Bitcoin Forum

as we know human society is very fragile with only a veneer of civility.

i have a friend who is a prepper. he is putting together "go-to" bags in cases when society break down e.g. hurrricane katrina, terrorists detonate a dirty nuke in nyc, war with china etc.

in addition to gold coins and food and first aid stuff etc, he wants to add bitcoin to his emergency kits.

keep in mind there will be no communication grids and power grids available.

how can he incorporate bitcoin?

Easy, paper wallet.  Print out a paper wallet.  Transfer the funds he wants to that address.  Then he's set.  If he needs to be able to show it's a real wallet without internet, maybe buy one of those cassius coins (whatever the name is).  They go for like a 400% premium, but even with a dirt nuke, he could still prove they are worth bitcoins.

Why would anyone be using bitcoin in that situation?

if there's some major catastrophe, i think bitcoin would probably take a fairly big dive as the internet and blockchain won't be in as many households. electricity would be scarce too. if i had an emergency kit, it'd have an ounce or two of gold.

In a localized catastrophe bitcoin could be more practical than gold; also you can't put the same gold in more than one location, or memorize your gold so you'll have it even if you don't have a chance to grab your bag.

in a localized catastrophe, you'd probably still have access to your bank accounts anyways. maybe i'm just being a naysayer, but i don't see how BTC is feasible for a situation like that. it couldn't hurt to do it though.

If there's no power, then there's no BTC.  It's as simple as that.

Unless, of course, post apocolyptic people are very trusting and will sell with 0 confirmations....   ;D

People will start hiring math savants to do the mining...

If only your local area is damaged, then only that area or city won't have power. The rest of the country will.

If your country is damaged, the rest of the world still has power and communication.

If a bunch of continents are damaged, then bitcoin might be worthless then.

If you are talking about hurricanes and typhoons and earthquakes, your bitcoins are safe. If you are talking about a giant meteor that hits the planet, and plunges the world into total darkness and you happen to be on the other side of the earth that survives, it's possible that half the bitcoin network is still up.

Don't worry about it.

Honestly I believe gold and silver would be better suited for this situation.

Yes, in this kind of scenario you need some precious metals. :)

Ammo is the best currency in that situation.

Ammo, Food, Water. Ammo is to protect you, not for you to rob someone else. Be a good guy despite the rest of the world going to hell.

The entire world is not going to fall into oblivion at once.  There will still be successfully ran governments around the world.  One may need to move, but I assure you electricity and internet will still be available to prosperous countries.

As an old silver/goldbug that switched to bitcoin, I have to totally agree.

Bitcoin is a bet on a positive future.

Silver & Gold are a bet on total economic collapse that results in no more internet.

Guns, Ammo, Food are a bet on a total collapse of society.

it's a major catastrophe, so anything can happen.. from war, famine, a meteor, or a sunspot.

I agree with the consensus that gold or silver would be the best choice for money in a situation where society breaks down....  along with the previously accepted old fashioned cash for a short time.

After a few days of society breakdown,  the necessities become commodities. Safe food, clean water, shelter. A sleeping bag would be worth alot to someone with no blanket.

I however, also believe in ammo, and quality firearms (not just hunting ones, but compact assault rifles and pistols with good volumes of fire). Consider quality load carriage systems for ammo, and perhaps compact body armour setups. This isn't necessarily to act as a "bad guy",  but to be the best armed and most capable good guy. But most of all, be trained to use them properly and decisively...  unless you want your weapons to fall into the hands of a true "bad guy"

The term survivalist tends to make people assume natural disasters and acts of nature or perhaps war. However, it really means this guy wants to survive whatever threats come his way.

The key word, "bug-out" is telling. A military term. What is more likely is that he is preparing a bag to move on quickly, perhaps from the business or life he is into? Bitcoin is actually a very good choice for that.

Carrying large amounts of cash,  gold, or other forms of currency is hard within an established society due to it's size, manageability, and suspicion it creates with authorities, especially if you are trying to disappear.  That is where Bitcoin excels.

A paper with a bunch of gibberish numbers....  the vast majority of people have no clue what that is. Or maybe a memory stick with a hidden renamed .dat file that you can tell the local authorities is the file that came with your USB Cruzer stick.

Bitcoin would excel when you need to move, within established society, and go into hiding to survive. You happen to have alot of money,  several million dollars perhaps,  and you don't want anybody to follow you,  or the money trail to a point. The people following you might be able to track,  to a point the Bitcoin trail, somewhat....  

One of the most interesting things is how BitCoin could be used to assist people leaving countries that do not allow emigration,  or countries less free. Help those who are in danger, and face danger due to political issues, and need money to grease the wheels along the way. A simple hash string, given to the right guard with a value of $20,000 might grease the wheels of an escape. It's all about being creative, and knowing what people want/need in those scenarios.

I believe it is likely that spy agencies around the world are starting to use BitCoin for some of their payments.....  The US government may even be using BitCoin right now.... This wouldn't always be for illegal/grey area scenarios.  Witness protection, etc etc.  

Anyways, off with my tinfoil hat,  I will let Google and Siri jack back in to me!  LOL

Pretty sure bitcoin won't do anything for us in the SHTF scenario. You should be spending you bitcoin profits on guns and ammo, as that is the best way to get what you need when civilization crumbles. :P

He mustn't be quite as prepared as he thought. Power and communication are the main priorities after food and water. What kind of prepper doesn't keep a CB and/or ham radio, a generator, and a stockpile of batteries and fuel? And if you have any power source at all, a laptop with a wireless card will allow you to form an ad-hoc mesh network (though that only works if everyone else has the same plan).

Of course, if it's a global catastrophe, mining will a problem, since nobody's going to waste precious fuel keeping their mining rigs running, though if that's the case you're going to have bigger things to worry about than what you're going to use for money.

Yea agreed, that satellite would be real nice at that point.

There are a couple of things to consider, easiest is a paper wallet. Just make sure to store it dry and you should be good to go. The thing is whenever you wanna transact, you'll need a computer. (what if the other guy also has a paper wallet, and no computer) So then in order to get things running, you'll want a laptop/tablet, 3g and preferably also satellite connection so you would need a small dish. If they get the satellite advanced enough, you might even be able to relay txn's through it, which would be an ultimate benefit in a case like this where there are still miners active in other parts of the world but near you there is no power of communication available. In case of total failure... They had the idea to get a mining satellite out there, then bitcoin would just continue forever, even if all the miners on the planet vanished, then you would even be able to transact after the internet is completely down. A lot of what if's though.
For now, I would just go with a combo of Paper Wallet and USB stick. (while taking all possible precautions to ensure they can't get damaged)

do not use paper, but something like glass or metal - inscribe there your QR..