Financial freedom. The ability to store and transfer value without asking for help from a middleman or permission from an authority.
This above. Exactly.I was a follower of Peter Schiff for many years and I was listening to his warnings of where things were headed in 2006-2007.
A couple of weeks before the banking crisis in 2008 I decided that I wanted to withdraw a decent chunk of my bank balance, to keep as cash in a safety deposit box, instead of on the bank account.
I felt that in a banking crisis the most likely scenario would be that the government (and banks) would simply put a limit on withdrawals to avoid a total collapse, (which proved to be true in Cyprus recently).
Anyway, as I requested the withdrawal, (and gave the 5-day notice that my bank requests), they pretty much refused to allow me to withdraw my own money from my own account!
I was infuriated!
They were not only asking questions as to
why I would need that sort of money, since it was a "larger than normal" withdrawal, (which I explained with the truth, that I was concerned about a bank run), but they also said:
"
We no longer deal with larger cash transactions. Anything over a couple of thousand is very suspicious and we will need to report you to the financial authorities for even asking to do this withdrawal."
In the end I got my money out, (after numerous angry phone calls to two managers, and several days waiting beyond the normal 5 days), but not only did I have to pay a hefty fee of 2% but they made me feel like a criminal for even asking to withdraw my own money!
After that experience, (and a couple of other bad experiences) I have always been interested in alternatives to the banks. Then a few years later I learned about Bitcoin.
If you don't yet know how the banking system really works, go and watch this video right now! http://youtu.be/jqvKjsIxT_8