Bitcoin Forum

A recent situation in my country where the banks have been instructed to block accounts related/associated with crypto trading has prompted me to start thinking if these banks are actually happy carrying out government policies against their customers, because some of them seem not too happy about it but look to have little or no choice on the matter.

Can the banks challenge the policies from the government? Are the banks working for the people or the government? is there any possibility that banks can operate freely entirely from government policies?

(Read news article here (https://www.google.com/amp/s/cointelegraph.com/news/nigeria-s-central-bank-reportedly-freezes-crypto-traders-accounts/amp/))

The banking system and governments are closely related, so don't expect banks to go against government policies, and the bigger they are, the less likely it is.

They have common interests: at first neither governments nor traditional banks liked Bitcoin. Now they still don't like it, but they have had to accept it because they have realized that there was no way to stop it, which doesn't mean that they will try to trip it up as soon as they can.

Bank is an agency of the government and as an agency like other government agencies can not go against the government. They have a boss worker relationship or employer and employee relationship sort of. The government has direct control on the Apex bank generally known as the central bank. The centre bank is the bank that houses the financial policies of the government and the centre bank throws it down to the banks which is known as the commercial banks that then deals directly with the people. Looking at the analysis then you understand that the commercial banks are to carry out directives from central bank.

There are measures to ensure that the commercial banks carry out the policies out and one of the way is to revoke the license of the bank from operating. The government can shut down the bank or look for means to merger and take the bank CEOs out.

No, I don't think they can. As others have said, Banks and the government have a pretty close-knit relationship and most of what the banks could do is pretty much what the government sets or allows. Plus I hadly doubt there's any banks that are against the banning of crypto since crypto itself gives the user themselves the ability to become their own personal bank. Ofc some part of the population would still probably rely on them, but they wouldn't have complete monopoly unlike then.

No company can challenge the government. They'll have to do whatever the gov asks from them. If they don't comply, the gov can punish them. What other choice they got? Banks are no exceptions in this situation. If they cannot operate under the current rules, they can sell their business to someone else and do something else instead.

Why would Banks want to work against the "hand" that protects them? The government used tax payers money to bailout the Banks, when they nearly collapsed.. and these Banks know that.

The Reserve Banks manipulate interest rates to favor Banks and they print the money that generate income from fees for the Banks. So there are zero chance that any Banks will ever go against the will of their governments.  ::)

The banks can change their regulations because of government forcing because the banks are under the government. It is hard for the bank to go against the government, but if inside the banks have an honest official who wants to give the best services to their customers, an honest official can protest the government. But still, they are not too strong against the government, especially if they are not too big to compare to the government who wants to use the old way.

I am not sure if the banks can operate freely entirely from the government because if the banks are still under the government, that will be impossible to get that.

There's no emotion attached to these banks if they're just following the orders of the government. They'll mind more of their business than the area of some of their customers.
AFAIK, it's always the banks are coordinated with the bank, with the central bank and it is with the government. So whatever mandate they disseminate to the banks that they're monitoring, they can't do anything with that if the order if from the top of the body of the government.

Anyone with a half-decent brain knows for a fact that banks and their governments work closely together for mutual benefits. Why on earth would they work against each other pointlessly op?

Banks have, are and shall always work for the government primarily. They do challenge government policies rarely. BTC was developed to take some power away from banks and governments and transfer it to the people.

The bank can simply obey what is lawful/moral and use the fundamental rights/law to challenge the order in a good court.

If a government has good reason for requesting that, that should be applicable to those for whom the order were made... Like terrorists, those seriously misusing/abusing True Cryptocurrency, those harming people/society with their activities. The right of the innocent is always protected. You make laws without compromising these rights

*The purpose of law is to guide us to do what is right not to prevent us from doing what is right.

that's the reality of life here. traditional banking system and government go hand in hand. if in case banks will challenge the government, they will always come to an agreement and work towards one goal.
so yes, don't think they will be fighting with each other because as much as possible they want to get money as much as they can from its people. this is why traditional banking will always be there. they are like the lifeblood of the government and very important for the economy of every nation.

