Summer is flying by and I hope you’re having an amazing time in the sun. I just got back from Argentina, a country where inflation drives the popularity of cryptocurrency to the point that bull/bear market cycles are almost irrelevant. According to a Chainalysis report, Argentina has the highest rate of retail crypto transactions in Latin America, worth an estimated $91.1 billion in 2024 alone. I was there to meet with a group of authors, not technologists. Yet every single person I asked understood what bitcoin is, and why it has value for the people who choose to use it.

The trouble is, choosing to use bitcoin in Argentina isn’t as straightforward as it may be in El Salvador, where bitcoin is recognized as legal tender. Many of the businesses that used to accept crypto directly no longer do. At least one of the food markets that a local recommended to me hasn’t accepted bitcoin in several years. What’s much more common these days is for Argentinians to use a type of crypto-friendly debit/credit card called Mercado Pago, which can be loaded up with crypto or used to buy goods on credit with accounts connected to a crypto exchange. Stablecoins are often preferred rather than bitcoin. Neither the seller nor the buyer are directly engaging in a peer-to-peer exchange with this card. Instead, this would be more comparable to a banking transaction.

It’s also not obvious which stores still accept crypto via the Mercado Pago method. Some stores and restaurants still have stickers at the register, which indicate the types of payments they accept. (The local currency is so dramatically inflated that few people pay in pesos, which can require a whole stack of bills for something as simple as a sandwich.) But most businesses don’t have comprehensive sticker instructions. You have to ask at the checkout, and for a foreigner who barely speaks Spanish and is trying her best to avoid being an obnoxious American, constantly asking about crypto payment methods can get a bit exhausting. (If you feel inclined to try the chatty method, my recommendation is to start with the businesses around Plaza Serrano in the Palermo district, many of which accepted stablecoins in the past and may still do so.) I did find two business owners that were willing to exchange goods and services for bitcoin, but what I learned from them surprised me.

The first bitcoin user I found who receives the godfather cryptocurrency directly as payment runs a small hostel. She asked me not to name her or her business. She explained to me that it would create a security risk for strangers to know that she transacts with bitcoin. (Fair enough!) She said that people who use bitcoin for payments do so after meeting in person, first paying with credit cards or pesos, then establish trust over several days of doing business together. This isn’t something most Argentinians would want to advertise publicly. As such, it can be hard to find people to transact with, unless you plan to stay in the same area for many weeks. If you do stick around, there are whisper networks you’ll eventually tap into.

The second user I found is an artist, Juan José, who displayed his art at the Espacio Cultural Bitcoin, near the historic Monserrat neighborhood. If you’re staying in Buenos Aires for several weeks, you can pay (in bitcoin or fiat) to rent a coworking space in this educational center. I was particularly struck by the beauty of his piece titled “Mama Quilla,” a depiction of the Incan moon goddess known for protecting women.

José told me that artists like himself accept bitcoin commissions, and that some food markets in Catamarca, in northern Argentina, still accept bitcoin. As volatile as bitcoin is, it can sometimes be more stable than the local currency because a product could skyrocket to three times the price in a single week. However, José pointed out that most people in Argentina are struggling too much with inflation to be able to hodl. People spend assets on basic necessities rather than save to time market cycles.

If you’re only going to Argentina for a short trip, I highly recommend visiting the La Crypta community center on a Tuesday, when the building is open to visitors in the afternoon. There’s a bitcoin ATM inside and local crypto educators who welcome guests. Those locals will be able to point you in the direction of bitcoin-friendly businesses and freelancers. Plus, you might be able to exchange a small amount of bitcoin for pesos. If you aren’t around on Tuesday, there’s also a “Flash Coin” storefront crypto exchange business at Fitz Roy 2474, in Palermo, which is open during the week for regular business hours.

While most businesses in Buenos Aires accept credit cards, a few milongas (tango clubs) I visited were cash only. Plus, I often used cash for tipping waiters. Some restaurants require separate transactions to tip using a credit card. This felt awkward to me, so I preferred to tip in cash for smaller purchases like mate, an antioxidant-rich herbal drink slurped through a metal straw. When someone took the time to explain Argentinian customs to me in slow, simple Spanish (never stir the mate, for example), a small bill or two of appreciation felt more comfortable than asking to fetch the credit card machine. Chocotorta, the chocolate cake featured in my picture below, is the most popular treat to make at home for family birthday celebrations. It doesn’t require any baking and only a few ingredients, so here’s the recipe, if you want to try it yourself.

