Doomsday preppers in North America are turning their attention to bitcoin instead of gold bars and coins as they prepare for the collapse of civilisation.
One prepper is Wendy McElroy. Speaking to Bloomberg on Monday, she said:
I consider bitcoin to be a currency on the same level as gold. It allows individuals to become self-bankers. When I fully understood the concepts and their significance, bitcoin became a fascination.
Since the beginning of the year, bitcoin’s value has increased eight-fold. Trading at $8,200, with a market cap worth 136.9 billion it is grabbing the attention of countless communities. One of which are the doomsday preppers. Interestingly, as Bloomberg reports, it wasn’t too long ago that they were warning against investing in the crypto market.
Tom Martin, a truck driver from Washington, who runs the American Preppers Network website, said:
Now they’re all investing in it. As long as the grid stays up, people will keep using bitcoin.
In addition to investing in gold, silver and stocks, Martin invests in bitcoin, litecoin and steem. Martin is among those who believe that the digital currency will be able to survive a blackout through the blockchain. This is compared to a possible breakdown of the U.S. dollar if it were to collapse.
Yet, despite this evident interest in the cryptocurrency, many critics don’t have the same enthusiasm.
Earlier this month, Frederic Oudea, the CEO of French multinational financial company Societe Generale, said that bitcoin had no future due to its anonymity. At the time, he stated:
I can’t see a future of this when I see the attention played by all governments and regulators on anti-money laundering, on anti-tax evasion, on anti-terrorism financing. The anonymity of the transaction is a problem I think which would put pressure on bitcoin.
Whereas, James Gorman, CEO of Morgan Stanley, said last week that anyone who believes that the cryptocurrency is a stable investment is ‘deluding themselves.’ He said:
Something that goes up 700 percent in a year — it’s by definition speculative. So anybody who thinks they’re buying something that it’s a stable investment is deluding themselves.
His comments are in stark contrast to what he previously said about bitcoin in September. Then, he was reported as saying that it was something ‘more than just a fad.’
However, with doomsday preppers turning their attention to alternative means of surviving should the world collapse, bitcoin is quickly becoming a viable choice for them.
Featured image from Shutterstock.