How Bitcoin broke Australian man’s debt cycle, Liberated him from banks

By Darryn Pollock - October 24, 2017 (cointelegraph.com)

Bitcoin has been touted as the currency for the people as its decentralized platform allows for its users to be free of the banking monopoly with their exorbitant fees and charges.

Crippling debt cycles and unbreakable lending policies which are not conducive to economic empowerment have long dogged society forcing the new generation to seek alternative; this is where Bitcoin has come in.

Now, a man in Townsville, Australia, has become a proof of concept for the economic freedom Bitcoin can provide by paying off his mortgage and is funding the development of a new home through profits generated through investing in Bitcoin.

Bitcoin for business

Michael Sloggett first began trading in Bitcoin as a means to pay for overseas acquisitions of supplements for his Townsville supplements store.

But in January this year, he decided to make investments in the currency and the strategy has paid off with the value of the currency soaring from about $900 to $6,000 during that time.

“We paid off the mortgage and bought a block of land at Townsville out of the profits. We are now building a new home,” Sloggett said.

A need for Bitcoin

Bitcoin has been beneficial for Sloggett in both helping him freeing himself from the debt of his mortgage, but even originally, it was the banking rules that made it difficult to transact internationally that drew him to digital currencies.

It all started with his supplement business and the need for international transactions to purchase supplements for the store. Sloggett said he moved to Bitcoin about five years ago because of the expense of paying thousands of dollars in fees for exchange through the banks, as well as the time taken to make settlements.

Because banks held such hegemony over money and transactions, there was never anywhere else to go, but with Bitcoin coming to the fore as a disruptive technology, banks are starting to look seriously outdated.

Due diligence

Sloggett is a new face for the digital currency, proving there is a huge benefit in adopting this new technology if done right. No longer is Bitcoin just for technology whiz kids and hackers; it is helping everyday people survive the harsh world of money and currency.

Sloggett thinks everyone should invest in at least one Bitcoin but warned he had heard “horror stories” of people losing everything by investing with scammers on the Internet.

“Do your due diligence to make sure you are not giving your money away to random people on the internet,” Sloggett said.

“Make sure you are buying from a reputable site.”