Maria is a compassionate Filipino nurse who lives in the United States. As one of many Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), she dedicates herself to supporting her family back in the Philippines.

These kinds of international payments are called remittances, and are notoriously expensive and very slow. 99.1% of Filipinos own smartphones, but only 29% of adults have bank accounts. This is because the documentation requirements are high, and many don’t make enough money to justify the fees. Instead, they use money transfer companies like Western Union or MoneyGram. In 2022, these companies earned 50 billion dollars just from remittances like Maria’s!

Maria’s sacrifice is not for big corporations, it’s for her family. So, she discovered and embraced a technology that seamlessly converts her USD to bitcoin, sends instantly over the bitcoin lightning network, and converts the currency to pesos for her family, who remain unaware of the bitcoin involvement.

This struggle isn’t unique to the Philippines; globally, 79% ($626 billion of $794 billion) of all international transfers were made to low or middle-income regions. Imagine the impact if these hard-earned funds could be directly in the hands of those who need it the most – the loved ones of the dedicated individuals sending them.

Maria is at the forefront of an empowering movement toward financial freedom that transcends borders!

Learn more about bitcoin and the importance of having a way to do more efficient international remittances.