I think it depends on a country and the banks. If it's the central bank, it's likely to have a lot of authority. In many countries, crypto guidelines issued by the central bank actually serve instead of the legislation on cryptos, so the central bank can form a policy. Even in this article about Nigeria, it's the central bank that ordered others to freeze accounts.
If it's a democracy, and we're talking about one of the most popular commercial banks in the country, it might publicly oppose the decision of the authorities and express concerns over the interests of their customers. Honestly, I don't know what's the situation in Nigeria in terms of democracy, corruption and financial freedom.

A bank  operating freely from government policies? Thats basically what crypto is for... But to answer your question, no, no that is not at all possible. The banks have to do as their government tells them. Of course they would not be happy to block accounts of their own customers because that means spending more money doing so and also having unhappy clients who are getting mad at them for doing so.

Its a loss for the banks.

Banks is a financial institution whos regulations and laws are dictated and controlled from the government, so it's more like banks are working for government and they're related with each other.
And certainly not, banks can't really deviate or depart from an established agreement or law from the government. If banks suddenly change its course to operate freely away from government, it would literally mean termination.

If this is to any relation to my country Nigeria the law was given by the federal government which cannot be out ride, if any banks say otherwise they have to face the law which I don't think they are in any way ready for.

If I'm not mistaking you are from Nigeria and I have some friends there, all my Nigerian friends are into crypto and bitcoin at a different level so I guess many people are into crypto there, when this huge amount of people are active in this field that's not surprising to see the government is tracking the transaction of these people especially for a government like Nigeria where fiat currency is not valuable as the USA or another strong nation. I guess what they do is very much normal and this happens in another country where there are many crypto holders and investors.

this is an impossibility because the bank is already connected and is already under government regulation, so it is impossible for a bank to be able to oppose the government in any form.
their relationship is already very unlikely to be separated in this case once they have dominated it will be increasingly difficult in the counter step.
it would be possible if you could maybe walk away from there and stay in crypto or indeed leave crypto and join the projects that governments and banks are doing.

This question is not at all making any sense to me because banks are just the representation of government financial activity and how you could expect them to be working for people? Definitely banks are working for government and it will make profit for governments by basically lending to people.

I am not seeing any possibilities (even private sector banks) to be operating entirely free from government policies and regulations.

Moreover, for the exact purposes as per you have asked here, we got decentralized banking system in the name of bitcoins. It is definitely free from all government policies and all kind of regulations but only when people are looking for all their activities in crypto space in the decentralized way.

Pretty sure they are happy to carry out any directives mandated by the government. The banks and the governments are practically buddies; without the government's protection on some matters, the banks won't make any profit and thus will likely not operate for long. Even if they might hate some orders by the government, chances are they are still profiting a lot because the government protects their interests. It's just a two-way street between these two entities, and on this relationship, the banks are at a disadvantage since the government can practically do everything and can exist even without the banks while this cannot be said on the banks.

Banks, and especially state ones, in their activities strictly adhere to the norms of the instructions developed for them. These instructions are developed by the Central Bank of the country and the Government. And these structures are already guided by special laws adopted by the legislative body. Therefore, there cannot even be a dilemma: who do the banks serve, the people or the government. Any government is supposed to serve the people. Therefore, banks cannot make the least independent decision. All their powers are clearly laid down in the corresponding instructions. If, nevertheless, a question arises that is not regulated by the instruction, the bank must suspend the decision and seek clarification from the Central Bank.
The banking system is very rigidly centralized and there is no place for an independent solution.

The banks serves the people, but even at that they still have to take orders from the government and they have no choice in a situation like this. If the government should instruct them to close the bank accounts of users who are trading cryptocurrencies, then they are going to do that.

But, I think it is up to you as a crypto trader to be careful how you trade and use cryptocurrency so that they wouldn’t be able to find out. Because for them to be able to find, you must have done something that would lead to them finding out. If you’re simply making use of peer-to-peer methods/decentralized exchanges, then they wouldn’t find out that you’re trading crypto. You have to learn to keep your tracks clean.

