A scrap of thought on Bitcoin in extreme crisis situations.
The crux of the matter is simple: the bulk of the population, those trading most goods and services in IRL economy, don't use BTC, don't own any SATs, and don't have a wallet. This means that to use BTC, they have to go through third parties that handle the conversion to fiat via payment cards. It's a heavy dependency, not much different from the one you have with fiat money in a bank.
Of course, BTC crosses every border, so if one country blocks it, you can hope to go to another and operate there with your own non-seizable funds. But for things like eating every day, paying for travel, and so on well, they probably won't be usable for that in most countries.
So I see BTC as a refuge, like a pirate's chest buried on a remote island to be touched only in an emergency, a bit of activity for personal exploration or speculation aside, but they aren't enough spread for life security in a bad crisis (like war). Gold coins for short-term use are still useful, as is local fiat currency, and that's frustrating because technically the infrastructure is there. Despite many issues, from on-chain TPS and fees to many Lightning payments failing, it exists. However, without sufficient adoption, we can't reach the level of protection possible for all of us.
What do you think? What kind of "fire sale" portfolios do you consider sensible, asset by asset?
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npub17n…0pnwf
2026-03-02 21:28:23 UTC
Author Public Key
npub17n2m7v30w732zh0uded9ql3mvaws3t6306j0avtvrxjz7lay2n8qa0pnwfPublished at
2026-03-02 21:28:23 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "A scrap of thought on Bitcoin in extreme crisis situations.\n\nThe crux of the matter is simple: the bulk of the population, those trading most goods and services in IRL economy, don't use BTC, don't own any SATs, and don't have a wallet. This means that to use BTC, they have to go through third parties that handle the conversion to fiat via payment cards. It's a heavy dependency, not much different from the one you have with fiat money in a bank.\n\nOf course, BTC crosses every border, so if one country blocks it, you can hope to go to another and operate there with your own non-seizable funds. But for things like eating every day, paying for travel, and so on well, they probably won't be usable for that in most countries.\n\nSo I see BTC as a refuge, like a pirate's chest buried on a remote island to be touched only in an emergency, a bit of activity for personal exploration or speculation aside, but they aren't enough spread for life security in a bad crisis (like war). Gold coins for short-term use are still useful, as is local fiat currency, and that's frustrating because technically the infrastructure is there. Despite many issues, from on-chain TPS and fees to many Lightning payments failing, it exists. However, without sufficient adoption, we can't reach the level of protection possible for all of us.\n\nWhat do you think? What kind of \"fire sale\" portfolios do you consider sensible, asset by asset?",
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}