But the issue is this: hypothetically, let's say on Nov 12 I fled from country X and put my life savings (let's call it $5800) into one bitcoin valued at that. I put it in a hardware wallet, I transferred it electronically to another wallet, or perhaps I wrote the private key down someplace. Then, on Nov 27 my wealth is suddenly $9700. That's great. But how can I be sure it won't be down to $3000?

At least jewelry and watches are a relatively stable store of wealth.

There's a 'no one knows' stigma hanging around the cryptocurrencies. It's risky enough risking an escape from Syria, without adding a risk that traders are going to suddenly sell en-masse before you withdraw the funds.