Bitcoin Forum

New data from investing.com suggests, however, that it’s not just Venezuelan citizens that are turning to cryptocurrencies as fiat currencies collapse. The investment portal researched the top ten countries accessing cryptocurrency across its platform and noticed an interesting trend.

Citizens of countries with failing currencies in every part of the globe seem to be turning to crypto for investment and wealth protection, even amid the chaotic struggles of fiat currencies.

Venezuela - 36%, Colombia - 18%, Argentina - 15%, Belarus - 13%, Ukraine - 11%, Brazil - 11%, Germany - 10%, UK - 8%, Egypt - 7%, Russia - 6%. The five countries with the worst-performing currencies of 2017 are Venezuela, Argentina, Belarus, UK, and Egypt, and all of them made it onto the top ten list.

The huge number of investors turning to cryptocurrencies in these fiscally challenged countries may be a major factor driving the exponential rise of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies over the past month.

Even as these struggling economies fight to regain stability of their fiat currencies, the prices of digital currencies have been moving higher. The influx of huge amounts of cash from depressed regions into cryptos may well be the cause of the boom. While the massive increase in price may retract over time, the mainstream acceptance of cryptocurrencies will only drive demand further.

Well the thing that made bitcoin mainstream in 2013 was the Cyprus crisis, where the EU forced a bail-in where customers savings were seized to bail out teh banks. Even businesses which had their payroll money in their current account to do their monthly salary run, found their money being confiscated.

The EU has now made bail-in rules the norm, and the customers of an Italian bank were also wiped out. Naturally that makes people want to hold their money in a form the govt can't steal.

Well the thing that made bitcoin mainstream in 2013 was the Cyprus crisis, where the EU forced a bail-in where customers savings were seized to bail out teh banks. Even businesses which had their payroll money in their current account to do their monthly salary run, found their money being confiscated.

The EU has now made bail-in rules the norm, and the customers of an Italian bank were also wiped out. Naturally that makes people want to hold their money in a form the govt can't steal.

If central banks increase the money supply too quickly, it can cause inflation.

Cyprus was a nice sign of the neutral position of Bitcoin being an ideal safe haven above gold. Gold has been underperforming and not rising when it was supposed to go up during times of uncertainty. Only recently gold has been going up. Goldbugs (usually the ones that sell gold) are now saying that gold is going into an all time high and crypto will go down. Honestly I doubt it. They are just trying to sell you their gold.

Bitcoin continues to shine and prove all the haters wrong. We are going to be at $5000 soon. There will always be reasons for Bitcoin to go up. It's the wonders of being a global, decentralized, neutral asset.

Back then I am also fond with gold because of it's value and really want to invest in buying golden jewelry then when I was needing money I would just went to a pawn shop to lent money by leaving Gold jewelry as collateral, that was the value of gold back then and you can get money at a high price, but yes I think bitcoin is a great investment right now and it keeps on increasing it's value but I think when fiat would go down Cryptocurrency is here to stay.

I didn't expect to see my Ukraine in the top list of countries turning to cryptocurrencies for secure investment of money. Bitcoin, however, cannot offer stability, being itself even more volatile than almost any fiat. Even though it can rescue one's investments and even make them bigger, unfortunately, btc still can't be used as daily means of payment, because the price is changing too fast, transactions are slow and mostly expensive. Especially for countries like Ukraine where for 1 dollar you can buy yourself a bottle of milk, or 1 pack of rice.

Financial collapse might have good positive effect on bitcoin in terms of both fiat value and overall understanding of normal people towards bitcoin and crypto related investment.

Bitcoin and cryptos are best way to hedge against potential financial loss during huge financial crisis but we might have to wait to see real affect of any financial crisis on bitcoin.

The only question is - we have no idea when and where the crisis will start - but one is certain - sooner or later it will hit us. Stay tuned.

BTC's supply is to imitate precious metal, so as all precious metals, one of its function is safe heaven. So I will not be surprised to see people getting BTC when the local currency doesn't work well.

The oldest truth in the book - when a traditional economy is in peril, alternatives thrive. With Bitcoin it is exactly the same, the harder FIAT will fell the higher bitcoin will soar.
Just wait when Wall Steet or debt based western economy will collapse it will create turmoil so big that bitcoin might touch the sky.
The only question is - we have no idea when and where the crisis will start - but one is certain - sooner or later it will hit us. Stay tuned.

