A couple of days ago when I saw that news, I was slurping my instant noodles. Iran has threatened to cut six international cables under the Strait of Hormuz, which accounts for 37% of global internet traffic, and they can just cut it off.
I'm not just saying this, my chopsticks really almost fell into the bowl.
Why such a big reaction? Last year I did a cross-border settlement, and when the situation in the Middle East tightened, it was like the banking system froze, and the funds were stuck for almost a month. Customers called me every day cursing, and the suppliers were pushing for the final payment to the point where my scalp was tingling. I was caught in the middle and almost vomited blood. At that time, I thought, this broken system can just collapse, and our lives as small business owners are all in the hands of others, why should we?
Now even undersea cables could be blown up, what else is impossible?
I started pondering a very realistic question: if communication is cut off, the bank collapses, what can I rely on to prove my assets, contracts, and identification on my phone? What can I use to prove 'I am me'?
A friend mentioned to me before @SignOfficial , talking about full-chain verification and offline validation. To be honest, those technical terms made my head hurt, and I never took them seriously. This time I was stimulated by the news and forced myself to read white papers for an afternoon. I didn't fully understand the technical architecture, but I repeatedly read one sentence: it can anchor identity, assets, and contracts on the chain, and even without a network, as long as the phone has power, it can prove who you are and what you have.
This is no longer a science fiction movie; the UAE has already started testing offline payments.
I suddenly understood what an old player said before: in such chaotic times, what you buy is not currency, but insurance.
I used to buy currencies, looking at candlestick charts, narratives, and who was making calls. But this time is different. I am really scared. Scared that one day the bank suddenly closes, scared that transfers get stuck in sanction reviews, scared that if the network goes down, everything I have will turn into a pile of useless numbers.
@SignOfficial This set of things, to put it bluntly, is to find an outlet for those who are 'afraid'.
I know some people will say that geopolitical conflicts are far from you. But if you watch the news, the oil transportation volume in the Strait of Hormuz has already dropped sharply, and Meta's undersea cable project has been suspended due to 'force majeure'. This is not a story far away; this is happening.
So I simply don’t want to think about short-term fluctuations anymore. Just treat it as buying insurance. Just like when you buy car insurance or critical illness insurance, you don’t expect to use it immediately, but when something really happens, it can save your life.
I took a little spare money and bought some $SIGN in batches. Not much, just enough for me to sleep soundly.
A friend asked me if I was trapped, and I said no, I’m just buying myself some peace of mind. In case the network is really cut off or the bank shuts down one day, at least I still have a blockchain identification and an asset certificate that can be used. No matter how you count it, it’s not a loss.#Sign地缘政治基建 