When you first meet Dmytro, he doesn’t immediately strike you as someone who built much of his independence on crypto. He’s a chef with a smile, the kind of person who can talk for hours about masa, natural wine, and the right balance of acidity in guacamole. But beneath the apron is also a marketer with over 15 years of experience running campaigns for e-commerce brands and restaurants – someone who now blends those two identities into a single lifestyle: the crypto life.
In this conversation, he shares how he went from his first Bitcoin payment to living a life where crypto transactions now outnumber fiat ones.
From First Crypto Payment to “Aha” Moment
Q: Do you remember the first time you got paid in crypto?
Dmytro:
“Oh yes. It was 2017. I was a marketing contractor, and that company from Estonia said, ‘Hey, can I pay you in Bitcoin instead of a wire? It’s faster and you’ll save on fees.’ At that time, I was sceptical. But then I received my first 0.5 BTC. Back then, it didn’t feel like much – today it feels like a fortune.
The transfer took minutes, not days. No SWIFT, no ‘your money is on hold,’ no middlemen. That was the moment I realised: this isn’t just internet money. It’s freedom.”
For a Ukrainian professional navigating contracts with clients across Europe and the Americas, crypto solved a constant pain point: slow and costly international transfers. On top of that, many countries over-regulate international transactions, demanding excessive documentation and proof. That is another reason why crypto enables borderless remote work. Like many nomads today, he discovered that crypto could remove the borders banks had built.
HODL, Patience, and Investing in Real-World Dreams
Q: What did you do with those first coins?
Dmytro:
“Honestly, I HODL’d. I didn’t touch them. Watching the volatility was terrifying but also fascinating. When Bitcoin ran up in 2020–21, those coins became more than a speculative bet. They turned into seed capital for my dream project: a restaurant.”
That leap is what differentiates Dmytro’s crypto journey from many. Instead of trading for quick gains, he treated Bitcoin as a long-term store of value. When the moment came, those early HODL’d assets gave him the courage – and liquidity – to invest in a Mexican street food venue in Tbilisi.
“I like to say crypto bought my tortilla press,” he laughs.
Crypto Life: Discovering Earn Programs and DeFi
Q: Beyond holding Bitcoin, how did you expand your crypto strategy?
Dmytro:
“Once you get comfortable with wallets, you start asking: how can my crypto work for me? I discovered centralised Earn programs. Platforms like Nexo and Binance Earn were paying interest on stablecoins. For someone running international contracts, getting 8–10% on money that would otherwise sit idle in a bank felt like magic.”
From there, he ventured into DeFi protocols. Using stablecoins in lending pools not only earned yield but also taught him the mechanics of decentralised finance.
“It’s a rabbit hole,” he says. “At first, it’s just about interest rates. But then you learn governance tokens, liquidity provision, and staking. It made me realise: this isn’t Wall Street. This is finance anyone can access, with just a wallet and Wi-Fi.”
The WhiteBit Card: Crypto in Daily Life
Q: Earning is one thing. But what about spending? How do you actually live on crypto?
Dmytro:
“For Ukrainians, the game changer was the WhiteBit card. It links directly to your wallet and works like any Visa card. Suddenly, I could tap to pay at a café in Barcelona, withdraw cash in Tbilisi, or book a flight online – without needing to liquidate crypto through a bank.
Today, most of my daily transactions – groceries, gym memberships, even Netflix – go through that card. The experience is so seamless that I sometimes forget I’m spending crypto. And speaking of Netflix, this particular card offers cash back and rewards 10% back on all your subscription payments. Not too bad for me!”
This mirrors a broader trend among nomads, where crypto debit cards bridge the gap between blockchain assets and real-world expenses.
Crypto Life vs. Fiat Life
Q: At what point did crypto transactions become more frequent than fiat?
Dmytro:
“It crept up on me. First, payments from marketing clients began to arrive in USDC. Then, restaurant partners experimented with stablecoin settlements. With the WhiteBit card, I was spending in crypto daily.
One day I looked at my records and realised: over 60% of my monthly activity was in crypto. That was the tipping point. I wasn’t just investing anymore. I was living a crypto life.”
From Dependence to Freedom
Q: What does this crypto life mean for you emotionally?
Dmytro pauses before answering:
“I grew up in Ukraine, where banks could freeze your money, inflation could eat your savings, and bureaucracy slowed everything down. The war years only made that worse.
Crypto gave me some peace of mind. When I cross a border, my funds are with me – not stuck in a bank I can’t access. When I launch a new venture, I can deploy capital instantly, without asking permission.
That freedom fuels everything else: my cooking, my marketing, my travel. It makes me less afraid to take risks because I know I’m not at the mercy of banks or governments.
Crypto life is about reclaiming control. And that’s priceless.”
Lessons for Other Digital Nomads
Q: What would you tell other freelancers, chefs, or marketers curious about crypto?
- Start simple. Open a crypto wallet, receive your first crypto payment, and experience how fast it is compared to SWIFT or PayPal. For bigger amounts of crypto, consider buying a hardware wallet for better security and peace of mind.
- Diversify. Keep some in Bitcoin or Ethereum, but use stablecoins for day-to-day stability.
- Earn passively. Explore Earn programs and DeFi cautiously – start with small amounts.
- Get a crypto card. It turns theory into practice when you buy coffee with crypto.
- Think long-term. Volatility is real. But over time, crypto builds resilience into your financial life.
Closing Thoughts
Dmytro’s journey is more than a personal success story. It reflects what digital nomad communities across the world are now embracing: crypto as a tool for independence.
The crypto life isn’t about chasing the next coin. It’s about crafting a lifestyle where money moves as freely as you do. For a Ukrainian chef-marketer who once waited a week for a wire transfer, it’s nothing less than transformational.
Or as he puts it with a grin:
“Some people chase financial freedom. I cook tacos, run ads, and live my freedom every day – with crypto in my pocket. The overall freedom is more important for me than the sheer amounts of money.”
