Why the Ukrainian crisis is bullish for BTC

[Oblodo]

Today the Russian central bank raised its interest to 7%, from 5.5% and the RTS index fell 12% yesterday. The west threatening to enforce economical boycotts against Russians, will have them looking for other ways of keeping their assets safe... enter BTC.

Just a thought..

[vokain]

why not, this is what bitcoin is here for

[ErisDiscordia]

Sad to say I think it will take multiple crises just like this one to get most people to learn about and use BTC. But yeah, cheap, fast and secure transactions aside, this is exactly where BTC really shines - wealth preservation in unfavorable financial regimes.

[Gabi]

There is another reason

http://www.afp.com/en/news/topstories/crisis-hit-ukraine-slaps-1000-euro-limit-bank-withdrawals

Crisis-hit Ukraine slaps 1,000-euro limit on bank withdrawals

Bitcoin users not affected 

It seems using bitcoin is becoming more and more advantageous 

[Mythul]

OMG this is huge news ! But I am scared about the situation in Ukraine.

[kkaspar]

Well, if you aren't able to withdraw more then 1000€ a day from a bank, then you won't be able to withdraw more then 1000€ from bitstamp as well. There can be same trade based on localbitcoins and cash, but I think that this won't be significant.
I think that main gain to the bitcoin community from Ukraine is the amount of media coverage Ukraine is getting. When everyones attention is directed towards the situation in Ukraine, then there is no time to talk about how people lost their money investing in bitcoin.

[drsnuggles]

Well, if you aren't able to withdraw more then 1000€ a day from a bank, then you won't be able to withdraw more then 1000€ from bitstamp as well. There can be same trade based on localbitcoins and cash, but I think that this won't be significant.
I think that main gain to the bitcoin community from Ukraine is the amount of media coverage Ukraine is getting. When everyones attention is directed towards the situation in Ukraine, then there is no time to talk about how people lost their money investing in bitcoin.

Bitstamp is located in Slovenia, not Ukraine, so they remain unaffected by the Ukrainian withdraw limit.

[kkaspar]

Well, if you aren't able to withdraw more then 1000€ a day from a bank, then you won't be able to withdraw more then 1000€ from bitstamp as well. There can be same trade based on localbitcoins and cash, but I think that this won't be significant.
I think that main gain to the bitcoin community from Ukraine is the amount of media coverage Ukraine is getting. When everyones attention is directed towards the situation in Ukraine, then there is no time to talk about how people lost their money investing in bitcoin.

Bitstamp is located in Slovenia, not Ukraine, so they remain unaffected by the Ukrainian withdraw limit.

And you are withdrawing money from bitstamp through mail sent cash or through your bank account?

[JimboToronto]

why not, this is what bitcoin is here for

What? It's not solely for speculation and "technical" analysis?

LOL 

[BitcoinAshley]

Well, if you aren't able to withdraw more then 1000€ a day from a bank, then you won't be able to withdraw more then 1000€ from bitstamp as well.

Irrelevant. BTC has no physical cash form so being able to "withdraw" it in that sense from a legacy bank is impossible. However, so many vendors accept BTC in some form or another, in addition to their being localbitcoins and similar avenues, it is clearly superior to cash which can be withdrawal-limited by a government at whim. The government would have to enact far more draconian rules to limit electronic cash spending (i.e. you can't spend more than .5 BTC at tigerdirect or coinfueled per day... lol.)

[cosmofly]

Can't wait for world war 3

[ElectricMucus]

War is good for BusinessBitcoin.

Can't wait for world war 3

Can't wait for the whackjobs who are seriously afraid of that.

[kkaspar]

Well, if you aren't able to withdraw more then 1000€ a day from a bank, then you won't be able to withdraw more then 1000€ from bitstamp as well.

Irrelevant. BTC has no physical cash form so being able to "withdraw" it in that sense from a legacy bank is impossible. However, so many vendors accept BTC in some form or another, in addition to their being localbitcoins and similar avenues, it is clearly superior to cash which can be withdrawal-limited by a government at whim. The government would have to enact far more draconian rules to limit electronic cash spending (i.e. you can't spend more than .5 BTC at tigerdirect or coinfueled per day... lol.)

