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Bitcoin is an unconfiscable, permissionless inflation hedge. It's a big deal for people that live in authoritarian countries that coincidentally always have hug

Bitcoin is an unconfiscable, permissionless inflation hedge. It's a big deal for people that live in authoritarian countries that coincidentally always have huge inflation numbers.

svennek 5y ago
Until you end up in jail... sadly. That is my point. If your country is "sufficiently bad" bitcoin will not (and cannot) help you in the long run.
- throwaway554 5y ago
  Until you cross the borders and move all your wealth with you by memorizing 12 words.
  - svennek 5y ago
    Tell that to the the people of the ex-DDR, the North Korea and REALLY targeted individuals.. Sadly there exists no sure way to secure you belongings if the other party is sufficiently motivated to strip you of them (or your life).. You can also be killed/robbed outside of your country by intelligence officers of your country...
    - fsflover 5y ago
      > the North Korea and REALLY targeted individuals There are always edge cases, where nothing helps. Fortunately, most countries are not like North Korea and you have some freedom, often enough to use crypto.
    - throwaway554 5y ago
      What a weird attitude of helplessness. You might as well argue against encryption because the state can always do the $5 wrench attack. It is much easier for the government to confiscate your money from your bank account than to go after your Bitcoin. And it is impossible for the government to stop you from accepting payments in Bitcoin and to cut you off from financial system.
      - svennek 5y ago
        Maybe it is the other way around. I live in an old and free democracy in Scandinavia (in the EU) and actually believe in my government's mostly pure motives. Our laws are solid and confiscation is unheard of outside of criminal activity. If that changes drastically, I am screwed either way... And it might be impossible for my government to stop me taking bitcoin but they could surely hinder me in converting them back to regular currency. And in my country nothing can be bought by any cryptocurrency.
        throwaway554 5y ago
        I'm not sure how does you living in an old and free democracy in Scandinavia negate the fact that Bitcoin helps the unfortunate who are living in authoritarian states.
        svennek 5y ago
        Obviously it doesn't, and I might be seriously wrong, but.... But would said unfortunate person have access to a passport and are they allowed to leave their authoritarian country? Do they have anywhere to legally go, where they have the right to residence and can get into the new countries banking system? In the EU at least that is NOT easy unless you already have citizenship in another EU country.... I.e. say you are that person in that country, could you just decide to leave with your twelve word password, your passport and a backpack. And could you setup life in another country? I do also see the value of storing your money in bitcoin due to inflation, if you believe bitcoin is here to stay (I don't believe that), and you can manage to buy it without too much suspicion from your state and convert it back at a later day if you decide to stay in your own country.
    - reginold 5y ago
      I'm so curious about your posts, this seems like an endless thread of gotchas. What's important to you about this topic? I have read all your posts in this thread and am puzzled. Thanks for any insights.
      - antifa 5y ago
        Complaining about "gotchas" like this so much sounds a lot like admitting defeat but desperately trying to phrase it as a win.
        reginold 5y ago
        HN is a place for curiosity. I'm genuinely interested to hear svennek's perspective, it's coming through in a bunch of fragments throughout this post.

Bitcoin is an unconfiscable, permissionless inflation hedge. It's a big deal for people that live in authoritarian countries that coincidentally always have huge inflation numbers.

svennek 5y ago

Until you end up in jail... sadly. That is my point. If your country is "sufficiently bad" bitcoin will not (and cannot) help you in the long run.

throwaway554 5y ago
Until you cross the borders and move all your wealth with you by memorizing 12 words.
- svennek 5y ago
  Tell that to the the people of the ex-DDR, the North Korea and REALLY targeted individuals.. Sadly there exists no sure way to secure you belongings if the other party is sufficiently motivated to strip you of them (or your life).. You can also be killed/robbed outside of your country by intelligence officers of your country...
  - fsflover 5y ago
    > the North Korea and REALLY targeted individuals There are always edge cases, where nothing helps. Fortunately, most countries are not like North Korea and you have some freedom, often enough to use crypto.
  - throwaway554 5y ago
    What a weird attitude of helplessness. You might as well argue against encryption because the state can always do the $5 wrench attack. It is much easier for the government to confiscate your money from your bank account than to go after your Bitcoin. And it is impossible for the government to stop you from accepting payments in Bitcoin and to cut you off from financial system.
    - svennek 5y ago
      Maybe it is the other way around. I live in an old and free democracy in Scandinavia (in the EU) and actually believe in my government's mostly pure motives. Our laws are solid and confiscation is unheard of outside of criminal activity. If that changes drastically, I am screwed either way... And it might be impossible for my government to stop me taking bitcoin but they could surely hinder me in converting them back to regular currency. And in my country nothing can be bought by any cryptocurrency.
      - throwaway554 5y ago
        I'm not sure how does you living in an old and free democracy in Scandinavia negate the fact that Bitcoin helps the unfortunate who are living in authoritarian states.
        svennek 5y ago
        Obviously it doesn't, and I might be seriously wrong, but.... But would said unfortunate person have access to a passport and are they allowed to leave their authoritarian country? Do they have anywhere to legally go, where they have the right to residence and can get into the new countries banking system? In the EU at least that is NOT easy unless you already have citizenship in another EU country.... I.e. say you are that person in that country, could you just decide to leave with your twelve word password, your passport and a backpack. And could you setup life in another country? I do also see the value of storing your money in bitcoin due to inflation, if you believe bitcoin is here to stay (I don't believe that), and you can manage to buy it without too much suspicion from your state and convert it back at a later day if you decide to stay in your own country.
  - reginold 5y ago
    I'm so curious about your posts, this seems like an endless thread of gotchas. What's important to you about this topic? I have read all your posts in this thread and am puzzled. Thanks for any insights.
    - antifa 5y ago
      Complaining about "gotchas" like this so much sounds a lot like admitting defeat but desperately trying to phrase it as a win.
      - reginold 5y ago
        HN is a place for curiosity. I'm genuinely interested to hear svennek's perspective, it's coming through in a bunch of fragments throughout this post.