Charlie Shrem, an early adopter of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, is of the view that fiat money is not cushioned against a nuclear bomb attack while Bitcoin is capable of being the last one standing in case such an event happens.
Bank Balances Are Meaningless
Shrem indicated that the physical nature of fiat money is its greatest weakness making it “susceptible to being incinerated in the nuclear fireballs.”
Banks will be completely reduced to ashes and:
“Bank balances would suddenly become meaningless. No one would be able to go to the bank ATM to get their cash since the banks would stop operating the day the first bombs detonate.”
Shrem takes refuge in the decentralization of Bitcoin noting that in case a nuclear war occurs, only “one node running Bitcoin” is required to continue supporting Bitcoin transactions. And with nodes dotted across the globe, it will be close to impossible to have them all destroyed in the event a nuclear bomb detonates across the world.
With some traditional finance experts predicting that Bitcoin has no intrinsic value and is doomed to fail, Shrem reminds them that unlike fiat money, “Bitcoin’s decentralization also makes it impervious to an economic calamity that would ensue from a nuclear war.”
He added that a total shutdown of telecommunications infrastructure would not be enough to bring Bitcoin down.
Even with such strong support for Bitcoin, Shrem has in the past been jailed for helping alleged drug dealers transact Bitcoin’s at an exchange which Shrem founded back in 2011. The exchange, Bitinstant, has since been closed.
Last year, the founders of the Gemini crypto exchange, went to court alleging Shrem defrauded them in 2012. They argued that:
“Either Shrem has been incredibly lucky and successful since leaving prison, or – more likely – he ‘acquired’ his six properties, two Maseratis, two powerboats and other holdings with the appreciated value of the 5,000 Bitcoin he stole”
Although Shrem’s analogy drives the point home, Bitcoin or fiat money would be the last thing that people would consider after a nuclear bomb detonates – if there would be human life afterward.
