Underground Cannabis in a cashless world...

[wiesser]

Anyone have any thoughts on how a massive underground market like cannabis could survive in a cashless society? My first thought would be something like crypto currencies, but I really have no idea about this. Obviously the writing is on the wall with all the Covid stuff going on, would love to hear some perspectives on this topic.

 

[St. Phatty]

Crypto can be VERY anonymous.

it doesn't appeal to me. if i was dealing free market style i would also do trades for gold and silver and maybe for jewelry.

but cash is useful, that's why it exists.


The concern about virus particles being on bills is legit.

I put them in the oven at 170 F for about 5 minutes.

You could also use the dashboard of your car/truck in the sun for a few hours, to dis-infect currency.


Also, if your smart-phone or whatever exists in the material world, with Newtonian physics like the rest of us ... it will also be a surface that can retain Covid19 Dust Particles.

So the hardware tool to do the Crypto also becomes something to be dis-infected.


You can have multiple emails for Paypal, for example.

Sure, if you tie the email "Shameless Mooch @ whatever.com" to a bank account to get your Paypal dollars, then you tie yourself to the bank where you gave them your driver's license etc.

At one of the banks that I have tied to a Paypal account, the nice lady that helped me really is a nice lady. She's from Iran, likes to wear jewelry, I used to make jewelry, we have stuff to talk about.

She's exactly who I would want, to give me a heads up or something, if some LEO was sniffing around.

So the people you have tied to your semi-anonymous accounts is important. Be nice to them !

One thing about crypto and the bank accounts you tie into it - make sure you're on paperless or they will hit you with fees.


I think of Underground as the Free Market, and Corporate as the Black Market.

Now with Covid19, just as it was 30 years ago when Cannabis Commerce supported Mendo BIG-Time, so-called "illegal" Cannabis transactions will help support the economy during a very difficult time.


People that have a problem with that kind of commerce, yes it's good to talk about how to keep them at a distance.


The Internet is a Free Place.


I also suggest looking at the Remitly website.

There is a situation with it, you may get charged 22% or is it $22 for the cash forward on your credit card.

But it is very egalitarian, does transactions between North America & South America - which the US gov. is actually interfering with A LOT.


The main thing is to make LEO work REALLY hard to track what are essentially small transactions.

LEO goes after low-hanging fruit. They aren't going to do a lot of work for a small return.

That is a good reason to use a laptop purchased using cash, outside an Internet cafe that will give you their network password just for buying a coffee.

Then your IP is not tied to your home network. That can be important to some people.

If your email activity to support the free market commerce is done that anonymously, anyone trying to track it will find themselves with pieces of the puzzle here and there.


But shit does happen. I was banned on Western Union and they require an ID.

 

[flylowgethigh]

A one ounce gold coin is about $1800 lately. And there is a ratio to silver. Trade/barter. Works on one-two packs with a few coins.

Since it is a cash business, most guys have problems getting their cash "into the bankng system", where it spends easier. Be creative...

 

[Lrus007]

simple old as man himself.
barter, i give you this you give me that..

 

[wiesser]

Bro, we talking weight here, what can you barter for consistently that's worth over 100k? I can see gold and possibly silver.......

 

[Lrus007]

rubies for one. other high dollar gemstones.
no diamonds there is a large surplus of those.
cars, boats, fine art and land. if there is a will
there is a way.

 

[troutman]

Barter system leaves no paper trail and would be perfect if you can do it.

 

[flylowgethigh]

Gold has been recognized as money for 5000 years. Paper money, not so much.

I was alluding to an arrangement like paying the light bill. The farmers can only spend $9900 cash at the power company. Cash also has a way of getting lost in the mail.

IMO, they are faking a "coin shortage" to ease us to paperless money. I don't believe it, like most of the crap the media puts out these daze.

 

[EsterEssence]

There are more 100.00 dollar bills in circulation than any other bills, and most of them aren’t here in the USA, there is no way at least in the near future that the world could go cashless...

 

[troutman]

It's probably anti-semetic to get rid of all the cash.

 

[HGCC]

Well...if its 100ks worth of weed, that takes up a bunch of space. Is this some sort of post apocalyptic barter world, or just one where all forms of government recognized currency is trackable.

I would barter for some cocaine/heroin since those both have some medical use if we are in barter land apocalypse, would still go that route in a paperless world since they are small and store well, and it's easy enough to break down into smaller amounts/denominations. I do not think precious metals would be superior as at some point you would need to convert them to whatever actual currency and its hard to believe a loophole that large would be left open...and in barterpocalyse precious metals are worthless compared to useful metal like lead/steel/aluminum/etc.

I have swapped weed for stuff like food from farms and random growing supplies. I just figured an oz as being worth about 100 bucks and went from there. Some chickens and peaches for a jar of weed was the most rewarding transaction I have ever made, felt patriotic or something.

 

[flylowgethigh]

They have been readying us to take away our untraceable means of trade for a long time. The bengi was the last bill to incorporate the security features the new one does. Meanwhile there are a lot of older versions of the bengi around (big black and white pic, small pic, etc) and they were even saying the NORKs and Iranians (axis of evil ya know) were counterfeiting the bengi with "supernotes". They have flooded the ME with bengis as bribes, and now it is the defacto currency. Are they going to declare the old bengis no good?

When they do that and the us Dollah loses the status it enjoys now, we are in real trouble. Myself included.

The price of gold coins is way higher than it was a year ago, but having metals is a good idea, just like having food water and now TP /masks.

100 oz is just over 6 pounds of gold. 10 tubes. Fit in your pocket.

I always like the coins that are 4x9 purity. Canadian leafs and Buffalos, leafs being preferred for trade. The older the date, the lower the assumed purchase price basis (ie 2010 gold was cheaper than 2020) if the pricks ever try to tax you on profits from gold coin appreciation. They willsay you bought it new at the highest price of the year I bet. A newer coin with a higher assumed cost, would reduce that risk, but time frame the scam. Older coins are, older. Bars have a higher chance of being fakes, filled with tungsten. It's lead for silver bars, and some folks want to drill them. Not even the chicoms are going to fake a gold coin very well.

Come to think of it, 2020 is a historical year. Maybe I should buy some coins with the date.

 

['Boogieman']

 

[HGCC]

...cocaine...duh....

 

[flylowgethigh]

And paying for the coke? A lot of potheads won't associate with coke or people who do it.

 

[nice fella]

A couple years ago I would have said Bitcoin. Alas, they artificially tanked BC (relatively speaking) in a way that 2014-2016 Era Crypto Geniuses said couldn't happen. That really bummed me out. I thought, with a high degree of confidence, crypto could be Je...umm..."international finance" proof.

 

[St. Phatty]

Seems like Cigarettes are a widespread currency.

In prison and out.

 

[Douglas.Curtis]

Unless you fully understand crytpo, I wouldn't count on being anonymous. Crypto is open-ledger, meaning you get to see all transactions associated with any account in the bank(coin). All account transactions have ip addresses included in them.

EVERY transaction is connected, so when some idiot uses the wrong wallet for an open transaction, every single transaction of that account is now connected to that person. It's all open-ledger, remember?