What’s in a sovereign person’s offline crypto wallet?

If there’s one good way to lose control of important information, it’s by keeping it digitally, with no backup. 

Hacks and leaks, data corruption or loss, and even the grid going down can make someone instantly regret storing important information digitally. 

Back in the Y2K days, when rumors were floating around that a new millennium and a devastating computer bug could go so far as to put your perfectly clean socks in the dirty laundry, maybe the public didn’t understand computers or the internet—or maybe they understood it even better than our calloused, modern internet minds do today! You thought the digital crossing over into the physical was neither here nor there…and then you saw Zuc talking about Meta. 

So, how does a good prepper navigate the modern intersection of digital and physical? Let’s find out.

A prepper considers everything

When people talk about preppers, they often mean people who store non-perishable food, stockpile survival supplies, and even weapons. They secure goods, knowledge, and skills that will make handling emergencies, disasters, attacks, and grid failure more navigable. But, being a good prepper doesn’t only mean planning for a completely unplugged life. It means preparing for anything.

Yes, the grid might go down. Yes, there may be a time of unrest in the future. Hell, a zombie apocalypse isn’t completely out of the question as far as I’m concerned. But in addition to the complete failure of modern, digital technology, there are other possibilities. Being flexible and prepared means having resources that will make your life easier in any given emergency situation, not only dystopian, back-to-Bear-Grylls-basics EMP scenarios.

In our modern and globalized society, digital technology is a necessity. In fact, it has drastically improved quality of life in so many ways that, if you really want to be prepared for anything, you should use it until you can’t.

Imagine a future where big tech continues to increase, and freedom continues to be methodically eroded, but our modern comforts stay intact. A social credit system or a sovereign state could bring an emergency situation for which jugs of water, a multitool, and other physical supplies may not serve you. That’s where digital currency comes in.

Cypherpunks philosophy

Some of the fathers of digital currency, the cypherpunks, were just the sort of people to be skeptical of centralized power and alert for loss of personal sovereignty. 

They were interested in decentralizing monetary systems, escaping the trust monopoly of the government and banks, and maintaining freedom. They foresaw a future world where technology continued to evolve and a sovereign state could and would monopolize power. They wanted a way to stop it. For decades, cryptographers like the cypherpunks worked to develop a decentralized, digital currency. They all shared several philosophical and political values.

Security and privacy

The cypherpunks wanted security. After all, the whole point of cryptography is to maintain secure, private communications. Cash is a fairly private and untraceable currency but, until the cypherpunks set their sights on digital currency, that privacy was not maintained in digital money transfers, which always required trust. The cypherpunks had the foresight to understand that secure, private payments would be necessary in a digital economy.

Individual sovereignty

Being able to maintain control over one’s own actions, movements, and transactions was also an important part of cypherpunk philosophy. Even though the Silk Road enabled criminal activity in the early days of digital currency, it demonstrated the principle of individual sovereignty that crypto upheld. If, in the future, government strictures were to cinch controls so tightly around private life that even normal people wishing to go about their business became criminals, crypto could become a safe haven. In fact, it already has for people in places like Cuba.

Decentralization

Crypto cannot be controlled by a central government because it’s inherently decentralized. The blockchain system that Bitcoin is built on was specifically designed to keep any single entity from gaining control of it. This is crucial for any prepper who seeks to hedge against a sovereign state.

Borderless assets

Beyond future safety, there are a lot of reasons to invest in crypto now. But a prepper worth his salt knows that diversifying is important. Whether distributing physical supplies in different locations, holding gold in more than one safe, or holding multiple national currencies, keeping an exit strategy for any situation is important. Crypto is borderless and can be a game changer if the need arises to get out of dodge.

If you need to go, you need to go

Nobody savors the idea of ditching the fortress and going on the lamb. But, being a prepper also means being ready for that if it becomes necessary. Digital currency that can be easily spent across borders makes traveling internationally suddenly more flexible. Waiting for bank transfers or leaving long paper trails are not the best options if you need to make yourself scarce.

Physical assets are hard to access if you’re on the move

If you store fuel in multiple states and keep an RV in your driveway, you’re probably more prepared than most for a zombie apocalypse. But if you need to travel light and you can’t get to a specific location where you may have supplies stored, digital currency is easy to access and carry with you digitally.

You can access physical assets…until you can’t

Plus, let’s say you can get to Switzerland, where you have some gold in a safe. There’s always a possibility that you won’t be able to get it out. It could be stolen, you could be blocked or traced, or maybe you simply can’t liquidate an asset you have. If a real crisis situation comes, chances are you won’t maintain access to all of your assets. That’s the whole point of diversifying. The possibility that the grid could go down should not eliminate digital currency as a diversification option.

How to physically diversify digital assets

Here’s another scenario: you’re temporarily unable to access your digital assets, but not permanently. If you have diversified and created physical backups, you’ll be in good shape if your computer or server gets compromised. 

Ensure liquidity

If you have more than one digital currency, getting to some when you need it will be easier and likely take fewer transactions. Holding some BTC, ETH, and a few stablecoins can smooth the transaction process if, for some reason, there’s high traffic on one network or your funds are taking time to withdraw. It’s also worth thinking about how to allocate your crypto portfolio.

Have multiple wallets

Just like having multiple fiat currencies diversifies denominations and multiple bank accounts diversify access, consider doing the same with your crypto holdings. If you have a few different piles of digital currency in a couple of different wallets, there are more points of failure. You could have a digital hot wallet, a hardware wallet, and even a paper wallet, all stored in different locations.

Make physical backups

Even if you don’t have your crypto in a paper wallet, you can make physical backups of your passwords and seed phrases, just in case you lose the digital versions. These could be stored in multiple places like a safe in your home, a SDB in a bank or, in a special hole you dug in the woods by that one knot that’s been there since you were a kid. Just make sure you keep track of where and how you store your various assets, wallets, and passwords.

Summary

Just because the grid may go down doesn’t mean it will happen right now. 

A prepper who adds crypto to the array of safety strategies for the future has more diversification and security than one who does not. Already, as you read this, there are worrying things happening in geopolitics and the economy. We currently still have access to the internet and all of our digital technologies. If you want to be as secure as possible in the future, consider all futures, not just the ones that send humanity offline. 

What are some of your prepper tips and suggestions?