Topic: In times of conflict Be your own bank (Read 296 times)

I don't think that these times are special. Yes, unpleasant and complex, but this has happened many times in the history of mankind. It seems to me that now the phase of aggravation and what you write about is becoming the most noticeable. At no time should one be blindly trusted in anyone and one should always be on the alert for problems to arise. Blocking stories are proof of this.

On the positive side, people are now smarter and more capable of managing their own finances. Fortunately, Bitcoin is a first-class tool for this. It is very fortunate that we have such an opportunity.   

I don't understand why these organizations blindly copy the behavior of the majority. Why can't they just be neutral towards innocent people? Why block everyone indiscriminately?

Many questions, the answers to which we are unlikely to learn from them.

I only know one thing. It is necessary to observe the behavior of such companies: how they behave now, how their actions will change after stabilization. After that, ask yourself the question: do I want to use their services?

If even now these problems have not affected you in any way, then is there any guarantee that next time you will not be in the place of the victim.

I'm not an economist either, but I've read the news and I understood (on a certain extent) what the Central Bank does in my country.
It has some big reserves to play with, reserves that he can exchange at will in an attempt to soften the shocks on the Forex exchange(s).
You can see it as the biggest whale on the market, but its aim is not to get the biggest gains, instead to get the price (of the local currency) more predictable (on long term).
Indeed, the actions are not unlimited, but they're far from being something to ignore. So it's not really, or not always the free market the one dictating the price  

I am not an economist, but I think that the extent to which any Central Bank can intervene in currency exchange markets is very limited, the best they can do is look at the market price history of a certain currency and set some weighted average rate. It is the market that has real power and dictates the price, so central banks can do nothing except for accepting reality and taking some temporary measures to prevent the collapse of a currency. That is one of the reasons I like bitcoin: central banks here have no power at all at dictating prices, everything is a market's pure decision, everything abides by the laws of supply and demand, no government intervention is possible. I mean, they still can affect markets indirectly by imposing strict regulations, but they cannot command prices directly.

Prices, especially for electronic devices, have skyrocketed... products of certain brands have disappeared from the market. You can't buy Apple devices anymore, the last price for a MacBook was more than one million rubles, which is an incredibly high price.


You're right, when there is very high inflation or hyperinflation, it is economically rational to spend falling currency as fast as possible to preserve at least some of your wealth. However, the problem with this strategy is that you still need money to make transactions, you can't get back to a barter system and use the goods you bought for acquiring goods you want now. This system barely works, if at all, at scale, so instead of buying useless goods you don't want and can't use, it is better to exchange your falling currency for a harder and more liquid one.

And why people would use a centralized exchange if banks is enough to know that they will lock your account in the future or if there's a war? Be your own bank and use a hardware wallet to save your Bitcoin and not the custodial wallet where they control your private keys, it should be your who controls it.

That's why we have a hardware wallet if you want to bring to you or hide it somewhere safe so that no matter what happens as long as they device is intact your Bitcoin and money is safe.

That's the way it has been when war happens, nothing seems to works, both the bank and companies. This will be a big lesson for those that keep their whole money in the bank and refuse to invest in crypto. Storing your money in the bank is not secure as it seems when situations like war arise. You lose everything both property and assets.
Locking people's bitcoin accounts on a centralized exchange because they are from Russia shouldn't be considered rather be opposed.  

As we have heard "necessity is the mother of inventions" and same thing is now happening across the globe like people are being awake to the fact that money they own is actually not theirs but center owned and they can put restrictions or even freeze it without asking you.So what's the solution for this? The answer is now well known by many people of Russia and Ukraine especially at this time who are witnessing Major btc and crypto transactions.Suddenly the prices have jumped and Russian currency has tumbled 26% which was expected.

People tend to understand it late because now they are witnessing it in reality and now btc has become their favourite choice as you can't freeze your hardware wallets.This is how bitcoin transfer ownership from banks to you.

Binance has said it will not block the account of innocent users but that's not the case with every exchange and whose funds are there are also prone to risk if you are residing basically in Russia as most of the payment processor like VISA and MasterCard have also have declined their services in Russia.

At this time only bitcoin is the one hope for people and maybe it's improve the global adoption and picture of btc.

Atleast these kind of tough situations will kick in their ass and make them to realize what is the real money and we have been trusting the papers printed by government will save in those times. No matter how good the condition is we should never hoard our assets value in the form of fiat it should be in gold or land or physical assets and bitcoin as well.