This is exactly the 'control' the government likes and we have incessantly been talking about it, Governments want establishments, industries, financial institutions like banks, its citizens, etc to answer to them, that's the very reason why they remain unfriendly to Bitcoin cause they can't control it, stop it from working or make their citizens go through them to get it, that's why they continue to impose regulations/restrictions and sanctions like blocking accounts related to dex crypto transaction. I'm afraid the bank can't do anything about this, they have to follow instructions laid down by the government, that's why they are a centralized service, just the same way centralized exchanges have to answer to the government and follow their instructions in some situations as well.

In my understanding also, bitcoin was developed for getting people a problem-free banking experience. This way our human race must be entering into something complete new world financially which has been never experienced before in the history of human beings.

I agree the purpose of Bitcoin will get fade away when we are ready to clear KYC for the reason of availing centralized services even for cryptocurrency related service or products. I am sure people will slowly understand the purpose of being anonymous for their freedom purposes at least in near future.

And why would they challenge the government?

That would be biting the hand that feeds them. Remember that the government is who gives them funding and cheap credit for them to be profitable in the first place.

To answer your question, no. There isn't a way for fiat banks to oppose governmental rulings, because they are regulated by exactly the government.

The central bank is controlled by the government and even if you have a central bank governor who is talking back to the government about their vision, he will be replaced in no time and they will appoint someone who could dance to the tune of the government. There are ways to overcome these restrictions but i am not sure about how equipped the legal system is to monitor every transaction, so i am not going to make a comment on that aspect.

Banks fund nobel prizes, organizations like the IMF (international monetary fund) and media publications like the economist. They are more active in societal and political spheres than some might realize.

Cryptocurrencies and banks may end up being rivals and competitors like coke and pepsi, intel and AMD. It could be difficult if not impossible for banks to win if it is true that more than 4 billion of the global population is an unbanked demographic. Near to 50% of people in the world can't qualify for a bank account and have no alternatives to cryptocurrencies.

There are also alternatives to linking crypto to bank accounts, such as localbitcoins.

I think that they are secretly happy about this, even though to the clients they obviously have to appear as if they are forced against their will to do this.

It's simple. Crypto and DeFi pose a real risk to traditional finance, and right now, regulation is working in the favor of these banks.


Well, technically they could. But why would they risk their relationship with the government for their clients?

To answer your last question - that is why DeFi exists and why it's important that we continue to spread this message.

No one seems to want to risk daring this present government of Mohammad Buhari for fear of victimization. The few speaking out, aren't in the government and when they do speak out they're either termed opposition or wailers or embittered for speaking truth to power. It's really a sad one in Nigeria where those in authority act like demigods and above the law. They choose what laws to obey and what not to obey. This is a government that has made it irredeemably difficult getting employment for people but frown at people going into cryptos to put food on the table for themselves. I'm of the opinion that the leadership of the country simply wants to keep its citizens perpetually poor and out of school for a simple reason that they may easily oppress them. Below is an excerpt from one of the banks in Nigeria to its customers. It's a warning not to indulge in cryptocurrencies.

https://i.imgur.com/XRtQa3i.jpg

We only see what we want to see. The other side is never explored, what leads to such decisions is often important to be understood, major reasons being money laundering. Although Nigerian Banks have their own reasons to launch their own cryptocurrency, this should not be taken as a representation of the rest of the banks in this world, after all not every country and policy is represented by a single country.

Banks have to follow what the government tells them to do. Banks cannot run completely autonomously.

Any institution runs only for itself. They change their stance depending on which one keeps them safe and running. So if needed they may run with the government, which is usually the case.

No. They have to run on the land and they have to follow the law of the land is the broad explanation.

No it is not normal or to say very normal. How can it be normal to ban people trying to survive legitimately. To start with too, the world is growing and becoming a global village, the digital space and cryptocreency is taking the financial system to another level and a country is trying to pull her growth down and decreasing her GDP because when people create wealth from cryptocurrency they can support their families, give aids financial support for smaller business owners in the family .