Travel to Ukraine and try to live a month while using only BTC. Then decide how irrelevant it is.
People have done these tests in more developed countries and found it very very hard. 99,9% of Ukrainans will probably start to make fun of you, when you try to offer them bitcoins to pay your rent, bills or just get something at the convenience store.

Most of the cultists here can't understand how dependent bitcoin is to the $. Bitcoin has a childish fixed coin supply, so it needs fiat to give it value. That is the reason why stores aren't accepting bitcoins without bitpay. There is very little use of an volatile and unpredictable currency without the support of fiat.

[pungopete468]

Of course it's tied to fiat. Fiat also used to be tied to gold...

It's a logical procession of things. One day it might not be tied to fiat; time will tell...

[exocytosis]

Travel to Ukraine and try to live a month while using only BTC. Then decide how irrelevant it is.
People have done these tests in more developed countries and found it very very hard. 99,9% of Ukrainans will probably start to make fun of you, when you try to offer them bitcoins to pay your rent, bills or just get something at the convenience store.

Most of the cultists here can't understand how dependent bitcoin is to the $. Bitcoin has a childish fixed coin supply, so it needs fiat to give it value. That is the reason why stores aren't accepting bitcoins without bitpay. There is very little use of an volatile and unpredictable currency without the support of fiat.

Quoted for truth. I've been trying to explain this to people, but you did it far more eloquently.

[MatTheCat]

Well, if you aren't able to withdraw more then 1000€ a day from a bank, then you won't be able to withdraw more then 1000€ from bitstamp as well.

Irrelevant. BTC has no physical cash form so being able to "withdraw" it in that sense from a legacy bank is impossible. However, so many vendors accept BTC in some form or another, in addition to their being localbitcoins and similar avenues, it is clearly superior to cash which can be withdrawal-limited by a government at whim. The government would have to enact far more draconian rules to limit electronic cash spending (i.e. you can't spend more than .5 BTC at tigerdirect or coinfueled per day... lol.)

Travel to Ukraine and try to live a month while using only BTC. Then decide how irrelevant it is.
People have done these tests in more developed countries and found it very very hard. 99,9% of Ukrainans will probably start to make fun of you, when you try to offer them bitcoins to pay your rent, bills or just get something at the convenience store.

Most of the cultists here can't understand how dependent bitcoin is to the $. Bitcoin has a childish fixed coin supply, so it needs fiat to give it value. That is the reason why stores aren't accepting bitcoins without bitpay. There is very little use of an volatile and unpredictable currency without the support of fiat.

Yeah.

I was going to reply something along those lines but the sheer exercise in futility of it all bored me into not completing my post.

As a means of everyday payment, it is fucking rubbish.

As a means of moderately wealthy people from crisis hit nations/economies, getting their capital into an ultra transportable form without necessarily having access to international finance. It is the perfect fit. A temporary fit for most perhaps, but temporary is better than the chances of watching all your capital turn into empty government promises as the geo-political games of NATO and Putin wipe the floor with the Ukrainian economy.

I don't understand the full implications of how it makes sense to Ukrainians....perhaps they fear their currency will collapse? But this must be the reason why Bitcoin has done what it has done today. Mentalists like rpietila may claim that this all fits in perfectly with his exponential growth mean curve, but up until 6.30 am GMT, All technicals were pointing towards Bitcoin taking another nose dive. Instead, this X-Factor came into play and blew all the TA out the water. Not even the bulls promoting their flimsy inverse head n shoulders formation could have predicted this.

I have said many times that I believe that Bitcoin was actually developed by the NSA as a financial weapon of mass destruction and I think these kind of events demonstrates exactly the uses that a reasonably liquid Bitcoin market could have in undermining the economies of nations whose resources and strategic potential the US and it's NATO bum buddies are interested in having a piece of.