What is happening now in relation to innocent people only says that those who take such positions are ready to take the side of the majority, not understanding the truth of everything that is happening. The masks are being thrown off, although time may show who is actually right.
The times are such that today every person should think only about himself, take care only about himself, about his assets, trusting absolutely no one. Because, as time shows, the one who is nearby easily and at any moment betrays you, completely without hesitation. Your money will be yours as long as you have it around without trusting anyone.

Actually Monday, after the initial shock, it has recovered (I don't know though if it was natural or it was a massive intervention of the central bank), but Tuesday was again on a losing trend.
You can see the chart here for EUR-RUB (so increase means RUR losing value) : https://www.investing.com/currencies/eur-rub-chart

About the price of the goods and services I do agree with you. Those show much more accurately the inflation, those prices cannot be manipulated so easy by the central bank.


Converting a currency hit by heavy inflation into anything that doesn't fall is already a leap forward. Bitcoin has its history of wide price variation, hence buying Bitcoin is a bit risky - let's be honest - especially if one doesn't want (or cannot) hold for many years. So I cannot call it perfect yet. Right now Bitcoin took the path of store-of-value assets and its price grows, making it a very good deal for those believing it from start.
But those hit by this war will have to take decisions in a hurry and I won't blame them if they don't choose Bitcoin this time. I could blame them though for not buying Bitcoin in the past months or years.

Still, as I wrote in another place: Bitcoin is the easiest way to carry your money/savings/wealth when you flee.

His only fault is that he is a Russian Citizen? World has gone mad. Some impose sanctions on others, the second blocks the funds of others ... The government of each country is trying to harm the governments of others. But who suffers in the end? Ordinary citizens who have nothing to do with what is happening, whose only fault is that they were born in another country. What will be the next step? Blocking accounts because of skin color, hair and a birthmark on buttocks? What is happening now seems more and more absurd to me.

After all, platforms like Bittrex are losing customers this way. Moreover, they may lose even more customers. What are the guarantees that Bittrex (any other too) will not like your country and they will not block your account? None. We must run away from them.

The message set out by the starter topic is clear and correct. But I think it's already a little late for some countries now. Although no one expects such disgusting events, it would be better to prepare for them in advance. I'm talking about becoming "your own bank".

This probably comes from the fact that before these tragic events began, bitcoin in Russia had no support. It was covered as an asset that unlicensed investors could not have, offered to undergo all sorts of tests, and other inconveniences.
How can people who have been tried in every way to dissuade and intimidate with bitcoin, for no reason, wake up to trust in it? Many exchanges have already started blocking Russian accounts, but of course, people are learning and learning quickly in order to survive, I hope many will make the right choice in favor of bitcoin.

It is only in times of conflict that many people learn. Those who keep an important part of their net worth in a hardware wallet are a minuscule part of the population. With situations like this people are learning that the only way to store and transfer large amounts of wealth without being blocked by any institution is to have your private Bitcoin keys. For small amounts there are still alternatives such as having cash or gold at home.

I don't know about others banking system in their countries but in mine they take money out of my account almost every day for charges that crypto don't take from your bitcoin, I'd rather keep my money in stable coin and BTC than in my bank account.

I wouldn't say that the ruble's value decreases by the hour currently, after it sharply fell by more than thirty percent, it remains relatively stable. However, prices of goods may grow way faster than the exchange rate of the ruble, so its purchasing power will naturally decrease significantly. In the times like that, you understand the hard way how terrible fiat money is at holding its value. 100000 rubles could buy Russian people 0.031 BTC just several days ago, but now you can buy only 0.023, which also means that people, who have had bitcoin on hand before the invasion started, witness their savings in ruble terms grow by more than 30%. Truly, bitcoin is a perfect savings technology that helps innocent people to overcome economic and political hardship like that. However, not all Russian people understand how important bitcoin is, that is why the demand for bitcoin is far less than it could be. That means that now you can buy bitcoins in Russia with no fuss or muss using any existing P2P-exchange like HodlHodl or, for example, exchangers presented on Bestchange. Paradoxically, people are still ready to exchange the hardest form of money people have ever had for useless fiat that quickly loses its value!

+1

In some potential far-worse cases, you probably wouldn't even have the time to get your funds out of custodial platforms. Being your own bank only in times of conflict is like rushing to wear your seat belt only when you realized you're about to get into a collision.

It's already to late advice to transfer your coins to non custodial wallet when you're in trouble, you can only pray the sanctions and war will ended ASAP. No need to wait such events to make your coins safe, actually you're want to make your coins safe due to such unexpected events. Maybe after this, many Russians will learn how decentralization and privacy concern are really important.

Anyway there's a thread has been opened few days ago with similar discussion Recent events should make everyone withdraw all their coins to their own wallets

Looking at the circumstances which Russians find themselves today, I would say that they should have been their own bank prior to this conflict. They should have been their own bank when there was still peace. Now, in the middle of the war, they are too limited in their actions. It's a little bit too late.

