However, there was a problem. Like many wealthy Russians, he had full-time armed bodyguards and kept U.S. dollars in his apartment for large transactions like buying a car or property, or to pay bribes to stay in business. The mini-garch had $7 million in cash and no way to get it out of the apartment, let alone the country, by the end of the week. Three police cars sat guard 24 hours a day in front of his building, a guard was at the door of the apartment and at least one followed him wherever he went.
My friend arranged for two western Europeans to fly to Moscow the next day. They met at the mini-garch’s apartment. The two men arrived in slim-fitting black suits with white shirts, monochromatic black ties and awesome shoes.1 Each brought a thin black leather briefcase. No change of clothes. No extra luggage. They did not book hotel rooms. They ate their meals in the apartment. They spent 44 hours in the apartment and then were driven directly back to Sheremetyevo airport, one of the two commercial international airports in Moscow. Nothing was left behind and nothing was taken. Soon after, the mini-garch, accompanied by my friend and body guards, left the building. The mini-garch tapped one of the police car windows with a toothbrush and said, “Gotov, poyekhali,” which means, “I’m ready, let’s go.” He got into his Mercedes G-wagon, without any luggage, and was driven to Domodedovo airport, the other commercial international airport and left Russia. Two of the police cars escorted him to the airport. The third car stayed and the officers got out of their car and walked into the apartment building and I assume they went right to the mini-garch’s apartment. That much money has a distinct smell, it smells like vomit from being handled so many times. I am sure they could smell the money that had been in the apartment. They likely searched for it, but I know that they did not find it. It was not in the walls. It was not in the furniture. It was not below the floorboards. It was not on the roof and it had not been thrown out of a window. It was gone.
Conclusion
As a reminder, I tell these three stories to demonstrate why “North Americans just don’t understand.” The first story is an example of life in a country where the government-controlled currency cannot be trusted. We have no concept of that here in North America with our access to the almighty dollar that serves as the world’s reserve currency, but try to imagine how unsettling it would be without that stability.
The second story serves as an example of living in a society where banks cannot be trusted and where FDIC insurance does not exist. Saving money is disincentivized because you cannot safely store it. Not having a safe store of value means that retaining liquidity has a massive effect on both daily life and long-term planning. The government has the ability to control its population if the people do not have a backstop of savings. Bitcoin creates a trustless ability to save and move money.
The last story emphasizes the difficulty of not being able to store value, while also limiting the ability to flee quickly with your assets. These issues are taken for granted by North Americans, but are common concerns in many other countries. Gold can be used to solve some of these problems, but not all. It is cumbersome to move, buy and sell, and it is not easily divisible.
Bitcoin solves all of these problems. You can store your wealth easily without reliance on a third party. You can move easily around the world with it, without having to transport something tangible. You can divide it without damaging the remaining amount and you can spend it or convert it into fiat currency with the push of a button. All without having to physically carry it anywhere. There is no trying to carry a sack of gold onto a plane, no hiding it in a false-bottom suitcase, no burying it in the backyard, no going to a gold dealer to try to sell it.
I hope you enjoyed these stories. What happened to the $7 million? The solution came by way of ingenious out-of-the-box thinking, which has helped guide my approach to problem solving. No one I have told this story to has guessed the answer. If you have a guess, please reach out to me because I would love to finish the story for you.
Endnote
1 I mention awesome shoes, as the customs officials, usually older women, at Moscow airports, are trained to look at arriving passengers’ shoes to see if they match those wearing an expensive watch. If the shoes are subpar, the officials assume that the person has been paid to bring the watch to Moscow without paying the tax on new goods. The box and paperwork would be carried by someone else.
This is a guest post by Daniel Feldman . Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.