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Cryptocurrencies serve this purpose really nicely: You can store them in your head by memorizing the cryptographic key ("seed phrase", e.g. random words of 128
by eMGm4D0zgUAVXc7 6y ago
Cryptocurrencies serve this purpose really nicely:
You can store them in your head by memorizing the cryptographic key ("seed phrase", e.g. random words of 128 bit of entropy).
So if you have to flee in emergency without being able to carry any physical belongings, you will still have your money.
- XorNot 6y agoOnly if you're 100% in crypto pretty much before the war gets serious. Otherwise the cost of crypto relative to your local assets is just going to rise like everything else - who wants to exchange for a currency which might be about to cease existing?
- eMGm4D0zgUAVXc7 6y agoThis applies to any safe-haven asset, so why is it relevant? :)
- ostropheles 6y agoHN doesn’t understand cryptos
- reedf1 6y agoI feel you are especially vulnerable to wrench attacks though.
- eMGm4D0zgUAVXc7 6y agoThen memorize a second seed which holds a small amount for plausible deniability.
- pydry 6y agoIf countries start segregating the internet doesn't this break the cryptocurrency model? https://www.euronews.com/2019/02/12/russia-planning-to-disconnect-from-global-network-with-separate-internet-system https://www.euronews.com/2019/02/12/russia-planning-to-disco... How would bitcoin work if, say, half the network couldn't talk to the other half?
- eMGm4D0zgUAVXc7 6y agoBitcoin, and probably any other cryptocurrency, uses flooding [1] to propagate transactions. So it would be very difficult to prevent transactions from leaking out of or into the isolated zone: A single peer in the whole country which is connected to the outside would be enough to leak all transactions. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flooding_(computer_networking) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flooding_(computer_networking)
- exit 6y agoblocks can be broadcast over any communications medium. the shared state of the ledger would be smuggled in via any means necessary, from radio to messenger pigeon. this remains true if retail payments migrate to second layer solutions. the important thing is sharing the same base layer anchor. block confirmations would have to increase to mitigate the likely orphaning of chains coming out of different zones. it's a good example of why achieving its civilisational infrastructure goals requires lightweight blocks.
- 6y ago
- lr4444lr 6y agoUnless you're tortured.
- eMGm4D0zgUAVXc7 6y agoYou can memorize a second seed which holds a small amount for plausible deniability.
- drran 6y ago- Where are your millions? - Take this Bitcoin wallet with 10 Bitcoins, please! - Ok, but where are your millions?
- jstanley 6y agoAnd what's your defence against torture for literally any other class of asset?
- lr4444lr 6y agoIt being in the vault or at least on an audit trail of some other institution who can later vouch about who seized it, as court evidence.
- gruez 6y agoI doubt that'd work during a war. The best you can hope for is that your country wins and you can collect reparations.
- Spooky23 6y agoFocus on getting your ass out of there and forget about your assets. Value of an asset to you is zero if you're dead.
- PeterisP 6y agoOverseas real estate and other holdings was generally immune to that - in some cases you wouldn't even be able to hand it over to the occupying gov't if you wanted to (since the country with the wealth was hostile to that occupying gov't), in other cases property seized that way was returned through legal means, again through the judiciary of the country where the assets reside, as any contract or transfer under duress is illegitimate and the transfer is reversible.
- jnsaff2 6y agoDon't forget that cryptcurrencies are valuable only because people think they are valuable. People might reconsider whats valuable during a war. Like food or something.
- fogihujy 6y agoThey are also unusable if your country's power grid/Internet access gets taken out by the enemy.
- beisner 6y agoIn theory a smaller economy might be able to run this sort of scheme by hand. Just depends on the crypto scheme used.
- darumderum 6y agoSo is "normal" money
- mechnesium 6y agoCrypto is a great utility in this respect, when physical commodities and fiats are severely regulated or vulnerable to seizure in times of strife. But when using crypto, you are fundamentally trading high utility in exchange for high risk. The extremely volatility of crypto makes the stock market look like a playground. There’s nothing in the way of your life savings being reduced to zero when you need to make a life-changing transaction. Nationalized paper fiats such as the US dollar are at least protected from extreme volatility by the Federal Reserve, but to obtain such protections, you must trade the high utility for encumbrances like heavy regulation.