Not only we have the innovative currency in our hand, also governments are working on new financial instruments. Depending on how smart they are, they will place in time a new crypto, or not. Or they will try to ban all cryptos, they can't control. So I don't know but have the hope, that Bitcoin will continue its "boom", that already began.

Definitely. Bitcoin is completely decentralized which means that it is an especially good hedge against financial collapses and shit hits the fan situations.

Really? If that so then what are things that we are going to fight back? If governments aren't cooperating,it would be hard for them to trace bitcoin's footsteps, now that it keeps on rising in the cryptocurrency world.  Actually,every small beginnings keep going,so we can afford to make things possible in bitcoin. Let's think positive that it will continue to boom soon. There will be less worries for you don't need to put up such very big amount. Let's just wait and see for the upcoming good news for bitcoin. We have to discharge negativity outlook.

I think gold is nonsense at this point. You can buy and hold as much gold as you want... so what? not only the price doesn't outperform bitcoin, but the fact that it is literally impossible to cross a border with your wealth renders gold a pretty useless edge against your government turning against you, or any other reason you would need to have a neutral asset to defend against countries screwing up your wealth.

I can't find anything that beats bitcoin to be honest.

BTC's supply is to imitate precious metal, so as all precious metals, one of its function is safe heaven. So I will not be surprised to see people getting BTC when the local currency doesn't work well.

As many have pointed out, historically, financial crises of various sorts have driven some people to cryptocurrencies, which has been a boon for bitcoin.

But here's an interesting question: if a financial collapse pushes people into bitcoin, could that actually make the crisis worse because people are taking money out of the banks and other savings and buying bitcoin?  Or, for that matter, could people running toward bitcoin actually precipitate a crisis due to withdrawing too much money from the banks?  This seems unlikely now, but what about in the future if bitcoin is worth $25k, $50k, or more?

I don't know about bitcoin being the go-to currency.  I would think the USD would be it, or gold, or some other stable form of money.   Keyword is stable, and that's one thing bitcoin isn't.  I'm also not convinced those currencies will fail altogether.   They could just be in a serious dip and might rebound. 

Bitcoin has got to get a hell of a lot less volatile before it's a safe haven form of money.

I am cocksure that one of the things that led Satoshi into establishing bitcoin was the global financial meltdown in 2008. It really was so chaotic that firms, companies and institutions shut down because they couldn't meet up. In 2009, bitcoin came up as an alternative to the traditional financial institution. With the Cyprus scenario a few years later, the strength of the bitcoin was tested and that proved its effectiveness. Bitcoin is above traditional financial institution and that's what scares China. The Chinese feel it's going to permanently floor their Yuan. Hence, the dramatic ban on it. Yes, that should be a boom for bitcoin.

Somebody explain to me why a system that can't even handle low volumes like we have now would boom?

Something that solves a problem can boom. Bitcoin can't even handle current transaction volume, which is like 0.00001% of global transactions.

People aren't even using bitcoin to complain about capacity problems, as exposed by the research on mempool spam:

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/curious-case-bitcoins-moby-dick-spam-and-miners-confirmed-it/

Nobody is even using bitcoin anywhere enough to demand a rushed hardfork that would put incompetent developers in charge of the main branch coupled with a price crash. Jeff Garzik and the rest of NYA signers will be responsible of billions in loses. They should run for cover.

Financial collapse mean a government can not run the country, only 2 reasons; corruptions and huge debts to central bank.
At least, a country without debts can not bankrupt and that's why citizens should choose the right person to run the government.
Bitcoin will be one of many precious assets during economy crisis in a country, but doesn't mean bitcoin boom I guess, unless one or two big countries going collapse. If somehow most countries facing economics crisis, many people will cash out bitcoin, which mean the price will constantly decline.

I am cocksure that one of the things that led Satoshi into establishing bitcoin was the global financial meltdown in 2008. It really was so chaotic that firms, companies and institutions shut down because they couldn't meet up. In 2009, bitcoin came up as an alternative to the traditional financial institution. With the Cyprus scenario a few years later, the strength of the bitcoin was tested and that proved its effectiveness. Bitcoin is above traditional financial institution and that's what scares China. The Chinese feel it's going to permanently floor their Yuan. Hence, the dramatic ban on it. Yes, that should be a boom for bitcoin.