Nigeria is not anti progress (or an Islamic country) if not this recent attitude from the present administration that is running a second term of 4 years, the government has been on rampage with anything to do with public benefit including the ban on Twitter while the minister was caught using VPN to access same twitter they ban. This is just a  government that is not progressive with the youths, social amenities, jobs and security are lacking so what is the option ?

It is not normal to do that while some countries are adopting bitcoin already. And looking at the government decision with keen thought, almost all Islamic countries are not friendly with cryptocurrency, social media and public freedom.
We can't say what all the effort of this government is anyway.

That's the hard part of being in the banking industry. That's why they always say cryptocurrencies will vanish them but we all know it should not be that way. It's the government that needs the tweaking to adjust the financial industry especially in this times. Pandemic.
Why should they be the wall in the upcoming future? Tax!
They don't want people making money and leaving them behind not having part of what they make. While banks will like the money flowing for it to be invested and make more.

Banks are part of the government. When banks were asked to follow government policies, there is no option to go against it. But, there'll be always an alternate way available for the same. I've experienced it in my country. Earlier in my country a situation prevailed with banks to stop/block services for cryptocurrency activities. By that time I used to use the banking services through the alternate way termed hawala transactions.

I think Nigeria moves exactly around a year behind India, a year ago Indian banks too had a similar stance on cryptocurrencies, they were banning the bank accounts which did such transactions but now they have changed their stance altogether, with an increase in the number of users and elections coming in next year, they have softened their stance towards cryptocurrencies and now they have thought of just regulating the cryptocurrency, I think you people too should just wait for things to settle and ultimately the government would legalize it as they wouldn't have any other option considering the number of users.

Even if they can but they will think again about doing this because the risk is very big, apart from they will indirectly break the ties that have been neatly intertwined with the government, they must also be very clear that it will not be possible to be funded again if they want to oppose the policies of the government. this government and it is going to be a big loss for the banks if they do that.
it will be easier if they obey and follow what the government instructs them to do.
Surely they will not want to take risks with something like this because the profits are very small for them compared to the losses they get.

They can, but they won't, because to work in cooperation with the government is always profitable for them. And even though someone influent inside a national bank challenged a government's decision, this person would be instantly replaced by someone else aligned with the government's policies.

Of course banks are working for the government and for their own personal benefit. What the people want isn't important for them, that is a secondary matter.

Banks can't operate freely, because every countries have regulations which force the banks to adapt to them. The problem is when the country abuses these regulations in order to limit citizens' individual rights and to increase taxes abusively. In this case the best thing to do is to move yourself to a foreigner decent country faster as possible to live worthily.

Banks work for themselves and no one else, if they are mad about this then this is not because they want to side with their clients against the policies mandated by the government, they just want to obtain profits with this market as well, and personally I do not see anything wrong with that, I have always thought that you can more easily convince someone by appealing to their self-interests than by appealing to some kind of ideology, so if banks see their financial situation being affected substantially by this they will eventually move their influence to stop it.

I think we shared the same government, the nigerian government has a finance and economy functioning body and that's the central bank of Nigeria, and they have made it that banks are dependent on this body, which I don't think is right, some of nigerian Bank can even be bigger than the central bank if given the chance to be dependent, I know some bankers who are into crypto-currency and supports it, but for their dependency has to carry this out, that is why the government are also fighting online banking, like that of Kuda.

I'm not quite sure about this because even the private banks have been operating under the policy of the government here in my country.
But, one thing is for sure these banks can actually contest the policy If they think it's not necessary to do such thing that could potentially help their business grow.
The government would always control everything especially that those involves money.

government is biggest, and its bigger than bank. bank created by government, and when the bank created by person, they need permission from the number one, holding and make rule for that person.


they need access and permission from related parties if needed. and yeah, bank can reject if it not important.

Banks are working under their respective central banks so they can't over rule any policy made by the central bank but in some countries central banks can set their own policies apart from government regulations and also it applies to the banks as well. So banks can't change anything when their government doesn't want their people to do in their country. But banks are working for rich so no matters its for people or government they just take money out of everyone's pocket.

