“What if the grid goes down? Your crypto will be worthless!”

For a time, I saw this argument almost twice a day.

If you say it, people will nod and say, “Yeah! What happens then?”

And yet…

I’ve only met one guy whose entire investment portfolio is guided by this philosophy.

He drives Uber in North Carolina. When I lived there, I would call him up whenever I needed a ride.

The more we talked, the more he would tell me about this life. He lived in a trailer at the top of a mountain. He has enough guns to support a small army. He has enough food to last him eight months.

He doesn’t own a single stock. Why?

“What if the grid goes down? Your stocks will be worthless!”

He takes that argument to its logical end:

Anything digital is worthless.

If the grid goes down for a prolonged period of time, everything except food, water, guns, bullets, honey, coffee, booze, boots, cigarettes, and warm socks are worthless.

My argument to him:

Those will only get you so far, though.

Eventually, you’ll run out. Who’s making them?

Historically speaking, your best bet is to escape to some place where things aren’t as chaotic.

These 12 Words Could Save Your Life

For the record, you or I will (probably) never be in a position where we need to worry about this…

But if you do, you’re probably going to want to own a little crypto.

Obviously…

In disaster, those with the ability to easily transfer some form of wealth and start a new life somewhere less chaotic do better.

But when you’re forced to flee, what can you take?

You can’t take your land. Good luck lugging your gold. See how far you get with those Rolexes and collectible art.

At least with crypto, you can take 12 simple words (your seed phrase that unlocks your wallet), migrate to a different place with a functioning grid, and have a much better chance of starting a new life.

You could hide those 12 words anywhere. You can sew it into your jeans. You can get it printed in the interior of your socks. You can create a memory palace and store your crypto in your brain.

You can get creative.

The odds that a grid-down scenario in one place means everyone is without power is low.

But if your country’s grid goes down, good luck getting your money out. It’s limited to your borders.

Blockchain is distributed across the world and your bank’s records are located in a centralized data center, one major breach away from being deleted.

It’s Already Happening

Many who’ve experienced disaster in the past decade understand first hand.

Years ago, Venezuelans turned to crypto to preserve their savings during a nasty bout of hyperinflation.

Those who had Bitcoin did much better than those without it.

In Syria, refugees embraced crypto to move their money elsewhere.

In Lebanon, we saw a massive uptick in people embracing crypto during the economic crisis.

Ukrainians didn’t clutch their stocks when disaster hit. Some had crypto and moved to a crypto-friendly place.

Imagine their worst fear came true: Russia had succeeded with a total invasion of Ukraine.

Despite the volatility, crypto would’ve been the best asset a refugee could take with them, everything else blocked or confiscated.

And, no less…

Organizations worldwide used crypto to send financial aid and donations to Ukraine (mostly USDC on the Ethereum blockchain) because it was faster, easier, and more direct.

There’s also the “nerdy” stuff like..

Starlink. Offline transactions. Mesh networks. Inherent redundancy. Antifragility.

In my mind…

Not owning any crypto is riskier than having at least a little.

If crap hits the fan and your crypto is worthless all across the entire world…

It’s not going to be time to hug your gold.

It’ll be time to squeeze your knees and pray.