There are lots of arguments to be made about cryptocurrencies….but a power outage isn’t one of them.
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Not to you, but It was in the Florida hurricane and EU grid shutdown. Cash only, no CC, no E monies,…..the NC flood wiped out electricity for months in affected areas.
No thanks to E monies, which seem to be springing up like mushrooms in the spring, after a hard rain…..” since the creation of bitcoin in 2009, the number of new cryptocurrencies has expanded rapidly. [1] The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority estimated there were over 20,000 different cryptocurrencies by the start of 2023, although although many of these were no longer traded and would never grow to a significant size.[2]…”
That statement alone says much.
If you are arguing that bitcoin will be used for day to day transactions, I would argue that is a wrong supposition.
I think it is best to think of it like gold bullion in this narrow/specific way: It will be used in high end financial transactions. But for the day to day user, they will convert it to the local currency to use.
I used bitcoin gains to pay off my mortgage and buy a truck. I did not transfer the bitcoin to the bank or the car dealer. I converted it to dollars and transferred those. And I paid huge taxes—something one doesn’t have to do with withdrawing cash from a bank.
In a hurricane or blizzard where power and communications are knocked out that is when your cash reserves come into play. (We all have cash reserves in the house…right? LOL). But those outages last days or maybe a week or two. And you would be able to move to a location where you can access power, gas, food, etc.
Very local and temporary disruptions should not be used to argue against a worldwide case for digital currencies such as bitcoin.
I have been involved in the crypto space since 2011.
People need to understand that there is Bitcoin. And there is everything else. Of the 20,000 “alt coins”, most of them are referred to as “sh!t-coins” because they are not useful, not limited in terms of numbers mined, and they are insanely speculative.
And example was the “Trump coin” that was issued right before the inauguration. I guess you could use them to buy stuff at the Trump store—but a huge number (north of 75%) of people who own them are deeply under water. Of course, the Trump boys made millions—which they have converted mostly into stable coins and bitcoin…and dollars.
A decent education on cryptos should be required before anyone spends a dime on them. There is a lot garbage information and assumptions about what they are and what they do. I used to tell people who asked me about this stuff—and how they could invest to become millionaires—to stand by a window and throw out $100 bills…one at a time. When it begins to hurt—that is how much they should invest in cryptos. It can be THAT volatile.
But as one who dipped their toe into the water early…and just held on, its paid off pretty well.