That's because the bank wants to lock us up with its fiat and won't let you get away with earning income other than the fiat affiliated bank. That way the bank has an increase in loans to the parties concerned. Meanwhile, if you generate it from crypto, it is clear that you are considered a money launderer. Not much different from where I live, lately the balance entry into the account has begun to be monitored from where the source of the funds was obtained and check every transaction that is considered suspicious. Like crypto exchanges, we usually avoid that by means of peer to peer payments.

Anybody can challenge the policies of the government. But how far could a challenge get depends on how much pressure they could create and how much leverage they could use. If a single bank challenges a government policy, it might not prosper. But if all of them gather together and send a message to the government, the government will definitely pay attention and might just give in easily.


More like they are working for themselves. They're providing services to the people with a cost. That's how they make money. They're working with the government because they have to.

No, there's none unless they plan to operate underground.

If the Bank we are talking about is public bank then its owned by government but not every Bank in every country is public bank so they are backed by their market shares of members if I am not wrong. But anyway all the financial institutions has to follow the rules of central bank because they all are coming under their regulations.

The government certainly wants to fully control the money and the country's economy so that the presence of banks is a tool to realize full control, although private banks of course they must always provide real time reports of all transactions to the central bank and this is what makes me believe that the hope of replacing banks with crypto will not be able to happen because the state will protect the banks.

The banks cannot be "happy" or "sad" due to the government regulations.They just do what they are told to do.They might lose a customer here and there,but that's not a big deal for any major bank.
Some banks are trying to fly under that radar and secretly bypass some government regulations,but they are going to pay millions or even billions of dollars worth of fines,if they get caught,so it's not worth the risk,especially when it comes to cryptocurrency related customers.I know that many banks conduct money laundering crimes,but the reward is way bigger for them,so we could say that it's worth the risk(unfortunately).

Banks benefit because they are fully regulated according to government regulations, this is what makes banks will always be in a profitable position even though cryptocurrencies users continue to increase, banks are certainly very important to control fiat circulation and the country's economy.

The banks of the country are regulated by a central bank which is being governed and controlled by the central government. So we can't expect that banks would react against the government. Since bitcoin isn't governed by any regulatory authority it can be the only reason for which the government has asked the banks to block those accounts. But I think strong legislation should be done for this revolutionary era of digital currency.

I think some this commercial banks are not also happy with the way government policies is given them some restrictions related to cryptocurrency transactions being done by their customers. They really have to abide by the rules from the government, so they don't have choice. Also we the customer are also not happy with those restrictions, I hope the governments will understand how important crypto mean to us and set us free.

It is obvious that is their goal, the question is are they going to achieve it? And I think the answer is no, if I am not mistaken Nigeria is one of the countries in which the use of bitcoin has increased due to the pandemic, obviously the government is worried about this because it means those people could stop using their fiat and as such they want to put a stop to this, but what they do not understand is that people will see this and will take it as a signal to reduce their usage of fiat as the government is trying to stop them from trading and exchanging bitcoin when they are not doing anything wrong with that bitcoin.

I don't think there is a chance that bank will go against government regulation and policies if they still want to operate and get permission to continue their service in this country. This will only harm themselve where bank and government system are both centralized and it is difficult to say that they are on the side of the people, so what you expect will just be in vain.

Some banks have the right to operate independent from the government. I do think we have to understand that banking system is not of one type. For example in India there are several independent banks like :

Some banks can actually take such decisions on their own. Therefore it's not always the government, who is influencing them. Some banks are actually ** state owned as well** not all banks are owned by the reserve bank of India.
I would advice you to actually use banks like **digital bank of Singapore** this would help you in the long run, I never had problem with them in that sector. I always traded cryptos in them and never had any probelms.

- keep trading
- use other banking systems
- support cryptos indirectly or directly
- the government will regulate, it won't ban for sure they are earning profits from there.

that's right, even if they use all means to ban it, but in the end everything will still return to bitcoin because this is undeniable.
the example you gave is very clear and it's true this is a good momentum for them to reduce the use of fiat they do.
Indirectly, it is the government itself that makes fiat even more unpopular

The banks might not be happy about this situation. Imagine where they have to close the account of one of their biggest customers just because he or she was involved in trading cryptocurrency?  So, in a way this situation is going to be affecting the banks, and they might not be happy about it.

