Your Bank Shouldn't Get to Decide Whether Your Politics Are Acceptable
A new report from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) , a U.S. government agency with banking oversight, found that nine of the largest banks in the US had policies that denied or limited access to certain Americans “because of their political or religious beliefs.”
The nine banks with these policies were: JPMorgan Chase Bank, Bank of America, Citibank, Wells Fargo Bank, U.S. Bank, Capital One, PNC Bank, TD Bank, and BMO Bank. These nine banks also restricted access to businesses involved in oil and gas exploration, coal mining, firearms and ammunition, detention facilities, tobacco and cryptocurrency businesses themselves.
This is yet another example of how the cryptocurrency industry can prevent this kind of discrimination: there is no centralized company or person that can debank people simply for their political beliefs. Unlike a traditional bank account, a self-custodied Bitcoin wallet does not require approval from a bank, its executives, or its compliance department. The network operates through decentralized participants rather than the discretion of a single financial institution. No one can block you from mining Bitcoin, receiving BTC or ETH or another cryptocurrency to your self-custody wallet or sending a cryptocurrency to another self-custody wallet or using a decentralized/noncustodial P2P marketplace to exchange traditional fiat currency for cryptocurrency.
Every political minority and every business involved in a “controversial” industry in the US or any country in the world should have at least some of their wealth in cryptocurrency in a self-custody wallet to help avoid these situations. Financial freedom should not depend on having the right politics, practicing the right religion, or operating a business that happens to be popular with the people controlling the banking system.
Cryptocurrency is more than a financial asset or an alternative payment system. It offers individuals a way to retain financial independence when centralized institutions deny them access to financial services.
See more on my Substack here: https://substack.com/home/post/p-220570067
