I can see how a thumb drive can be cash-like, if the grid is up. I’m not pooh-poohing the whole thing; just saying that physical cash has some attractions that bitcoin doesn’t seem to fill yet.
So what happens when the government takes down the Internet? (And don’t think they don’t have the capability).
Sure, and PMs even more important to have some of, incase of a grid down world. If the grid goes down or even the internet for any length time, it will be a cataclysmic event. It’s why I find it pretty stupid of us to put a internet kill switch into the hands of one person. Worse, one we really don’t know a lot about and from observation, isn’t too wise or even stable.
Completely off topic, but an old family story. My grandfather graduated from Princeton in 1929 (not good timing, but that's another matter). Some time before graduation he was taking a physics class and the teacher was discussing magnetism. The teacher explained that several metals were magnetically attractive -- nickel and cobalt, for example.
"But," the professor said, "There is no metal more attractive than iron."
My grandfather dug out a $20 gold piece and said, "Here is metal more attractive." He ended up going into banking.