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2024-11-02 14:37:03Building An E-Commerce Store I would like to be the change in the world I would like to see."" So I'm writing about how I would like to see the world change. npub1marc26z8nh3xkj5rcx7ufkatvx6ueqhp5vfw9v5teq26z254renshtf3g0 My new nym is Marc26z. Marc is my real name. I decided to stop being a-nym-nomous because I started a meetup and it felt to strange to tell people my nym and I heard Guy and Jeff Swann talk about being anonymous cuts you off from the people that will help you. So i guess I'm coming out so to speak. I also felt like I needed to show and not tell. Therefore I am creating an online store to show people how bitcoin can be used for e-commerce. The 26z comes from the nostr key I mined. I'm on nostr because it gives me the ability to talk to the smartest people I've ever spoken with. It also provides a new way to get discovered on the Internet and a way to get use bitcoin as a medium of exchange. I spent about two years writing as a nym, but then hit a wall because I became interested in using bitcoin as a replacement for traditional banks and regulated exchanges made it easier to do so. I still believe in [self-custody](https://btcguide.github.io/). I still believe [bitcoin is a peer-to-peer electronic cash system](https://bitcoin.org/en/bitcoin-paper) I still believe the majority of your wealth should [not be trusted with a third party](https://nakamotoinstitute.org/library/trusted-third-parties/). I don't really like credit cards, but it occurred to me that I can still accept credit cards and get them to pay me in bitcoin if I use [[Strike](https://invite.strike.me/NGQDMT)*](https://[Strike](https://invite.strike.me/NGQDMT)*.me) [Gradually, then suddenly](https://nakamotoinstitute.org/library/gradually-then-suddenly/?origin=serp_auto), Bitcoin ETF's were approved. Now you can read about them on [Nerd Wallet](https://www.nerdwallet.com/article/investing/spot-bitcoin-etf) About 12% of all the bitcoin that will ever be made is held by governments and corporations. According to Bitbo, more than [1-out of 20 bitcoin]((https://treasuries.bitbo.io/)) are held in ETF's I know how to set up bitcoin Point-of-Sale system for businesses, but there's not much of a market for that., but there's not much of a market for it. Everyone need a t shirts. Everyone needs underwear. Everyone neess food. I plan on selling stuff like that…Well, not underwear. Gaining e-commerce experience  I've been writing letters and building labs to get a coveted IT help desk job. I study Professor Messer 4 hours a week because most jobs require a Computer Technology Industry Association stamp of an A+ approval. Last week, I applied for a job that required "e-commerce experience." I didn't even get one of those “you're not hired” emails, but there is an orange lining to this situation. I spent the last few months building my resume and writing dozens of cover letters. This taught me even more stuff like how to run my own [ticketing system](https://marc26z.npub.pro/post/gain-ticketing-experience/). This gives me the confidence to create my own e-commerce store. I'm looking at my resume. This guy knows how to build websites with WordPress. He knows how to set up a bitcoin store. Forget that. We want fiat! Why would they hire me? So I;m building an "e-commerce lab" that takes credit cards. The payments will still take days to get to my [Strike](https://invite.strike.me/NGQDMT)* account, but when they do the dollars will instantaneously convert to bitcoin(sats) in my [Strike](https://invite.strike.me/NGQDMT)* account. The problem with writing about this is it's terrible writing. It takes too much technical expertise to write about without [citing stuff like this(https://medium.com/coinmonks/understanding-atomic-swaps-the-2024-guide-to-cross-blockchain-transactions-3427b75045c2) and that would turn off much of my bitcoin only audience because it talks about casino coins, but I found this exciting when Elizabeth Stark tweeted about it and I was still into the steamy number two mother of all alt-coin dingle-berries coin. I still use the number one electronic currency in the world, the United States dollar to pay my bills. To do that, I sometimes need to use atomic swaps from bitcoin to USD . [Strike](https://invite.strike.me/NGQDMT)* probably uses Tether to make it happen so fast. I could swap into USD-T using [Aqua Wallet](https://aquawallet.io/), but I don't need to because I live in the United States and have [financial privilege](https://www.amazon.com/Check-Your-Financial-Privilege-Gladstein/dp/B09V2NM9VJ). This allows me to easily swap in and out of the bitcoin and dollars like fancy-suit wearing FOREX kingpin. I can send bitcoin from Aqua wallet(Which is actually [Liquid-BTC](https://liquid.net/users) to [Strike](https://invite.strike.me/NGQDMT)* using the lightning network. Why? Because I need to use the USD to pay my bills. I can also send fiat from my too big to fail bank account to [River](https://river.com/signup?r=W36LP2TG) using [Strike](https://invite.strike.me/NGQDMT)* as an intermediate! Jack Maller's explained it using an analogy I would like to share.  