I’m not some dinosaur that refuses to embrace technology Because. But what I most definitely am is someone who tries to objectively evaluate the utility of something against what I envision my future needs will be.
I would think the people who froth at the mouth about “If you cant eat it, shoot it, or set fire to it, it’ll be useless after the apocalypse!” will lump bitcoin in there with gold as having no post-collapse utility.
As I see it, gold and silver (and perhaps bitcoin) have utility in the descent from “Times of Plenty” to “Thunderdome”.
Bitcoin does have an interesting use though…as long as there is internet you have a portable, secure, anonymous way to move your wealth. While getting on a plane from Dubai to London with a couple kilos of gold may cause some problems at customs, you can, I suppose, transport that same amount of wealth with nothing but a few passwords in your head.
Do I see a need for bitcoin in my preparations against an uncertain future? I dont think so. But Im also the first to admit that I am probably terribly underinformed on the subject. However, would I divert resources from other preparations I make towards getting bitcoin into those preparations? I would not. I’m just more comfortable with a mix of cash, metals, and, honestly, paperless handguns, as a method of doing commerce…pre- and post-collapse. (And, really, most of my ideas about a sustained collapse are based on economic issues rather than comets/Xenu/rapture/bird flu/nuclear holocaust.)
However, and this is a big however, it might be prudent to dump a hundred bucks into it and just let it sit there in case it blows up again. Much like how penny stocks are fun to play.
Like all necessary supplies, if you don’t have physical possession, you don’t own it. ‘Play’ with it all you want, but I wouldn’t trust my family’s future on it.
It’s a good thing that every time they say it is different this time they are correct. I’m absolutely speechless that this is even a real thing. I’m not THAT old fashioned. I prefer LED lighting over oil lamps. But hasn’t twenty years of everything digital NOT delivering on its promises given us pause?
While I see uses for something like BitCoin, in my personal little quest I’m headed for places where you don’t need the “the net” or things like BitCoin.
I’m thinking an in-depth discussion about the Tooth Fairy might be in order………
If you have a pretty good handle on things why not. Diversity = options.
I don’t hold any crypto currency of any kind but like you I admit my ignorance of the whole subject. Maybe when I’ve cleared a few more logistics hurdles I’ll look into it.
The concept of the originator of the Bitcoin blockchain remaining anonymous turns me completely off.
Ask yourself ‘what gives a bitcoin its value’? A bitcoin is just a very large unique number that happens to meet a specific criteria. Blockchain is a datastructure. This means that the data element has the means to store within itself its history. Bitcoin cannot ever be anonymous. Every transaction MUST be recorded in the blockchain. The reason that cryptocurrencies are being pushed (by governments) is the fact that if the replace a nation’s currency, EVERY transaction and amount will be visible AND TAXABLE.
The “inventor” of Bitcoin came out with all the necessary province but was hounded by TPTB until he quit. It may be of use in a inflationary situation,but$100 worth isn’t going to do you much good. If you bought it 10 years ago(I could kick myself,looked into it and thought it too much trouble) that s100 would have you well set.
I have an MBA and understand bitcoin/ cryptos. They are non nation backed fiat currencies. Cryptos are wildly unstable. They utterly fail the rip van winkle test, leaving money in them for months let alone years would be utter madness
Cash in a foreign account or gold in your pocket would be much better. Hell cash in a mason jar under Moms garden is a better option.
The Cash app (from the folks at Square, Inc. who brought us the SquareUp.com credit card reader) is one of the easiest ways to buy bitcoin. Once you have downloaded and verified, you can add dollars to the app, and once that has loaded, you can buy bitcoin.
If you have android:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.squareup.cash&hl=en
If you have iPhone:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/cash-app/id711923939
Bitcoin price has been in a bear market all year (currently at $6200). Of course you don’t have to buy a full bitcoin. Each month I add $250 to my cash app and then convert that to bitcoin. Usually the price of bitcoin jumps towards the end of the year. Last year it almost hit $20K before dropping over 70 percent. Buy low, sell high. Don’t wait until it’s gone up past $10K. The bottom this year was $5755. Everyone should own at least $100 of bitcoin, just for the novelty . . .