I hope all of this inspires you to keep an eye out for how people view money wherever you may travel this summer. Feel free to email me about your vacations and adventures, especially if you have any tips for using bitcoin in different countries. Later this year I’ll share some AI tips and insights I’ve learned from work, plus a few published creative writing pieces. I look forward to continuing this journey with all of you.

Until next time, take care everybody!

I hope you’ve all been busy enjoying pumpkin season! It’s one of my favorite times a year. 

If you hadn’t noticed, I’ve turned off the subscription payments for this newsletter and will keep it free until I can return to monthly posts. That means it’s a great time to share with anyone you think might enjoy it, because all the formerly paywalled content is now free as well. 

Meanwhile, at work, I’ve been writing a series of guides related to growing your income and sustainable shopping habits. The latter encouraged me to explore the history of cozy sweaters, since wool is one of the most eco-friendly clothing materials available in relatively affordable varieties. 

There are quite a few economic lessons still relevant to our world of international transactions, especially when we think about the Vikings. 

When you think about sweaters, there are several internationally popular styles that may come to mind. The Fair Isle sweater style is one, named for the Shetland Islands that were a vital outpost for the Vikings roughly 900 years ago, and perhaps also a few other Nordic-inspired styles, such as the lopi (aka lopapeysa) sweater, which increased in popularity just a century ago as Icelandic people returned to using more local wool at home. The photo of me above shows an example of a lopi sweater.

Before winter fashion styles became a widespread export from these regions of Europe, cloth was used as a type of currency (called vaðmál) in communities short on silver. It was perfect for cross-border transactions and ideally suited for unbanked communities. 

Not All Types Of Money Become Cash

Archeologist Michèle Hayeur Smith wrote in her book, “The Valkyrie's Loom,” that “cloth was used for all legal transactions, to pay tithes and taxes or settle fines, for internal trade and for export as well as home consumption.” As the book title suggests, cloth and clothing production was largely considered women’s work. 

There were medieval laws regulating what type of cloth could be used as currency and how it was valued (usually measured in silver, the way that today we often describe bitcoin’s market price using dollars). This homemade cloth became so widespread on these chilly islands and peninsulas that Smith wrote, “it is ubiquitous as a measure and medium of exchange in Icelandic legal texts, sales accounts, church inventories, and farm registers into the 17th century.” 

The cloth currency slowly decreased in prevalence over roughly 200 years as foreign powers (like Denmark for Iceland or England for Scotland) strived to enforce economic laws that benefited the colonial power. However, there’s  still evidence of communities engaging in peer-to-peer trade. Forbidding cloth trade didn’t stamp it out. Only access to more efficient money alternatives killed the cloth currency, over centuries, in a death by a thousand cuts. 

I won’t dive into how inflation impacted the use of cloth as currency in centuries past, instead quickly fast-forwarding to say that, while reading, I was struck by how many similarities there are between vaðmál and digital assets. The notion of self-custody and peer-to-peer transactions, regardless of any central bank or middleman, stands out as one such similarity. And, although it may not be the best money, it is useful in specific circumstances. 

Self-Custodied Money Can Survive For Centuries 

According to Orri Vésteinsson, an archeology professor at the University of Iceland, land, cattle, gold and silver were preferred forms of money when people had access to them. Vaðmál was primarily used as a store of value, he told me via email, and would be better described as a commodity rather than as cash. 

“The modern analogue to this is the commodities market, where commodities can be exchanged directly on the basis of their own value even if for modern minds it is impossible to conceive of this without translating the value into the currencies we use, dollars, euros etc.,” Vésteinsson said. 

There’s a lot of debate surrounding crypto today regarding whether it is a “better” money than dollars, which are subject to inflation, or if bitcoin is even money to begin with. After all, we don’t consider commodities like oil a type of money. There’s debate over whether the core functionality of crypto is trading and storing value or to eventually be used as cash. Perhaps the answer is, like vaðmál, it is a better store of value for people who can’t use land to do so (since it’s stationary) or cattle (which die faster than cloth decomposes) or gold (which is hard to move in large quantities). And it can be used as a cash of last resort in rare circumstances.

