3 ms·

Cryptocurrencies are the worst possible store of value against the collapse of civilization. Did you forget that you need a functioning internet and electrical

Cryptocurrencies are the worst possible store of value against the collapse of civilization. Did you forget that you need a functioning internet and electrical grid to use cryptocurrencies? This type of thinking does not reflect a realistic perspective of how the world works.

nostrademons 8y ago
They're a hedge against a particular kind of collapse of society - one in which the currency collapses (hyperinflation) or the nation-state backing the currency collapses (revolution/coup/regime change/tyranny, followed by asset seizures). If everybody is shooting each other and there's no food in the stores, you're fucked regardless of how many Bitcoin you own. If there's a nuclear attack and the electrical grid is knocked out, your Bitcoin isn't going to be accessible. But if the hard assets & businesses are mostly functional but just don't know how much they're going to get paid tomorrow because the value of a dollar is 1/4 what it was today, Bitcoin is pretty handy. And if the government decrees that the bank accounts of certain persons who are politically opposed to it are now property of the government, Bitcoin is pretty handy. While I think a number of Bitcoin maximalists have the former couple scenarios in mind, and agree that their beliefs are illogical, the latter two scenarios are actually much, much more common in recent history. Think of Zimbabwe or Venezuela in the present day, Greece in the financial crisis, Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, East Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Latin America seemingly every decade since the 1950s, or China during the Cultural Revolution. Bitcoin could've saved lives and fortunes for many of the people affected by these. Indeed, it's held up fairly well for people in Venezuela and Zimbabwe, the two countries to face major currency crises since Bitcoin's invention.
- root_axis 8y ago
  > They're a hedge against a particular kind of collapse of society I'm sorry, but do you not see how absurd that sounds? It's a hedge against a particular kind of societal collapse? This is just totally impractical. The reality is that bitcoin traffic in Zimbabwe and Venezuela is extremely miniscule; that's because you can't actually buy much of anything with cryptocurrencies, especially useful goods like food, water, medicine and guns, and trying to convert cryptocurrency into real money is fraught with obstacles and risks (i.e. if you try to do an in-person conversion). Cryptocurrency is not a realistic hedge against any kind of societal disruption.

nostrademons 8y ago

They're a hedge against a particular kind of collapse of society - one in which the currency collapses (hyperinflation) or the nation-state backing the currency collapses (revolution/coup/regime change/tyranny, followed by asset seizures). If everybody is shooting each other and there's no food in the stores, you're fucked regardless of how many Bitcoin you own. If there's a nuclear attack and the electrical grid is knocked out, your Bitcoin isn't going to be accessible. But if the hard assets & businesses are mostly functional but just don't know how much they're going to get paid tomorrow because the value of a dollar is 1/4 what it was today, Bitcoin is pretty handy. And if the government decrees that the bank accounts of certain persons who are politically opposed to it are now property of the government, Bitcoin is pretty handy. While I think a number of Bitcoin maximalists have the former couple scenarios in mind, and agree that their beliefs are illogical, the latter two scenarios are actually much, much more common in recent history. Think of Zimbabwe or Venezuela in the present day, Greece in the financial crisis, Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, East Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Latin America seemingly every decade since the 1950s, or China during the Cultural Revolution. Bitcoin could've saved lives and fortunes for many of the people affected by these. Indeed, it's held up fairly well for people in Venezuela and Zimbabwe, the two countries to face major currency crises since Bitcoin's invention.

root_axis 8y ago
> They're a hedge against a particular kind of collapse of society I'm sorry, but do you not see how absurd that sounds? It's a hedge against a particular kind of societal collapse? This is just totally impractical. The reality is that bitcoin traffic in Zimbabwe and Venezuela is extremely miniscule; that's because you can't actually buy much of anything with cryptocurrencies, especially useful goods like food, water, medicine and guns, and trying to convert cryptocurrency into real money is fraught with obstacles and risks (i.e. if you try to do an in-person conversion). Cryptocurrency is not a realistic hedge against any kind of societal disruption.