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Re:Bitcoin miners are buying power plants by bradstewart on Friday April 16, 2021 @10:41AM (#26834469)
I'm assuming you're in the US/Europe/somewhere with a stable currency. Places like Argentina that have had serious devaluation of currency do not see money in their bank accounts as "safe".

Bitcoin can provide a way for e.g. Argentinians to get their money into other currencies when the government is actively preventing that through "standard" mechanisms. It's safe (er, safer) from that perspective.

Re:Bitcoin miners are buying power plants by M277 on Friday April 16, 2021 @11:33AM (#26835139)
How is it safe when it's so volatile and based on speculation?

As someone from a country which has had its currency's value slashed to half 5 years ago, I genuinely don't see how Bitcoin is safe at all. If anything, gold or real estate are safer.

Sure, if it is somehow guaranteed that I won't wake up tomorrow seeing 1 BTC = $30 000, I could see your argument. But is that guaranteed?

I would also like to add that the swings that BTC takes are unpredictable (at least for the common people who would benefit from it being a safe storage for their wealth).

Re:Bitcoin miners are buying power plants by vernon99 on Sunday April 18, 2021 @09:14AM (#26852140)
As somebody who saw family wealth slashed 100x due to crazy inflation just 20 years ago, 2x fluctuations are nothing. This is the perspective worth recognizing. Bitcoin is actually very stable by comparison. Edit: fat fingers typing.
Re:Bitcoin miners are buying power plants by M277 on Sunday April 18, 2021 @11:08AM (#26853113)
Ouch. My condolences.

Yeah, if things are that bad, it could be viable.

Civil war is another viable scenario. However, one should also assess the situation properly if his/her country is in civil war. If things go bad and you have to escape, "safe passage for x amount of gold I have on hand" is more guaranteed than "safe passage for x BTC I promise to pay".

Re:Bitcoin miners are buying power plants by Webox on Monday April 19, 2021 @04:03AM (#26860153)
Nothing guarantees you at all, that bitcoin doesn't fall today from 60k back to 100.
Re:Bitcoin miners are buying power plants by hooande on Friday April 16, 2021 @11:12AM (#26834862)
This isn't a very good use case for bitcoin. It's very easy to buy coins, but getting your money out is as difficult as various governments want it to be. Most of the major exchanges have KYC and anti money laundering laws that can make it hard to transfer large amounts of any crypto into a spendable currency.

If a government is preventing people from transferring money through standard mechanisms, it's only a matter of time until they prevent them from using crypto to do that. If the best use is circumventing the law, it isn't much of a currency at all

Re:Bitcoin miners are buying power plants by arcticbull on Friday April 16, 2021 @12:18PM (#26835801)
A TransferWise Borderless account that allows you to store any of 80 currencies including the USD, in Argentina, is a much better system.

Not to mention, a $20 transaction fee in Argentina is devastating.