I am fairly certain that there are Enron investors who now believe, concerning the prudence of that investment, that it wasn’t so wise to “leave that to the nerds”.  I actually know one in real life.  Land is almost always a good investment and typically one of the best hedges against inflation.  Still, I know several real estate owners who now wish they had done better due diligence as “leave(ing) that to the nerds” hasn’t worked out very well for them.

As no one has answered my original questions, I’ll frame the issue within a different narrative.

There is some national catastrophe.  I tend to think this would happen because of an act of nature, but if having it occur because of “ιnѕυrrєcтισn / gubmnt coup” helps your fantasies, go for it.  Being prudent (I was well prepared) and resourceful (“necessity is the mother of invention”) I set up shop to supply things people need to survive.  The power grid is down but I have a generator and stored fuel for a few weeks, and perhaps have developed solar, wind, perhaps even low head hydro power generation capacity on my property.  Cellular (5G wasn’t actually bad and hadn’t already wiped out the population) and land line phones are knocked out but I have ham radio.  I have chickens for eggs to sell and as the nearby factory farm mega dairy was in total collapse I picked up 10 milk cows to supply fresh milk  I actually have an old Surge portable milking system out in the shop that I used with my FFA dairy project way back in high school, so I’m set to go.  Refrigeration could be an issue if I run short of fuel for the generator or a power source.  However, we in the northern environs (eastern Washington in my case) will have cold temperatures for the next 4 -5 months.

A customer comes in with U.S. dollars (as I live in the U.S.).  Yes, there will be inflationary pressure, that will be true for any tradeable instrument or commodity).  Still, the dollar is a tradeable financial instrument that everyone recognizes and most will have some available to them to use for commerce.  I would accept U.S. dollars (and Canadian dollars, British pounds, or euros if I lived in those economies).

A customer comes in who doesn’t have many or any U.S. dollars but does have a commodity I can use, sell, or trade: dry or canned foodstuffs, coffee, alcohol, fuel, fire wood, ammo, building materials … the list could go on.  These would acceptable instruments for trade or barter and perhaps particularly useful because the traditional supply chains would be disrupted.  Being able to acquire goods locally would be a good thing.

A customer comes in with a precious metal or stone (gold, silver, diamonds, emeralds, etc.) or the representation there of.  First, they would have to arrive with the actual commodity in hand, I wouldn’t at all be open to accepting a “paper or digital certificate” that says this person “owns” an amount of said commodity and that it is safely stored “somewhere”.  I likely would have no way of verifying the legitimacy of this “certificate”, nor if I could access the “storage” place, nor if I could get the physical commodity transported to my location so I could use it.  And then, we will need to “convert the value” (i.e., gold is worth $x an ounce, a gallon of milk costs $y) and I would have to ascertain that I could easily exchange the precious metal or stone for commodities to stock the shelves of my shop.  The main advantage would be for someone who acquired the precious asset some time ago and it has experiences significant appreciation in value, i.e. a hedge against inflation.  This advantage is only realized though if they can easily convert the asset into something they can use or need.

Now, a customer comes in with their “cold wallet” of crypto.  I have absolutely NO way of verifying if this is legitimate and unless I have a “cold wallet” based on the same “crypto currency” how would I receive payment?  The same situation would be present even if the “world wide web” was still operational … how would I verify the legitimacy of someone’s “supposed asset” in a crypto vault somewhere, and how would I receive payment?  If I were foolish enough to engage in such a risky transaction how and where can I spend my crypto to restock the shelves of my shop?  I will absolutely NOT “leave that to the nerds”.

Respectfully, I don't think you understood what I was trying to say. Crypto is an INVESTMENT not a payment. People who try and tout the technology as viable for everyday payments are missing the point. The whole point is that the dollar is collapsing as we speak. The dollar is and will be worth nothing. Your money in your bank account will be worth nothing. The dollar means nothing, is backed by nothing, and is only trusted until the coming economic collapse. Converting some of that money into an asset like crypto is a way to protect yourself. Like gold and silver (not difficult to verify authenticity). Land is extremely overpriced right now and that bubble will pop too.

I also don't know what you mean that investors weren't prudent? God knows what they did, but ETH was 100$ a year and a half ago and now it's approaching 5000$. One could literally have picked any coin in the top 20 and made a great return.

Leave the talk about the technology and payment usage to the nerds. That will never happen. During a national catastrophe crypto would only be viable for huge purchases or overseas purchases. I wouldn't want to hold very much crypto at that time.

Kind of. Bitcoin is definitely controlled. The other coins don't really need to be, as they follow it when it tanks.

Good to know. Thanks. 

Crypto is no more an investment than investing in Lulumon or any other ponzi-scheme, riding the waves on it's success, but at what cost?

You all should really read the links I posted earlier.

This is like saying reaping profits off the idiocy of the tulip craze is "investing". It's not, it's just getting there before the other suckers then getting out and winning "the game."

Crypto is worthless and will fail and life will go on and no one will care about it anymore.