Tomorrow Catalonia will try to vote for independence, and Spain will try to stop them (looks like they might get violent).

IF the Catalans vote to leave and declare independence, then all hell will break loose, and we might see a flight to safety towards bitcoin. It depends entirely on how ugly it gets.

It may not be value of bitcoin booming when a financial crisis hits since even though on paper it seems like the price is absolutely skyrocketing the fiat is actually hyperinflating so much that you probably wouldn't really see a major difference in bitcoin value.

However, bitcoin will hold its value against inflation.

And, when a financial collapse happens, bitcoin adopters will grow drastically as it is the most convenient non-central bank backed currency available.

Im surprised to not see any threads about this. If they actually go through with it and declare Independence unilaterally, it could cause a lot of problems. If it becomes an international problem outside of Spain, it could escalate quickly to an European crisis, in this sense, BTC could become a very strong safe haven, as it always is thanks to Bitcoin being a neutral store of value/currency.

Tomorrow Catalonia will try to vote for independence, and Spain will try to stop them (looks like they might get violent).

IF the Catalans vote to leave and declare independence, then all hell will break loose, and we might see a flight to safety towards bitcoin. It depends entirely on how ugly it gets.

This could be possible... But i don't think that political instability alone is enough to make people flood in bitcoin.

However as i've said, when financial situations get real bad, so bad that people cannot transact on a daily basis for their basic needs since their national currency is in a hyperinflationary mess, they will look for an alternative.

An alternative that is a store of value. So it's really only either bitcoin or preciosu metals. Bitcoin is gaining popularity as a safe haven like this.

Bitcoin's price has jumped today. It was about $4200 yesterday morning, and it's now $4435.

If I was a Catalan I'd be buying bitcoin especially as the Catalan govt has announced it will declare independence on Oct 6th. The financial markets are going to be roiled, so it makes sense for Spanish and Catalans alike to put some money in bitcoin to preserve their savings.

Seriously? I doubt Bitcoin is on anyone's radar in Catalan right now. It's barely scratching the surface of mainstream investment in general. Cryptocurrency may be one of the hottest investments of the year, but it's obviously one of the riskiest asset classes available on the markets from looking at volatility.

If I was worried that my savings were in danger due to economic collapse/disruption, I would put them into safe assets like gold and US dollars. Especially considering the recent gains in crypto. Sure, we could see new highs soon, but the price could also drop in half in a few days.

Bitcoin's price has jumped today. It was about $4200 yesterday morning, and it's now $4435.

If I was a Catalan I'd be buying bitcoin especially as the Catalan govt has announced it will declare independence on Oct 6th. The financial markets are going to be roiled, so it makes sense for Spanish and Catalans alike to put some money in bitcoin to preserve their savings.

I very much doubt that Catalonia will ever be recognized as an independent state. The world does not recognize and to be independent in isolation is unrealistic. Bitcoin you won't help you. Now the world really is a crisis of democracy.This leads to the fact that the influence of uneducated people and the world plunged into chaos.

Have you seen the news? The Spanish police are attacking civilians, and the Catalan firemen have come out to try to protect civilians from the Spanish police. Rubber bullets have been fired and over 300 injured.

Because ballot boxes are being snatched by the police, they'll probably not be able to count the ballot - but I wouldn't be surprised if the Catalans just said, "Eff this, we're declaring independence". If they do, they are out of the EU and the euro might be in trouble (as Spain is a eurozone member). It should in theory make the bitcoin price rise as it is an independent store of value.

Taken from here... (https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-rise-due-to-global-currency-crises-accessibility-analysis)

There are people who are wondering what can happen to Bitcoin if there would be economic and political chaos? Will it mean that Bitcoin will surge in price or will it withered and be likewise chaotic? I think what is happening in Venezuela right now is just a foretaste of what can happen when an economy can go down to the bridge...Bitcoin can come to the rescue and can be a source of some stability and access to the outside world.

While, of course, we are not wishing any country's economy to go down the floor, having some Bitcoin and getting involved in Bitcoin can be an insurance just in case something like a Venezuela will happen to our country. This has evolved to be one of the many functions of Bitcoin as we see it.