In this analogy: The dollars in my [too big to fail](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Too_big_to_fail) bank are tortilla chips. The peanut is bitcoin on the [lightning network](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lightning_Network). I can send my tortilla chips from bank of too big to fail to [Strike](https://invite.strike.me/NGQDMT)* and [Strike](https://invite.strike.me/NGQDMT)* to [River](https://river.com/signup?r=W36LP2TG) in about ten seconds. The tortilla chip magically transforms into a peanut like a shapeshifter and travels through a communication channel at the speed of light. It reaches [River](https://river.com/signup?r=W36LP2TG) in almost no time. Then my peanut can transform back to a tortilla chip. I can stack those tortilla chips in my [River](https://river.com/signup?r=W36LP2TG) savings account. This tortilla chip earns 3.8% interest paid in peanuts. Of course, if you are alergic to peanuts as Mallers says, you can only deal with tortilla chips. Which reminds me, have you seen the price of Tortilla chips laced with canola oil and lately? Maltodextrin lovers can automatically convert the bitcoin…I mean uh…peanuts they might receive from people who prefer peanuts into tortilla chips. IT doesn't take 5 days either. **It takes seconds**! Building An E-Commerce Store If I could summarize my Bachelor's degree in one sentence, that sentence would be, “Show don't tell.” This tortilla chip analogy is cool, but the best thing to do would be to start my own e-commerce store. Is it a business? Is it a home lab? I'm not sure, but I know I am not likely to convince other "businesses to accept bitcoin" unless I show them instead of tell the about what an amazing communications network we are using here. Somewhere along the way, people wearing shark-skin suits tried to convince the people bitcoin is an investment you should let a well-respected, too big to fail institution hold for you. I wish to go back to the roots and use bitcoin like a man who preferred to influence the world with his ideas instead of his ethos. [“Receivers of transactions will normally need to hold transactions for perhaps an hour or more to allow time for this kind of possibility to be resolved. They can still re-spend the coins immediately, but they should wait before taking an action such as shipping goods.”](https://satoshi.nakamotoinstitute.org/emails/cryptography/6/) [“Instantant non-repudiability is not a feature, but it's still much faster than existing systems. Paper cheques can bounce up to a week or two later. Credit card transactions can be contested up to 60 to 180 days later. Bitcoin transactions can be sufficiently irreversible in an hour or two.”]((https://satoshi.nakamotoinstitute.org/emails/cryptography/10/) --Satoshi Nakamoto I still believe in using bitcoin as a payment rail. I still believe we can get paid in bitcoin and live in a fiat world. I still believe we can mitigate the risk of bank failures without relying on bailouts and endless debt. And I can still have fun. I'm basically like one of these dudes selling t-shirts on the freeway, but on the Internet. ✌️ npub1marc26z8nh3xkj5rcx7ufkatvx6ueqhp5vfw9v5teq26z254renshtf3g0 [868,557](https://mempool.marc26z.com/block/0000000000000000000128f84f3f7b4c0701da0c17085192b34ed0f6395d39af) *The links are referrals. I get a small commission if you sign up with these accounts using my referral. That being said, I would never endorse putting all your money in a centralized service. I like these companies because they do it better than most exchanges. River has a proof-of-reserve, automatic withdrawals to a bitcoin wallet. The fiat is FDIC insured (which still requires trust in the FDIC). This is not financial nor cybersecurity advice. Be aware that bitcoin does have risk of loss, of ten due to human error. Please consult a professional if you need financial or cybersecurity advice.