The coronavirus outbreak has so far treated the Bitcoin price in the same way it has treated almost every other stock and commodity in recent weeks, but it may be about to do Bitcoin a massive favor fundamentally, as people report banks placing limits on how much of their own money they can withdraw.
Panicked Account Holders Realize a Painful Fact
The panic that has seen supermarket shelves stripped bare and fights over the last toilet roll has now extended to the banks, where people are allegedly queuing up outside ATMs in order to withdraw cash, fearing branch closures or worse, bank runs.
In response, banks have started to run out of $100 bills – the kind, by the way, that are very effective at passing on coronavirus. This has led in some cases to banks placing restrictions on how much people can withdraw:
My bank limited me from withdrawing cash, informed me that they are running low due to many requests & that I could only take out $500.
— Carson Ford (Hedge) (@TheCryptoHedge) March 18, 2020
It goes without saying that you should by rights be able to withdraw any and all money you have in your account seeing as it is, you know, yours, but banks have limits in place to prevent themselves going out of business no matter how much you might shout and scream that it’s your money.
Bitcoin Lets You be Your Own Bank
For obvious reasons, a bank places its survival above you accessing your money whenever you want, which is a problem Bitcoin doesn’t have. Bitcoin lets you be your own bank, which has the advantages of you being able to do whatever you want with your money whenever you want. While others are waiting in line hoping the cash machine hasn’t run out of bills, you can convert your Bitcoin to cash with a few clicks of a mouse, and avoid contracting coronavirus at the same time.
Critics may argue that Bitcoin has dropped 50% in a week and can’t be relied upon, but what’s better – being able to access all of your money that has just gone down in value, or only being able to access a percentage of your money that is still worth the same?
Bitcoin is not perfect, but in these unknown times, when banks can get the jitters and shut up shop or place limits on what you can do with your own money, suddenly the fundamental principles of what money actually is become very important indeed.
