Authorities Hijack $82,373 Life Savings At The Airport For No Reason! Is This Why Bitcoin?

A newly filed class-action lawsuit in federal court in Pennsylvania shows why Bitcoin’s existence as censorship-resistant money will continue to gain increased significance.

According to Seattletimes report, 79-year old Terry Rolin stacked his life savings in a Tupperware container and handed it over to his daughter Rebecca Brown in late August last year for the purpose of opening a joint account in a bank.

Rolin’s motive clearly was to prevent himself from having so much cash at hand, and while the daughter understood this, she couldn’t help but carry the money with her on board a flight via Pittsburgh airport the next day after running out of time to leave it with a bank.

Rebecca noted that she had confirmed from a government website before that it was legal to carry any amount of cash on a domestic flight. To her utmost surprise, however, a Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent that met her at the busy gate insisted on confirming via phone details about the funds with Rolin who according to Rebecca is suffering from a mental decline.

The Result?

“He just handed me the phone and said, ‘Your stories don’t match. We’re seizing the cash.’,” Rebecca recalls the agent telling her.

So the funds were, of course, turned over to the authorities even though neither Rebecca or Rolin didn’t have any criminal records that could have raised suspicions. Neither were there contraband items found with her that could have resulted in any charges.

The lawsuit with Rebecca and her father who is a retiree filed Wednesday is seeking the return of Rolin’s life savings and also an injunction against the DEA’s practice.

Why Bitcoin?

Evidently, the variable surrounding the DEA’s seizure of Rolin’s savings highlights the different properties of bitcoin, which enthusiasts strongly believe will reach mass adoption soon.

For one thing, the fact that no physical representation of bitcoin exists means that it is more mobile than cash, and will most likely never be flagged irrespective of the amount held either on a mobile, paper or hardware wallet.

Bitcoins can also be moved across borders without any third-party such as government or authorities required to verify transactions or delay the process with unnecessary paperwork that has now been transferred to the blockchain.

Interestingly, while commenting on why Rolin had decided to keep his savings in cash, Rebecca had noted that her grandparents through the bank run of the Great Depression, and her father adopted the habit as a way to secure his money.

Transferring that narrative to Bitcoin’s mission of serving as a universal store of value (SoV) during an economic crisis, one might argue that Rolin’s $82,373 life savings will certainly be worth more if it was in bitcoin.

Now 79-year old Rolin has reportedly been unable to get treatment for painful tooth decay and gum disease. At the same time, his only means of transportation: a pickup truck, which needs fixing has remained in the garage since the incident.

Could Bitcoin fix this?