There are people who are wondering what can happen to Bitcoin if there would be economic and political chaos? Will it mean that Bitcoin will surge in price or will it withered and be likewise chaotic? I think what is happening in Venezuela right now is just a foretaste of what can happen when an economy can go down to the bridge...Bitcoin can come to the rescue and can be a source of some stability and access to the outside world.

While, of course, we are not wishing any country's economy to go down the floor, having some Bitcoin and getting involved in Bitcoin can be an insurance just in case something like a Venezuela will happen to our country. This has evolved to be one of the many functions of Bitcoin as we see it.

if there was a real financial collapse bitcoin would turn to dust too. maybe the people writing here trust it, no one else does. people would run to gold or dollars just like always.

it's a nice idea but bitcoin's time hasn't come yet as a lifeboat. it's still a get rich quick scheme in the minds of most people who put money in and they're also the most panicky people on earth judging by the movements to the slightest scary news.

it would be nice to be proven wrong. i don't think i would be. the handful of people in places like venezuela who do use bitcoin are benefiting from the commodity boom that's fueled it that's lasted for years. they're hanging on the coattails of general market success in first world countries.

It depends on what you consider a "financial collapse". Something that would turn into massive riots on the street worse than 2008 maybe not, but 2008 type of event? I think Bitcoin would shine. Why not? you can store your value there, and it will be safe, if the rest of holders realize this, the price will not crash, but ultimately your X BTC will remain X BTC in your wallet. You can NOT definitely say this applies to the legacy banking system, and gold can be easily confiscated.

Looks like all pathways lead to BTC as being the ideal place to be in a financial collapse and it's not because im a holder, im just applying logic, I dont see a better alternative.

It all depends on how easy it is to buy US dollars or gold, isn't it?

For the Catalans, not at all - they won't be able to open US dollar bank accounts. Buying gold is hard too - not may places sell gold coins, mostly it is jewelry that is marked up. Some might just withdraw euros and keep them at home in case something happens to the banking system. Buying bitcoin by contrast is easy and quick, and you can simply hide your wallet.dat on a USB stick.

Buying bitcoins is rarely "easy and quick" for anyone in the world. Are ATMs (where people get reamed by 10%+ fees) even available there? Wiring money to exchanges takes time and costs transfer / currency exchange fees. And more importantly, there is the knowledge gap.

Most Catalans (like everyone else in the world) likely know nothing about Bitcoin. And among those that do, few are technically savvy enough to quickly (and safely) convert their wealth into bitcoins.

One doesn't need to open US dollar bank accounts to hold US dollars. And the currency exchange fees must be paid if wiring money to exchanges to buy bitcoins as well. I suspect it is significantly easier to buy gold than bitcoins, just like it is in most places.

Venezuela economic collapse leads to a serious discussion on the fiat currency economy managed by central authorities. People all around the world are looking for a currency which gives them a stable and secure economy. Gold seems to be a good solution to this problem, but being in hard physical form, it is difficult to make day to day transactions with gold. With technological advancement, crypto-currency like BITCOIN seems to be an alternative solution as it's transaction is easy, fast and cheap.
I think if there would be economic and political chaos...Bitcoin price will surges as it is decentralized and beyond the control of central authorities.

Yes I agree that decentralized currency is beyond the control of the government authorities due to its an investment product that is digital, which mainly used as a trading platform of an online business. I believed that economic and political chaos might be a good ways to help the bitcoin price to surge as well, because people in a centralized fiat currency will divert their money to bitcoin, by the time fiat currency economy will crash.

Yes, financial collapse means bitcoin rise, and a big one is coming... there are 10-years cycle in stocks market, and we are going to see a big crash in the next 18months...

Prepare to see bitcoin going to the moon

One key point that a lot of people in the bitcoin space don't consider is the fact that you must be making a big mistake dreaming with a doomsday scenario in order to profit from it by holding bitcoin.

There is a certain threshold where civil order is lost, and in that case, your bitcoin will not save you. We have to be careful with what we wish for. Im ok with financial crisis similar to 2008, but be wary of the fact that if it gets worse, it may have an impact on bitcoin itself due hashrate going down from the technical perspective and due your own life being at risk from the obvious perspective of a situation of danger.

