your checking account), then I recommend just converting it into Litecoin. You get to keep more of your money that way.

But if you wanna use the Shift card, you'll need to eat the extra few dollars to make sure it's Bitcoin. For now, that's how it's gotta be.

Issue #2 is something I'm not entirely sure about yet. It has to do with U.S. taxes. I have no idea how much of a nightmare it will be to go crazy using this card. Maybe it won't be a big deal, or maybe it will be a chaotic mess when it comes time to report any gains to the IRS. Every single transaction represents a potential gain/loss that must be reported. Ugh.

If anyone can shed any light on how this should be properly addressed, let me know! For most of us, I think it's like the blind leading the blind, haha.

In the meantime, I'm gonna be tempted to link my Shift card to Venmo. Apple Pay? Whatever. Imagine telling a friend or family member that you just paid them with crypto. Fun!

At the end of the day, it all comes down to this: someone needs to create a friggin' STEEM card. That would be awesome.

Hmmmm...the wheels are turning!

Alright, welp. That's my "cool new toy" post of the week. My next post will probably be more design oriented. So if you fell asleep already, don't worry! I'll try to post some eye candy stuff tomorrow.

For those of you interested in trying out the card, you can get more info here:
https://www.shiftpayments.com/card

Disclaimer: Um, pretend there's stuff here that protects me from you suing me. I'm not a financial advisor. I'm not even that good at math. I definitely don't understand the stuff they're teaching my kids now. It doesn't make sense. Why can't they just do math the way it's always been? So yeah. If you buy a Powerade and throw up...or...you say "Shift" but everyone around you thinks you said a naughty word...Well, don't come yell at me! It's not my fault! Leave me alone, you weirdo!

Bam. Done. I made a post. Please clap at your screen.

Thank you.