real-world bitcoin usage: store of value

[Wexlike]

Crosspost from reddit

Venezuelan here.

My country has had capital controls since 2002. Buying outside our country is a nightmare. You can get prosecuted for simple things like buying gift cards with penalties such as removing FOR LIFE your annual quota of a paltry $300 on credit cards. You can't use any other means to buy goods or pay services besides credit cards. The dollar has been pegged to a crazy 6.3 VEF/USD since some years ago (up from another crazier 4.3 VEF/USD).

Since half a year ago, i've kept ALL MY WEALTH in Bitcoin... yes ALL. Every single VEF i get, after buying food, gets converted to Bitcoin immediatly.

Not Dollars.

Not Euros.

Not GBP.

Bitcoin.

I have almost triplicated my wealth since i made that move. When the black market exchange rate was 150 VEF/USD, i held Bitcoin. Some weeks ago the black market exchange went to ~450 VEF/USD. Guess what, i feel like a rich man. I can maintain my WHOLE FAMILY OF 5 (food, basic services, debt) with just .3 BTC/month. The rest gets stashed away.

Also, i began mining. 1 Antminer S5 gives me, after electricity costs (which are almost non-existent, electricity cost here is a joke) the same wage my wife and i earn (we're both engineers) TWICE a month.

Your government will do stupid things, i guarantee it. Don't trust a single drachma/euro to them. If you want to hedge, use something like Bitreserve, but believe me, wild price swings aren't that important dealing with Bitcoin when your other alternative is a highly manipulable, fractional-reserve backed, fiat money.

If you want more specifics, pm me.

And this is only the beginning.

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[SnokkomBTC]

And this is only the beginning.

[LFC_Bitcoin]

OP is nice to read but it needs millions more people like him. We're still in BTC's infancy. I just hope mainstream adoption gets a move on. I'm in my late 20's so obviously hodling for a long time is no problem but like I said we're a long way from worldwide mainstream adoption.

I suppose hardly anybody saw the rise to 1200 USD coming. I'm hoping for at least 10,000 USD per BTC which is definitely realistic when you think there will only be 21 million coins mined. There is nowhere near enough for everybody in the world to even have 0.1 BTC so if you have a decent stash & we do go to the moon then you'll be handsomely rewarded.

[botany]

I don't see why people crib about fractional reserve banking.
It is only a matter of time before it is true in the bitcoin world too.

[Wexlike]

OP is nice to read but it needs millions more people like him.

Well, we don't need millions of people. 1 million people, who want to store a part of their wealth in a little sum of 1 bitcoim would be enougj for some magical time.

I don't see why people crib about fractional reserve banking.
It is only a matter of time before it is true in the bitcoin world too.

How can fractional reserve work in bitcoin when we have a public and transparent ledger? I'm not sure if you fully understand bitcoin.

[Biodom]

OP is nice to read but it needs millions more people like him.

Well, we don't need millions of people. 1 million people, who want to store a part of their wealth in a little sum of 1 bitcoim would be enougj for some magical time.

I don't see why people crib about fractional reserve banking.
It is only a matter of time before it is true in the bitcoin world too.

How can fractional reserve work in bitcoin when we have a public and transparent ledger? I'm not sure if you fully understand bitcoin.

I am sure that someone will find a way similar to GLD vs gold situation.
Once there is a non-restricted bitcoin ETF, bitcoin will be financialized.

[futureofbitcoin]

OP is nice to read but it needs millions more people like him.

Well, we don't need millions of people. 1 million people, who want to store a part of their wealth in a little sum of 1 bitcoim would be enougj for some magical time.

I don't see why people crib about fractional reserve banking.
It is only a matter of time before it is true in the bitcoin world too.

How can fractional reserve work in bitcoin when we have a public and transparent ledger? I'm not sure if you fully understand bitcoin.

Of course it can. There will be people who will trust companies like coinbase and circle and xapo that these companies will give them "real" bitcoins when they choose to withdrawl, thus they don't mind if coinbase etc actually uses fractional reserve.

[XxionxX]

Balls of steel or brains of mud.

...

I'm not sure which. 

[medUSA]

This reddit post is so inspiring. This is the real world use of bitcoin for people with weak economies and national currencies.

Since half a year ago, i've kept ALL MY WEALTH in Bitcoin... yes ALL.
I have almost triplicated my wealth since i made that move.

Such a bold move. I probably wouldn't have the guts to do that if I were in his shoes.

Wild price swings aren't that important dealing with Bitcoin when your other alternative is a highly manipulable, fractional-reserve backed, fiat money.

Don't blame fractional-reserve banking for everything. It's the Venezuela Government in this case. They failed to regulate the economy and purposely devalue to boost oil exports and impose exchange controls.

[spiderbrain]

OP is nice to read but it needs millions more people like him.

Well, we don't need millions of people. 1 million people, who want to store a part of their wealth in a little sum of 1 bitcoim would be enougj for some magical time.

I don't see why people crib about fractional reserve banking.
It is only a matter of time before it is true in the bitcoin world too.

How can fractional reserve work in bitcoin when we have a public and transparent ledger? I'm not sure if you fully understand bitcoin.

Of course it can. There will be people who will trust companies like coinbase and circle and xapo that these companies will give them "real" bitcoins when they choose to withdrawl, thus they don't mind if coinbase etc actually uses fractional reserve.

True, but the value of the fictional bitcoins would still have to be pegged to the value of real bitcoins, so it would work like a gold backed currency, e.g. bretton woods, which is a much better prospect that the completely unpegged fiat currency the world currently uses.

[chennan]

OP is nice to read but it needs millions more people like him.

Well, we don't need millions of people. 1 million people, who want to store a part of their wealth in a little sum of 1 bitcoim would be enougj for some magical time.

I don't see why people crib about fractional reserve banking.
It is only a matter of time before it is true in the bitcoin world too.

How can fractional reserve work in bitcoin when we have a public and transparent ledger? I'm not sure if you fully understand bitcoin.

Of course it can. There will be people who will trust companies like coinbase and circle and xapo that these companies will give them "real" bitcoins when they choose to withdrawl, thus they don't mind if coinbase etc actually uses fractional reserve.

True, but the value of the fictional bitcoins would still have to be pegged to the value of real bitcoins, so it would work like a gold backed currency, e.g. bretton woods, which is a much better prospect that the completely unpegged fiat currency the world currently uses.

The way of fractional reserve applied to current banking system cannot be viable for bitcion at the moment. Bitcoin is decentralized and no third party involved to back up, not like the banks, big financial institutions etc.