Besides governments and banks opposing digital currencies like Bitcoin due to their own agendas, it’s doomed due to the anonymity of moving money for security reasons. Mid-level street criminals love the concept because it easy launder $. They can barely read or write, but they know everything about digital currencies and are their biggest supporters. If you have $200k in cash stashed in your closet, you can’t really do too much with it without attracting attention without having a job. You can only buy so many chains, tennis shoes, or some gold plated rims for the POS your driving through the hood. Digital currencies gives scumbags a tiny bit of wiggle room in an attempt to navigate legitimate society, and for that reason alone they will never amount to anything but a fleeting novelty. Don’t waste you $.
I’m unclear on this. How is having $200k more difficult to dispose of than an equivalent amount in bitcoin? If someone with no visible income buys a $50,00 Escalade and pays for it with bitcoin, as opposed to cash, it somehow is less suspicious?
You swallowed the lie hook,line and sinker,bitcoin and other cryptos have a complete record of transactions-the last thing you want to launder money. Your friendly Bankster does the job for a small commision to fund a small cash business that can’t be traced except to a lawyer who can’t talk.V
Hmm, Solar or EMP would wipe out your Bitcoin! So, no its also to volatile.
I understand that people like the McElroys might be able to “quietly” obtain items Pre- SHTF, but don’t leave more in Bitcoin than you can afford to lose…
IIRC you can hold foreign currency in your paypal account, and that seems like a better hedge and easier to spend, than bitcoin.
Both have the drawback of needing grid up, but I look at the situation that occurred in Ukraine, or Cyprus as a reason to have some money in a non-traditional place, and in a currency other than your own.
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Meh, a fiat currency that you can’t even use for toilet paper or fire-starting.
If it’s not physically under your control, you don’t “own” it — you’re merely counting on the assistance of strangers (at a price of their choosing) to let you hold it for a while.
Having an alternative currency to US dollars — or whatever your daily currency may be — is not a bad thing. A means of storing wealth or making it more portable. That’s what gold, or Swiss francs are for. A string of digits that is parked in someone else’s hardware? Nope.
Got it: digital 1s and 0s, wholly dependent on the existence of the internet, are a better idea than a physical element which cannot be created, nor destroyed short of either nuclear weapons or ridiculous amounts of high explosive.
This is why BitFood would be superior to stored buckets of wheat, rice and beans. And of course, BitFood can be emailed to you during an emergency.
I can send you BitFood if you merely wire me the sum of $2500 of your worthless dollars.
Signed,
Solomon Odonkoh
BitCoin had a very good run, but that run was caused by market manipulation.* Think about that for a moment, if someone or group can manipulate BitCoin value to rise, what stops other individuals, groups or even countries from crashing this currency? While some consider it old and possibly outdated, the value of gold and silver may rise and fall but in the end they will always have some intrinsic value verses a bit of ones and zeros in a computer program.
* https://www.theverge.com/2018/6/13/17461392/bitcoin-tether-bitfinex-university-texas-report-fraud-price-manipulation
Add to the above, especially the blockchain being easily searched (it’s half the point) when the fibbies raided silk road they snatched something like 25% of the circulating bitcoins. They have been using microbits to buy anything they can, legal or otherwise, to salt those transaction chains with data. X bought from y sold to z, etc. They are mapping a relationship diagram of who sells to whom, based on those salted bits. Everytime they bust someone and get a bitcoin wallet, they get to ID a few more of the participants in that transaction history.
Wendy McElroy lives in Canada enough said.
Have I thought about it? Yes. Do I wish I had bought some several years ago? Yes. Do I think it has preparedness use? No – unless you are a wealthy person who is preparing for possibly relocating to another country during a non-crisis time, and even then I’d question it.
To me, preparedness boils down to having what you need accessible where you are, with no outside assistance. That rules out most electrical items, let alone anything requiring the internet!
Of course, I’m a bigger fan of silver than gold since silver will be much more useful for lower denomination transactions.