Yes, Bitcoin must be a safe haven in the face of a falling ruble and all the sanctions, but what could you do when your fiat is already restricted? Where were you when you could still withdraw all your fiat and convert them to Bitcoin? Now, withdrawals are limited, online transactions as well. Visa and Mastercard have blocked Russian banks. A lot of Russian banks are now banned from SWIFT as well. Even crypto exchanges where Russians could possibly convert their fiat into Bitcoin could ban them, too.

Preparation is always done beforehand. Noah didn't build the ark when it was raining.

In times of conflict or harmony being your own bank is always the safest decision. Although this issue happens to the Russians and in the future, it may happen to a centralized exchange like Binance.
Mind you, we also have a situation where Ontario Superior Court of Justice told a wallet creator to freeze a self-custodian wallet of a user and if the user does not be her own bank the BTC will be freeze.

Probably very difficult, and probably isn't going to be on a lot of people's mind. If they face difficulty getting their money out. I suspect with everything going on, a lot of them aren't going to think about alternatives, but rather watch the war closely hoping it'll end, and the sanctions end. It'll probably take months of restricted funds until people start thinking about alternatives. The thing is, if the war continues the longer it goes on the more sanctions, and restrictions that'll come into play. So, it could be incredibly difficult right now, but it's likely to get worse as the war goes on.

That's the idea, though I think this has somehow been lost in translation over the years. People focus far too much on the anti government side of things, instead of the real benefit of Bitcoin.

Do you have to wait for conflict to take place to remember to be your own bank? 

Nope! Always be your own bank.

Someone has already experienced this first hand. Bittrex blocked his verified account because he is a Russian Citizen

And those who are still believing that centralized exchanges are good to store your Bitcoin are probably trapped by now if they've come from Russia.
We don't know the risk ahead and it's unpredictable how the government imposes the law about financial matters, we shouldn't put a large amount on the centralized exchange, in a moment like this was unexpected to happen.

Be your own bank always and always remember the golden rule in crypto, "Not your keys, not your coins".

Safe haven?  I don't know technically how they will buy Bitcoin right now, if someone from Russia here wants to trade or that will buy Bitcoin via P2P would be better but in certain centralized exchanges, they were already sanctioned by the US.

From what I've read.

A Ukraine ambassador if it's not the president has asked the centralized exchanges to freeze the accounts of Russians on their platforms. If they'll be able to do that.

There will be too many Russians that will be affected by that cease and desist implementation by the exchanges. Since many banking options abroad have stopped temporary, they're really likely going for crypto.

That is no longer significant when you store your bitcoins in a centralized exchange. Before joining bitcointalk I could swear Binance was the safest place to keep my bitcoins. I knew nothing of cold or hot wallets. I just blindly trusted Binance to keep my bitcoins safe for me. There are many newbies in that place I was right now....believing and trusting third parties with their bitcoins.

It doesn't necessarily have to a be a hardware wallet.
Any non-custodial wallet can give you full access to your fund. It's better to use an open-source wallet on an air-gapped computer or a hardware wallet*. It can be also a paper wallet generated using a safe tool on a safe device.

I don't know how easy can the Russians buy Bitcoin nowadays if their money is locked is a bank, it may not be easy to withdraw and find a Bitcoin seller, and the fiat value decreases by the hour.
But I may be wrong, since there are also banks not banned from SWIFT which still operate in Russia.

And about the title... wasn't Bitcoin meant to make you be your own bank, no matter there's peace or war?

...Russians and Europeans alike.

• As a digital currency, Bitcoin is easy to carry around in an airgapped device or hardware wallet,
• As a borderless currency, it can be used anywhere without any international limitations,
• As a pseudo anonymous network, individuals can transact without it being linked to their real life identity,
• It is resistant to inflation, so cannot be affctd by economic sanctions directly
These factors makes it suitable for use as a Store of value or safe haven currency for economically unstable regions.

Money plays a big role in war and conflict. The sanctions are targeted at declining Russia's economy to make them seize fire. According to the Vanguard:” The UK has imposed a £50,000 limit on bank accounts held by Russian nationals in the UK), and the EU a limit of €100,000 in EU banks.”

Is Bitcoin going to be a safe heaven for Russians? International exchanges may restrict or freeze accounts of Russian users without warning. That's a possibility that's can happen with centralized exchanges. They reserve the right to ban certain users from using their platform, FIFA, formula 1 and other sports organizations have suspended Russia from participating in games. Crypto exchanges may be next.  This is the time to transfer one's bitcoins to your hardware wallet for safety.