Out of the hands of politicians and bankers and right into the hands of a script kiddie when the box that stores your wallet - be it locally or an exchange - gets hijacked and your wallet depleted.  Or where nobody can get to it after you suffer catastrophic data-loss and you can&#x27;t get to your wallet anymore.<p>If you want a hedge against a catastrophic collapse of the dollar (or whatever your local currency happens to be), there are innumerable other, better alternatives.<p>Besides, if there was such a collapse, who&#x27;s to say that Bitcoin won&#x27;t get dragged down with it?  After all, more than likely you&#x27;re using bitcoins to buy things that cost dollars.