Servants were often paid in vaðmál, Vésteinsson said, but only because they had a subsistence lifestyle that revolved around bartering. People who had expendable income used silver or gold. Maybe having money that is rarely used as cash is perfectly functional for a few hundred years, until better technology comes along.

Vésteinsson emphasized that the cloth commodity was valuable because it could keep people warm in cold environments. It would eventually be worn. Yet any old sweater couldn’t have been substituted, because the regulation of vaðmál is what gave it widespread export value to other Nordic regions. 

According to Smith’s book, the cloth regulations changed over time, becoming stricter and more clearly defined. This means the same piece of cloth might trade hands a few times then eventually be retired for wearing as the vaðmál norms changed. Yet the asset class itself survived for centuries. 

There is no money without regulations. Fashion, on the other hand, offers more flexibility in both form and function. 

Global Fashion Trends Require International Transactions 

Homemade cloth production continues to be a  valuable form of women’s work. Knitting is popular throughout Iceland today, for both exported sweaters and local tourism. Tour guide Hélène Magnússonis told me that between 1200-1500 tourists came to take her Icelandic knitting tours over the past decade. And she’s already completely booked tours in 2025 that cost roughly €2,100-2,800 each, not including airfare. 

“Knitting came to Iceland relatively late, in the beginning of the 16th century, but it became right away an important part of our economy and culture,” Magnússonis said. “The Icelandic sheep and its special wool has a lot to say in that matter. Today knitting is still very much a living tradition that goes way beyond the iconic Icelandic lopi sweater.”

Thanks to platforms like Etsy, knitted sweaters are now a popular export for skilled craftswomen seeking access to international markets. 

For example, Icelandic knitwear designer Jóna Örlygsdóttir sells hundreds of handmade sweaters every year via Etsy and a German website for handmade goods called DaWanda. She also made my sweater pictured above.

“Everybody here knows someone who can knit a traditional lopapeysa,” said Örlygsdóttir. “I get most of my orders from Germany and North America, but also from Canada and other countries in Europe. I have also knitted a few sweaters for Japanese people.” 

These days, any knitwear company around the world might offer a version of lopi sweaters, while dozens of retailers on Amazon sell Fair Isle-inspired sweaters, in addition to mainstream brands like J.Crew. But the most eco-friendly way to acquire the style is a handmade version, not by a fast fashion company. And in Kyiv, Ukraine, the mother-daughter duo behind WoolpointKnitwear has tapped into that market for handmade sweaters. Any style you want, they can make it. 

Yana Dziumak, the business-oriented daughter,  told me that COVID robbed her family of their former jobs. Then when the war crippled the local economy, they looked for something they could do while staying close together. Her mother’s knitting skills became a boon for the family, armed with an Instagram account (they can accept custom orders via DM and transact directly using crypto wallets, although most customers prefer Etsy) and a knack for self-styled photo shoots. 

“We use battery-powered lamps and can work without light, and thankfully, our postal service is equipped with generators to keep operating even in the harshest winter days without power. So we stay resilient—we can’t afford to give up,” Dziumak explained how they continue even when the war knocks out their power for several days. “Almost every time I try to photograph new designs for our shop, the shoot is interrupted by air raid sirens or explosions…. It sounds terrible, but we know one thing for sure—we are on the home front and have no right to give up.”

Shipping is the biggest hurdle for their small business, not money. They have access to both self-custody wallets and international credit card transactions. Gone are the days when people needed to barter with cattle. However, cloth retains value and feminine skills endure, even when other white collar jobs become scarce. 

“With the skies closed over Ukraine due to nightly air attacks from Russia, we've had to adjust,” Dziumak said. “Packages now travel by truck to Poland, where they can finally be sent by air. Despite these challenges, we maintain a delivery timeframe of 5-9 business days for express orders.”

Handmade sweaters are not as cheap as fast fashion sweaters. However, they’re still more affordable than luxury brands. And they are a more sustainable option than mass produced knitwear, which is also shipped internationally. The key to incorporating sustainability principles into your closet is to value clothing rather than treat it as disposable. 

Whether or not you’re interested in cozy fashion during sweater season, I hope you’ve been as inspired as I was to learn about the evolution of cloth and trade across Europe. 

I’m not entirely sure which digital asset projects I’ll experiment with next year. (I always love hearing from subscribers about what you’re up to!) No matter what it is, I’ll keep y’all informed via this newsletter so we can continue on this journey together, figuring it out as we go.    

