There are many ways to buy Bitcoin/Monero without ID (e.g. I work remotely for crypto and exchange to cash to pay for food and rent, since I can’t get a bank account). Cash in person/cash by mail (LocalMonero.co, Bisq.network, HodlHodl.com), Bitcoin ATMs (CoinATMRadar.com), vouchers (Azte.co), gift cards (Redeeem.com), jobs (Microlancer.io, Reddit.com/r/MoneroMarket) or local tech/libertarian/crypto meetups are some options.
Cryptocurrency is the only accessible donation method for many people.
Bank transfers, credit cards and Paypal exclude millions of people who don’t have government ID (e.g. the state refuses to print ID for them) and pseudonymous donations aren’t possible (many people need pseudonymity for safety or privacy reasons). In many countries, money orders, cash deposits and Visa gift cards also require ID, even for low amounts like $25. Cash by mail is rarely accepted as a donation method.
In comparison, Bitcoin and Monero don’t require government ID. It’s possible to buy cryptocurrencies with cash or gift cards or earn them via remote work. Cryptocurrency uses pseudonymous private keys, not state-assigned identities, as proof of ownership and is therefore accessible to everyone who owns or can borrow a computer or smartphone.
Only accepting KYC’ed fiat payment methods is anti-privacy and financially exclusionary. I commented on this here: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Requests_for_comment/Stop_accepting_cryptocurrency_donations and here: https://anarkiocrypto.medium.com/why-the-states-monopoly-on-identity-is-more-dangerous-than-google-facebook-and-microsoft-4ce415793d7e/
I’m in Europe not the US. It looks like the US is more permissive than Europe. For example, sim cards and Visa gift cards are available without ID, cash is widely accepted (unlike Sweden for example: https://whycryptocurrencies.com/cashless_dystopia.html) and common law name changes are possible. Still if you don’t have a birth certificate or driver’s license, and the state won’t print one for you, life can be difficult even in the US.
For rentals, it’s only important that you can pay rent and deposit. Whether you have ID or not shouldn’t be relevant. The deposit covers any property damage and you can rent on a monthly basis in case you don’t have proof of income for a yearly contract.
For most things, just saying your name, using a password/PIN (e.g. SMS code to pickup mail), cryptographic keypair (such as in Bitcoin), pseudonymous reputation network (e.g. online reviews, vouches from friends) or cash deposits (e.g. for rentals) is enough to establish authentication or trust.
In Europe, anyone who can’t get ID is shut out of work, housing and healthcare. For a job, only your skills should be relevant. For housing, only your ability to pay rent should be relevant. For healthcare, only your medical condition should be relevant (in fact, it should be against the Hippocratic Oath to deny medical treatment to people without ID, especially if they are paying out-of-pocket in cash).
Europe does not have a better system. The state is a centralized single point of failure – if the state refuses to print an ID card for someone, this person can’t appeal, get help from NGOs or find an alternative way to get ID. Even Flag Theory requires an existing birth certificate or old passport. Even if you can get ID, the name that the state prints on your ID may not be the name you use in real life, and many countries restrict legal name changes, which is harmful for victims of abuse or trauma who want a safe new name.
Here is a text about people who have suffered due to KYC regulations: https://www.statelessness.eu/blog/each-person-left-living-streets-we-are-losing-society and https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/5050/still-stateless-still-suffering-its-time-for-european-leaders-to-take-action/ His stateless passport application was finally accepted after 15+ years which included homelessness, false imprisonment and involuntary unemployment. Most applications for ID for stateless people are rejected or ignored, or worse the person is imprisoned for the “crime” of not having identity documents, even though no government will print ID for them. The state has no interest in solving problems that it itself created via citizen vs. non-citizen discrimination (which is fatalistically based on circumstances of birth rather than inclusive via merit, personal beliefs or effort) and exclusionary government ID systems.
Blockchain actually prevents fraud. There are no chargebacks, no inflation, no double-spending and funds are secured by strong cryptography. If you hold your cryptocurrency private key and don’t show it to anyone, your funds cannot be stolen or seized. Low fees (can be less than 1 cent), fast confirmation times (can be instant) and accessibility for everyone (you only need internet, no ID or credit checks) are more advantages of cryptocurrencies as a global payment method.
My other article goes into detail about why KYC is actively harmful and how KYC-free alternatives can help everyone to access necessities like work, housing and healthcare: https://anarkiocrypto.medium.com/the-rarely-discussed-dangers-of-kyc-in-crypto-and-daily-life-and-what-you-can-do-about-it-20f2b5894439
Not shallow to me. I can’t get a bank account, credit card or Paypal, so cryptocurrency is the only possibility for me to work remotely and shop online. (Cash works for local stores and apartment rentals, but local work for cash is difficult to find and most online stores don’t accept cash by mail.) People rarely mention the financial inclusion benefits of cryptocurrencies, even though it’s the only way to send money online that doesn’t require government ID.