Okay, so I’m officially old. Or at least I felt ancient until yesterday. I’ve been avoiding using crypto for actual payments for years because, honestly, it scares the hell out of me. I bought a little bit of Litecoin back in 2021 just because my coworker wouldn't shut up about it, but it just sat in my wallet app gathering virtual dust.
The main reason I even bothered trying this time is because my bank is being a total nightmare lately. I tried to deposit $50 onto a site last Friday using my debit card, and it got declined immediately. Then I got a text asking if it was fraud. I cleared it, tried again, declined again. I just gave up. It’s annoying having to call a support line just to spend my own money.
So, I figured I’d try the crypto route. I was browsing around and logged back into because I remembered I had an account there from a while back. Saw they had a crypto option in the cashier.
I’m not gonna lie, I was sweating bullets. I chose Litecoin (LTC) because I heard the fees are lower than Bitcoin, and I didn't want to pay $10 just to move $60. The site gave me this long string of random letters and numbers—the address.
I must have checked that address twenty times. I was literally reading it out loud to myself: "L... M... 3... 4..." switching back and forth between the browser and my phone wallet. I felt like a hacker, but a really incompetent one. I was terrified I’d miss one letter and send my money into the void forever.
I finally hit "Send" on my phone. My thumb was hovering over the button for a solid minute before I committed.
And then... nothing.
I sat there staring at the screen for about 3 minutes. I was convinced I messed it up. I was ready to close the laptop and accept that I lost 0.8 LTC or whatever it was. But then, I refreshed the page and the balance was just there.
It was actually weirdly satisfying? No typing in my 16-digit card number, no CVV code, no expiration date, and definitely no "Verified by Visa" popup that takes ten years to load. Just sent it from my wallet, and it arrived.
I played for about two hours. Stuck mostly to the slots, tried some Sweet Bonanza. Didn't hit anything massive, think I cashed out roughly break-even (down maybe $15), but the peace of mind was worth it.
The best part is checking my bank statement today. No gambling transactions. Just me buying groceries and gas. The crypto transfer doesn't show up there obviously.
Is it always this smooth? I feel like I got lucky that the network wasn't clogged or something. Also, for anyone else who is a total newbie like me: always copy-paste the address. Do not try to type it manually. I almost tried to type it out before I realized how dumb that would be.
Anyway, just wanted to share in case anyone else is tired of their bank blocking everything. It’s not as scary as it looks, just double-check everything.