[kkaspar]

Yeah.

I was going to reply something along those lines but the sheer exercise in futility of it all bored me into not completing my post.

As a means of everyday payment, it is fucking rubbish.

As a means of moderately wealthy people from crisis hit nations/economies, getting their capital into an ultra transportable form without necessarily having access to international finance. It is the perfect fit. A temporary fit for most perhaps, but temporary is better than the chances of watching all your capital turn into empty government promises as the geo-political games of NATO and Putin wipe the floor with the Ukrainian economy.

I don't understand the full implications of how it makes sense to Ukrainians....perhaps they fear their currency will collapse? But this must be the reason why Bitcoin has done what it has done today. Mentalists like rpietila may claim that this all fits in perfectly with his exponential growth mean curve, but up until 6.30 am GMT, All technicals were pointing towards Bitcoin taking another nose dive. Instead, this X-Factor came into play and blew all the TA out the water. Not even the bulls promoting their flimsy inverse head n shoulders formation could have predicted this.

I have said many times that I believe that Bitcoin was actually developed by the NSA as a financial weapon of mass destruction and I think these kind of events demonstrates exactly the uses that a reasonably liquid Bitcoin market could have in undermining the economies of nations whose resources and strategic potential the US and it's NATO bum buddies are interested in having a piece of.

I doubt that todays pump had much to do with Ukraine.
There is a 1000€ per day bank withdrawal limit, but that's just to avoid bank runs. You can still exchange to other fiat or make international bank transfers. It wouldn't be exactly a smart choice to go from 1 fragile currency to another just as fragile or more.
My guess goes that it's some outsider investment group that decided to copy Fortress, so they made a high risk bet and bought a planned amount of coins. Todays rise was caused by one entity who was rather careless about buying coins. You could often see pumps like these during the China boom. Pumps that are ok with buying coins in a short period and creating a drastic rise. Buys like these are made by people who are not interesting in hanging around at the bitcoin market for a long time. They only come to buy a determined amount, that was agreed upon by the board of directors.

[BitcoinAshley]

Re: Bitcoin infrastructure, and "relevance" of cash withdrawal limits' effect on exchange payouts -
There are services to pay bills with bitcoin. Services to buy gas. Order-placing services to buy anything on the internet. Thousands of online vendors. Services to order food, even.
Yes, it is less accessible in a country like Ukraine, but Ukraine isn't exactly a third world country either so don't give me that bullshit. Maybe 2 years ago, experiments in "living on bitcoin" in developed countries was very difficult, but now it's incredibly easy in most areas. For the last year I've bought 75% of my food and gas without touching USD, and it's not been inconvenient or difficult in the slightest. Examine your misconceptions. 50% of my electronics and auto parts. That the stores touch it is not my concern. I am no "cultist," lol, I'm as straightedge as they come, but I appreciate the humour.

[MatTheCat]

I doubt that todays pump had much to do with Ukraine.
There is a 1000€ per day bank withdrawal limit, but that's just to avoid bank runs. You can still exchange to other fiat or make international bank transfers. It wouldn't be exactly a smart choice to go from 1 fragile currency to another just as fragile or more.
My guess goes that it's some outsider investment group that decided to copy Fortress, so they made a high risk bet and bought a planned amount of coins. Todays rise was caused by one entity who was rather careless about buying coins. You could often see pumps like these during the China boom. Pumps that are ok with buying coins in a short period and creating a drastic rise. Buys like these are made by people who are not interesting in hanging around at the bitcoin market for a long time. They only come to buy a determined amount, that was agreed upon by the board of directors.

Well fingers crossed they are back tomorrow.

[af_newbie]

As a means of moderately wealthy people from crisis hit nations/economies, getting their capital into an ultra transportable form without necessarily having access to international finance...

+1

Try to leave such a country with a suitcase full of gold bars.  Micro SD card is a better option.  

For the paranoid types, embed/obscure your encrypted wallet in any picture or pdf file and email it to anywhere.