But, they have no other option than to carry out the orders that are given to them by the government, because the governments are the ones who controls them. The only thing that people have to do is that they will have to be very careful while making use of cryptocurrency in your country, that way they wouldn’t have to have any problem with the bank at all or the government. There are several ways that they can make use of Bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency and not being caught while doing it.

Here is the one thing I learn and that is not to connect or put your bitcoin or rather crypto income to the back as we all know they might see something suspicious as the majority of the people in the universe see's bitcoin as a scam.

do banks are connected to the government somehow yes? there is a circle and a cycle of income or a circle. The specific name of government seeing you through your BIR

If your normal income when to the bank there is difference but  until now banks cannot go be freely

LOL! Do you really think that it would happen?

Banks are heavily centralized and it would be always that they will really be abiding those laws and regulations had been set out by the government.

If they wont? Then they cant operate and we know these institutions are businesses then that would surely be not an ideal thing which
most likely they would really be following on whats mandated.

The government does have full control over bank activities and policies. After all, banks are obliged to comply with all regulations imposed
by the government. Although sometimes government policies are not favored by the bank, but banks cannot operate freely, there are always
rules made by the government to regulate banks. The government does this to protect the population, because if the bank is not controlled
by the government, it is possible for banks to impose high interest rates when providing loans to customers. Banks were created to enrich
their owners. So the government really needs to regulate banks. After all, with the government controlling the banks, the government is also
able to monitor the financial transactions of its residents. If there is a bank that violates the rules imposed by the government, the bank can be
closed its business license and the bank owner will certainly lose. So in any country all banks must follow government rules.

i guess bitcoin should bring out its own power. when there are more and more bitcoin users, of course, it will increase its power to urge the government to make new regulations. and if that continues then bitcoin will automatically have a place on the bank side. because indeed the government seems difficult to relinquish its control on fiat

Generally speaking the banks work for the government because any treasury positions can be pointed by the leader of the country, usually the President and then confirmed by a legislative body. But that being said, the government is a monolithic and this includes the central banks. Their interests align strictly with maintaining solvency within the currencies they operate out of, and maintain economic activity. The profit motive isn't as glaring, it's about self sustainment more than anything.

it's not difficult but indeed they will not let go of it, because fiat is indeed one that is profitable for them and if bitcoin continues to be green as it is now then this will indeed be a threat to them.
there are only two choices, try to compete with bitcoin like China which continues to introduce CBDC (although it is impossible to compete) or make peace with bitcoin and use it and make new regulations on bitcoin like elsavador is doing now.

The issue many people have with this is the fact governments are trying to impose their will on the citizens, they do everything they can to cheat their population with their fiat currencies and then when people turn a back to them as they are losing their wealth at a fast speed they get mad about it, but what were they expecting? This is a process that has repeated through all history and the results are always the same, and even if bitcoin did not existed people would use gold or any other means to trade and store their wealth and stay away from fiat.

this reminds me of china and india :D

On the other hand, the government's intention looks like a good thing by giving all the existing lures, but in fact they are the ones who create a monopoly by rolling money from the public and returning it to them in other forms, either as credit or loans.
and this business is very smooth because they don't need to use the money they have because all the assets that are played are actually people's money themselves

Any legal companies will obey with government rules, they wouldn't dare to be againts government if not want their company to be closed. Simple example, nowadays some centralized exchanges ask us to do KYC, and i think they do that because force from government too.

I wouldn't blame the bank because they are operating based on government regulated policies and their license comes from the same government and so they just have to take orders from this regulated bodies.

Like wise the government are fighting hard to stop crypto because they fear losing out control of their citizens funds and as such can't decide what goes around in the economy. If we should be practical a bit banks had a return of investment after crypto currency became a global business option and so both parties are collaborating to see how they reduce crypto investors to its minimal which can't happen no matter the treat

Usually best time for bank to appear adaptability in their regulations and take after the assent of the populace and potential clients. It is difficult for the bank to go against the government, but in the event that interior the banks have an honest official who needs to donate the finest administrations to their clients, and legitimate official can dissent the government. But still, they are not as well solid against the government, particularly in case they are not as well huge to compare to the government who needs to utilize the ancient way.Govrnmeent ought to center on th positive side of the crypto and make rules to minmize the dark showcase of crypto.