I hope that we don't need to see violence for people to understand the importance of holding bitcoin.

Human greed is limitless. When they feel the profit they do not think about what will happen next. The main thing for them now. It seems to me that instead of dreaming about the increase in the price of bitcoin needs to focus on creating conditions for development of trade for bitcoins. It will bring much more benefit.

I think if we check on what is happening today to some parts of the world we could make a conclusion, that it could also happen to us all, let's.take a look at zimbabwe, yheir current fiat, is of no value, but if you take a look at their exchanges, the value of bitcoin is higher, vomoared to the rest of the world, this is simply, though they do lack technology, they still wanted to be financially free, and so they rely on bitcoin. Another country that has its fiat, lower thqn others is japan, though japan is technologically advanced , their japandese yen still has small buying power, thus they use bitcoins, the same also goes to othef asian countries had legalized bitcoin, since  their fiat has a low value,  they tend to use another, it may not sound a financial collapse, but if you look at it closely, asian countries are having  hard time battling inflation, since there is no asian country, whose fiat is of higer value than the dollar.

if there was a real financial collapse bitcoin would turn to dust too. maybe the people writing here trust it, no one else does. people would run to gold or dollars just like always.

it's a nice idea but bitcoin's time hasn't come yet as a lifeboat. it's still a get rich quick scheme in the minds of most people who put money in and they're also the most panicky people on earth judging by the movements to the slightest scary news.

it would be nice to be proven wrong. i don't think i would be. the handful of people in places like venezuela who do use bitcoin are benefiting from the commodity boom that's fueled it that's lasted for years. they're hanging on the coattails of general market success in first world countries.

There are people who are wondering what can happen to Bitcoin if there would be economic and political chaos? Will it mean that Bitcoin will surge in price or will it withered and be likewise chaotic? I think what is happening in Venezuela right now is just a foretaste of what can happen when an economy can go down to the bridge...Bitcoin can come to the rescue and can be a source of some stability and access to the outside world.

While, of course, we are not wishing any country's economy to go down the floor, having some Bitcoin and getting involved in Bitcoin can be an insurance just in case something like a Venezuela will happen to our country. This has evolved to be one of the many functions of Bitcoin as we see it.

What is happening in Venezuela currently is actually an eye-opening to how bitcoin can actually intervening during financial crisis. Bitcoin actually can create stability since it is decentralised and the cost of production lower compared to fiat. Bitcoin should be adopted into most of the developing world so that the cost of using and producing fiat will reduced. 

Buying bitcoin because you think a total economic collapse is imminent is a little extreme (but could happen).

Buying bitcoin because you see it as a great hedge against ongoing (and rising) inflation is smart.

Bitcoin is being treated as a safe haven investment by many investors, because bitcoin is not being control by any countries government and banks, and thus the commonly financial news which are negative in reports does not affect bitcoin values much, so I would say whenever the stocks market crashes, you could always see a huge rise in price on crypto-currencies markets.

Taken from here... (https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-rise-due-to-global-currency-crises-accessibility-analysis)

There are people who are wondering what can happen to Bitcoin if there would be economic and political chaos? Will it mean that Bitcoin will surge in price or will it withered and be likewise chaotic? I think what is happening in Venezuela right now is just a foretaste of what can happen when an economy can go down to the bridge...Bitcoin can come to the rescue and can be a source of some stability and access to the outside world.

While, of course, we are not wishing any country's economy to go down the floor, having some Bitcoin and getting involved in Bitcoin can be an insurance just in case something like a Venezuela will happen to our country. This has evolved to be one of the many functions of Bitcoin as we see it.

It is a sure thing that is going to happen, every time the economy has troubles gold and silver go up a lot, in fact bitcoin came a few weeks after the latest economic crisis, and every time something goes wrong with the economy bitcoin does great, so if the economy of the world failed then it is very obvious that bitcoin is going to do nothing but to go up which is good news for us.

Bitcoin has got to get a hell of a lot less volatile before it's a safe haven form of money.

Buying bitcoin because you think a total economic collapse is imminent is a little extreme (but could happen).

Buying bitcoin because you see it as a great hedge against ongoing (and rising) inflation is smart.