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Fair. I don't know much about this world. But, like, the classic "society could collapse" fear-and-doubt, doom-and-gloom, grab-the-gold-and-the-burner-laptop-a

Fair. I don't know much about this world. But, like, the classic "society could collapse" fear-and-doubt, doom-and-gloom, grab-the-gold-and-the-burner-laptop-and-the-ammo argument can be used for just about anything. Heck, even when society actually is collapsing, the argument isn't actually that great an argument! I'm not even arguing that cryptocurrency couldn't have value in the scenario you describe. Just that genuine, specific, examples are more compelling than generalized scenarios. Generally speaking ; ) For example, all of the more specific examples folks talk about below (Argentina, etc). Plus the parent poster made fair points, based on my limited knowledge, about accountability issues with cryptocurrency. And trust. Especially for nontechnical folk, and even for technical folk. Even (especially!) when society is collapsing, there's always someone out to scam you ... For arguments sake, if someone is in the scenario you describe, what are good initial resources for a nontechnical person? For instance, should I use something like a coinbase wallet? https://www.reddit.com/r/BitcoinBeginners/comments/fdykz3/is_it_safe_to_keep_bitcoin_in_a_coinbase_wallet/ https://www.reddit.com/r/BitcoinBeginners/comments/fdykz3/is...

Muromec 6y ago
Well, I haven’t really talked about collapse of society here. I guess it’s difficult to even define what it means precisely. I could imagine that Sarajevo siege and few years around 1991 in former USSR could qualify. Then again people who I talked to in 2014, were still a bit in denial till the start of school year and only then left the area directly affected by war. My point is simple — you take the ability to access banking system for granted, when it’s far from universal. It’s also not as unrestricted and interconnected as bitcoin or internet itself. Sometimes you have a bank and a card, but your ability to transact is restricted. It doesn’t always mean that you sit in the basement hiding from daily artillery strike or wandering post-nuclear desert on a cool bike.
- adamsea 6y ago
  For sure. And that makes sense. I guess I was more pointing out that right now it seems highly scenario-specific whether or not cryptocurrency can help in the way you described. Doesn't it depend on the amount of money you're dealing with, what you may or may not need to do with said money in the near-future, your own technical competence/facility, and perhaps even the current state of cryptocurrency itself?
int_19h 6y ago
The government doesn't have to collapse for BTC to be useful for this (indeed, if it did, it'd likely bring down the infrastructure that BTC runs on!). You just need to be in a situation where the law prohibits, or somehow restricts or severely taxes, the money transfer itself, or the use of that money to procure something you need.

Muromec 6y ago

Well, I haven’t really talked about collapse of society here. I guess it’s difficult to even define what it means precisely. I could imagine that Sarajevo siege and few years around 1991 in former USSR could qualify. Then again people who I talked to in 2014, were still a bit in denial till the start of school year and only then left the area directly affected by war. My point is simple — you take the ability to access banking system for granted, when it’s far from universal. It’s also not as unrestricted and interconnected as bitcoin or internet itself. Sometimes you have a bank and a card, but your ability to transact is restricted. It doesn’t always mean that you sit in the basement hiding from daily artillery strike or wandering post-nuclear desert on a cool bike.

adamsea 6y ago
For sure. And that makes sense. I guess I was more pointing out that right now it seems highly scenario-specific whether or not cryptocurrency can help in the way you described. Doesn't it depend on the amount of money you're dealing with, what you may or may not need to do with said money in the near-future, your own technical competence/facility, and perhaps even the current state of cryptocurrency itself?

int_19h 6y ago

The government doesn't have to collapse for BTC to be useful for this (indeed, if it did, it'd likely bring down the infrastructure that BTC runs on!). You just need to be in a situation where the law prohibits, or somehow restricts or severely taxes, the money transfer itself, or the use of that money to procure something you need.