[whatwherewhy]

I don't hold Bitcoin. I use it for cross-continent transactions. I buy it from people in my city using a local FB group or (way in the past) Localbitcoins.com and then send it to the recipient. They usually use Localbitcoins to convert it to their own currency AFAIK. The fees (transfer and exchange) are much lower this way - usually less than 0.5% all things considered. Compared to $100+ fee to just transfer the money + 5-10% currency exchange fee (both my and the recipient's currency aren't the most well known).

[lupire]

To get that rate, how much do you have to send in one batch?

Just obtaining Bitcoin is expensive unless you have a high trust off-chain method to prevent double-spending.

[whatwherewhy]

I'm usually sending around $500-$1000 once every 2-3 months (per contractor - I work with multiple).

[certifiedloud]

How long does it take for a typical transaction to finalize?

[whatwherewhy]

2 days - I get the BTC around noon, transfer it immediately, in the evening I get a confirmation from the recipient that they got it, and then I see them transfer it to someone the second day. Sometimes it's just 1 day.