Bitcoin sell in cas of emergency

[wobber]

Hi. Let's assume someone has a sum of BTC which he keeps for emergency cases, as an alternative to USD being kept under the mattress 

How can one use these funds, quick, painless and w/o worries?

Can one rely on BTC? The only options is see are:

1. Selling bitcoins on the market. The cons here are that it takes time, and you have to also convert from PayPal USD to real USD ( i don't know if you can use PP to pay for things outside the internet, like groceries or so)

2. The over-counter alternatives, like forum, bitcoin 2 mail etc. Takes a lot of time and may be unreliable.

3. The virtual VISA cards. Nice, but only for online use. If these cards could be converted somehow to real VISA cards it would be amazing!

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[BioMike]

4. (The most obvious one.) Have someone providing the thing you need and accepts Bitcoin.

[grondilu]

Hi. Let's assume someone has a sum of BTC which he keeps for emergency cases, as an alternative to USD being kept under the mattress 

How can one use these funds, quick, painless and w/o worries?

Can one rely on BTC? The only options is see are:

1. Selling bitcoins on the market. The cons here are that it takes time, and you have to also convert from PayPal USD to real USD ( i don't know if you can use PP to pay for things outside the internet, like groceries or so)

2. The over-counter alternatives, like forum, bitcoin 2 mail etc. Takes a lot of time and may be unreliable.

3. The virtual VISA cards. Nice, but only for online use. If these cards could be converted somehow to real VISA cards it would be amazing!

Yes, right now BTC is not as liquid as USD.  Give it time.  This currency is only about 1 year old, after all.

[wobber]

Grondilu: Let's assume a decease.

BioMike: nobody sells coffins for BTC, yet.

I'm trying to understand if someone should and could keep funds as bitcoin for non-internet use.

Also, I want to see how fast could I sell my bitcoins in large amounts (let's say 10.000) for a good price.

[BioMike]

What kind of emergency case are we talking about?

Armageddon? What is the time span to need the money?

[ptd]

1) If the situation is bad enough to make your USD worthless why do you want to convert BTC -> USD? Keep some physical items that would be good for barter and store your vast fortune in bitcoins while we just finish off our world domination plans.

2) "case" is spelt with an "e"