Posted on 05/14/2018 8:33:40 AM PDT by bananaman22
Just because it’s digital doesn’t mean it doesn’t need a vault, and Silicon Valley millionaires and billionaires now have a way to keep their cryptocurrency safe from the criminals: Underground bunkers packed with encrypted computer servers storing cryptographic keys for billions in bitcoin.
This is cold storage, with a major security twist. It’s a new kind of vault for a new age and one Argentine pioneer has finally convinced the wealthy that this is where their digital currency will be safe.
The brainchild of entrepreneur Wences Casares, a startup called Xapo has built crypto bunkers on five continents—including one in a decommissioned Swiss military bunker, and now he’s housing some $10 billion in bitcoin for the wealthy—though the price volatility of digital tokens makes it impossible to estimate real-time value.
(Excerpt) Read more at safehaven.com ...
And the landscaping is just lovely. Lots of tulips.
Well said, but a government has the effective ownership of all assets within its borders, while virtual currency without a government has ephemeral bits behind it.
Well there goes that idea. I guess Ill have to think of something else to do with these billionare body parts I have laying around.
I wonder how heirs would claim their property without the correct biometric information, along with the correct hash/key
I have heard the Tulip analogy with Bitcoin before, but i have a hard time thinking it applies.
Tulip bulbs are perishable, meaning not durable as a store of wealth long term, and tulips could be mass produced.
Bitcoin in cold storage is indestructible unless you lose the keys, which is easily backed up and hidden anywhere.
And unlike most any other thing in the world, Bitcoin cannot be mass produced; there will only ever be 21 million produced over the next 60 years. Its scarcity exceeds even gold.. It is also more easily divided and transported than gold.
Don’t get me wrong, it still can fail, but it also be a “disruptive” technology that could transform international financial transaction.
Well said, but a government has the effective ownership of all assets within its borders, while virtual currency without a government has ephemeral bits behind it.
Government has no rights, only powers.
Individuals, in a free country/society, have rights (and very limited powers), including rights to property. That makes Bitcoin a threat to the totalitarian.
Yeah, I get that. But another difference: Bitcoin has about the same intrinsic value as a thousand dollar bill, but only one is backed by a government. For that one to fail, the government would have to fail or be close to it.
Bitcoin survives on the “greater fool” concept.
Does the vault keeper get paid in cash or bitcoin?
When that government backed dollar is being mass produced and devalued through debt from deficit spending by at least a trillion dollars a year, that government is in danger of failing long term. Kicking the can down the road is only a short term strategy.
A totally decentralized cryptocurrency bypasses government control...or any specific government’s survival.
Crypto is being deployed all over the place currently. HSBC just went live with using a ledger within the past week.
sounds like the perfect place to store paper gold as well ...
I thought the whole point of block chain is that it is un hackable.
When was the last time printed US currency was equal to all US currency in play at the same time? Before Nixon? Before IBM?
The blockchain basically is unhackable. The security is needed because nothing is secure if someone steals the password. That's what they are protecting in the bunkers. They are protecting the private keys or the "passwords". They are not protecting the blockchain.
I thought the whole point of block chain is that it is un hackable.
From what I understand it is not impossible, but would require quantum level computer technology, so not likely for a while.
Again I will say, Bitcoin or crypto may fail. But it is a numerical certainty the dollar will,,,some day. And it will be through hyperinflation.
Historically hyperinflation can happen overnight.
Just think when all those public educated Obama zombies figure out their month of government money won’t even buy a pack of smokes and 40, they WILL go to the streets and riot and demand the government nanny fix their problem. The government will crack down, and it won’t be constitutional in the end.
All this does raise the question of what is wealth?
The definition by Adam Smith in The Wealth of Nations is wealth generates more wealth.
Not a very definitive definition, but the example is you own a peat bog, you invest in it and drain it. It now is a producing field which generates more income.
Computers in the early days generated wealth. Now days they still do some of that but mostly are a consumption activity, like lawyers and government.
Then next question is where do you store wealth? As stated by some here it is related to tulip bulbs. Storing tulip bulbs for very long didn’t work................
And if you were a citizen in Germany (Jew or otherwise, read the Vampire Economy https://mises.org/library/vampire-economy) in the late 30’s, There was no place to store your wealth.
So we are left with:
Ecc_8:15 So I recommend having fun, because there is nothing better for people in this world than to eat, drink, and enjoy life. That way they will experience some happiness along with all the hard work God gives them under the sun.
Deep Ponder Mode tm
Throughout history, every time a currency is detached from gold (which preserves its scarcity).....it eventually fails.
Question is if the scarcity of Bitcoin will be enough. Is scarcity what gives gold its value? Is scarcity THE value?
Full disclosure, I own some BTC.
It doesn't apply even in the slightest. It's also not a Ponzi scheme.
Even supposed serious players on Wallstreet keep using the tulip and ponzi scheme references which seriously makes me question the integrity of any of these people. I think big money Wallstreet banking and political types feel threatened by cryptocurrency technology and thus try to suppress it in any way possible.
It doesn't matter however. If you understand the basics of cryptocurrency like bitcoin you understand some loudmouth banking guru calling it a scam makes no difference whatsoever. If people see bitcoin as a store of value then it's not going away. It will be just like gold only with a major difference in that the supply is strictly limited. More gold can always be mined. Large deposits of gold can be found, etc. Bitcoin is limited to 21 million and there can be no more.
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