Active Stocks
Thu Mar 28 2024 15:59:33
  1. Tata Steel share price
  2. 155.90 2.00%
  1. ICICI Bank share price
  2. 1,095.75 1.08%
  1. HDFC Bank share price
  2. 1,448.20 0.52%
  1. ITC share price
  2. 428.55 0.13%
  1. Power Grid Corporation Of India share price
  2. 277.05 2.21%
Business News/ Money / Calculators/  Digital money now part of doomsday preparations
BackBack

Digital money now part of doomsday preparations

Preppers, those preparing themselves for doomsday scenarios, are storing their money in cryptocurrencies. Have they chosen wisely?

Photo: BloombergPremium
Photo: Bloomberg

Wendy McElroy is ready for most doomsday scenarios: a 1-year supply of non-perishable food is stacked in a cellar at her farm in rural Ontario. Her blueprint for survival also depends upon working internet: part of her money, assuming she needs some after civilization collapses, is in bitcoin.

Across the North American countryside, preppers like McElroy are storing more and more of their wealth in invisible wallets in cyberspace instead of stockpiling gold bars and coins in their bunkers and basement safes.

They won’t be able to access their virtual cash the moment a catastrophe knocks out the power grid or the web, but that hasn’t dissuaded them. “I consider bitcoin to be a currency on the same level as gold," McElroy, who lives on the farm with her husband, said by email. “It allows individuals to become self-bankers."

At first glance, it seems counter-intuitive that some of bitcoin’s most ardent proponents are people motivated by the belief that public infrastructure will collapse in times of social and political distress. Bitcoin isn’t yet widely accepted as a method of payment and steep transaction costs make it inconvenient to use at vendors that do take it.

Preppers...have a different view on what they see as the money of the future, which has surged 10-fold in the past 12 months as supporters lauded it as a digital alternative to rival the dollar, euro or yen.

Used to send and receive payments online, bitcoin is similar to payment networks like PayPal or Mastercard, the difference being that it runs on a decentralized network—blockchain—that’s beyond the control of central banks and regulators. It was born out of an anti-establishment vision of a government-free society, a key attraction for those seeking unhindered access to their capital in case a massive shock shuts down the banks.

Tom Martin, a truck driver from Washington who runs a social-media website for people interested in learning skills to survive disaster said, “As long as the grid stays up, people will keep using bitcoin."

In addition to gold and stocks, Martin invests in bitcoin and peers like litecoin because they’re easier to travel with, harder to steal and offer better protection in scenarios of societal breakdown that would unfold if a fiat currency like the dollar collapsed. He’s among those confident that bitcoin can withstand even a complete blackout through the strength of blockchain.

“I doubt bitcoin is a safe haven from an extreme-risk environment. In that sense, bitcoin isn’t gold," said Charlie Morris, the London-based chief investment officer at Newscape Capital Advisors Ltd., which invests in cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin has also not reached the critical mass to be considered a viable currency to invest in, UBS Group AG’s Mark Haefele said in an interview. The total sum of all cryptocurrencies is “not even the size of some of the smaller currencies’’ that UBS would allocate to, he said.

Preppers, though, stock enough food and supplies to sustain them for months, if not years, and they expect whatever governing structure emerges post-calamity will prioritize getting the web back up. “It may be difficult, if not impossible to access for a while, but once things start returning to some level of normality, then the blockchain will return as it was before the disaster," said Rob Harvey, a bitcoin investor who prepares for natural and nuclear catastrophes by learning and teaching survival skills, like making a fire. “The blockchain does not need a specific place or a specific person to survive—that’s a strong survival tactic."

“It is a people’s currency"

Bloomberg

Unlock a world of Benefits! From insightful newsletters to real-time stock tracking, breaking news and a personalized newsfeed – it's all here, just a click away! Login Now!

Catch all the Business News, Market News, Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.
More Less
Published: 20 Nov 2017, 04:48 PM IST
Next Story footLogo
Recommended For You
Switch to the Mint app for fast and personalized news - Get App