Until next time, take care everybody!

Hope y’all are having an amazing July 4th weekend! Before all the fireworks and hot dogs, I’d highly recommend downloading a Lightning Network-friendly wallet and a Nostr mobile app like Plebstr, or get on the waitlist for ZBD. You might earn small amounts of bitcoin (nicknamed “sats”) for posting summer selfies. Lately I’ve been encouraging and editing Forbes how-to guides for complete beginners who want to try the decentralized networking platform Nostr. And I finally took the plunge myself! 

https://damus.io/note1xrjt99hl6nrl0p66wnmcy9wf33tc3cdhsf7f3zg7zncawfresszsz3hrte

To find me on Nostr, look for my public key: npub1xgnw5yrcghhj5c5gufjhp46l5dlfum8d9l5gjn2r64r78kt79eyqarnp4u 

Of course, as luck would have it, less than two weeks after I downloaded Damus the Apple Store removed it because it doesn’t give Apple the 30% transaction cut via Apple Pay. (Apple Pay doesn’t support direct bitcoin transactions.) In the next few weeks I’ll have to try a new mobile app if the Damus developers aren’t able to appeal this decision. In the meantime, here’s how I at least got started on Nostr.

I used a custodial wallet, Wallet of Satoshi, and also had Strike downloaded on my phone and ready to go as a backup. That means I’ll eventually need to transfer the funds to a non-custodial wallet (one where I hold the private keys), just like I cash out my Venmo balance to a bank account every once in a while. I haven’t connected my mobile app to using my at-home bitcoin node and server yet. I found it really annoying with Sphinx (the bitcoin messaging app) that I could only use it at home near my node. I prefer the option of messaging on the go as well. 

Just like most people using Twitter, I’m relying on other people’s Nostr servers (which collect my IP address and know when I’m online). However, one major difference is that I have my Nostr account’s private key, meaning that no one can kick me off the networking platform. I could just restore my account using another Nostr app and the same public/private key pairing! This will be important if I need to switch from Damus to another comparable mobile or web app. All my content and followers should still be attached to that key pairing.

Unlike nodes and self-custody bitcoin wallets, like Elecrum, I didn’t ask any techies for help when I ran into trouble, yet still managed to earn $20 worth of bitcoin in my first week of posting cute pics and writing tips via Nostr. I did have one connectivity issue at first, where all my mobile apps except Damus worked fine. I turned my phone off and on again, updated my phone and Apple ID settings (overdue), unplugged my router and plugged it back in, then was back in action. No fancy tech support needed! 

This is the best advice I can offer a bitcoin newbie. Any bitcoin setup, no matter how cypherpunk or normie-friendly, will require some maintenance eventually. Out of all the times I’ve needed bitcoin node help over the past 4 years, 9 times out of 10 what fixed the problem was just checking my devices for updates, then turning them all off, unplugging, then turning them back on again. I’ve probably needed engineer-level help roughly 10 times over the years I’ve experimented (and usually only when I’m doing something tricky, like using BTCPay server). 

All things considered, so far Nostr is the *easiest* bitcoin experiment I’ve ever tried. Think of it like downloading the Twitter mobile app. The important difference is you MUST save your password (private key) in a password manager or tattoo it on your butt, because you cannot lose it. It can never be recovered. 

After downloading the Nostr app and linking it to your bitcoin wallet apps, find followers by perusing hashtags like #grownostr or #foodstr, finding other accounts you like and engaging with them. Then click on their list of followers to see who else seems cool. If you can’t afford to buy bitcoin, earning it by posting the same photos or random thoughts you’d already share on Instagram or Twitter is a low-stakes way to join the bitcoin economy. 

Are you on Nostr? If so, what’s your pub key? I want to follow you!

By August I should have some more details to share about the next step in this year’s adventure. So stay tuned! 

Until next month, take care everybody! 

Is it unbelievably hot wherever you are this summer? Hard same. My latest article about human rights was published by Bitcoin Magazine, describing how returning citizens survive and thrive despite the prison industrial complex. And, as for my artistic hobby project celebrating women leaders throughout history, we’re exploring what type of charity donations and features would make it even more fun. In the meantime, this month we’ll cover more DAO lessons garnered from my travels and some of the nitty gritty of how freelancing works for me today.

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