That's how government works. They tend to control everything especially when there's money involved.
Government didn't force these exchange to implement KYC verification, it's a way of regulating it and the government set a policy/rules to prevent fraud. The Exchange could actually refuse the KYC verification but it might need a lot of explanations and paperworks why they want to contest the regulations or else they can operate illegally.

I feel this is part of greater effort by the powers that be, to squeeze the crypto markets away from decentralisation and to have some kind of control.  The individual crypto currencies can be decentralised, but the exchanges themselves can be used to effectively control those decentralised cryptos

That's the main role of government, creating rules and regulation and imposing it to the people and following on the legal rules applied is mandatory so it would be impossible for a central banks regulated by the government to go against the policy even if they seemed to be open to accept crypto transactions. I maybe less thinking that the government wanted to implement rules just because of they wanted to have a full control on digital finances but having a full control for the safety of the people and the finances of the country is their main priorities.

Exactly. The government should always look for the welfare of its citizens so they tend to control all the activities particularly with money involvement to avoid fraudulence and scams but sad to say in some instances the government itself creates fraud. That's how government works, not just to protect our own interests but also to protect theirs.

However, with banks go against the rules of the government, i don't think it's possible even if some really want to. Banks have no choices so they should always abide with the government's rules if they want to continue serving the people and continue operating legally.

I think that's threat from government over anybody that is using bitcoin, because i know very well if country is hundred percent (%100) populated, at list fifty percent (%50) is aware of cryptocurrency and definitely they are using it, so is not possible for government of a country block her citizens Bank account because they are using bitcoin, i think it's impossible and it can't happen.

Banks are not standing still, they are moving to include Bitcoin and be able to offer their clients credit plans based on BTC and some in alternative critical currencies, I think that both BBVA and Santander Group are giving and giving many options to be able to operate with BTC, in fact even JP Morgan had to accept the fact that he needs cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin due to the demands of his clients, which was when madness said that the true price of BTC should be $ 35k, when at that time it was around the $ 62k.

I think that paradoxically, banks work for the government, not for the people. The government want to control people, especially their finances and they exercise it through banks. If banks operate freely entirely from government policies, they are closed. The authorities don't approve of crypto as it is uncontrolled, but they don't want to lose control over money.

It is because the State had managed to obtain full control over people's money stored in banks, that banks now have to comply with the rules the State imposes. He who controls the money controls everything, the banking system included. If people had money completely independent from the government, if they had full financial freedom, they would have an option where to store their money. They wouldn't be holding their independent money in government-dependent vaults. They would be choosing banks-warehouses that aren't subject to government regulations. It would make these companies-warehouses attractive, and traditional banks obsolete. By the way, CBDCs, which are being created right now by central banks, also will make traditional banks obsolete. So, banks either change their business model or die. It may well be they start to offer bitcoin to their clients instead of fiat, to which they will lose access anyway.

They are all part of the same ecosystem.

The fiat system is inevitably linked with the current political system, which is based on centralization.

They do not like the idea of bitcoin decentralizing the control away from them, which is why there are so many AML/KYC restrictions placed upon BTC related transactions.

As said, it can be considered as a threat. The government is elected to do the people's need. Even when they're making policies, they should take the people into account. Everything have got positive and negative side.

A government should act wisely favouring the people. As mentioned, a government/bank blocking ones bank account for using bitcoin will make the user find an alternate way to use cryptocurrencies. Why to make people go for it, better is to regulate and support the necessity of technology.

Governments are experts at dealing with centralized enemies, this is something they have been doing since the they exist so it makes sense they are really good at it, so any point of centralization is a point of failure just waiting to be exploited, so centralized exchanges are going to be used to try to regain some kind of control over this market, however with the advent of decentralized exchanges then the control they can get indirectly through exchanges will not be anywhere near as complete as they expected.

Fiat banks are working under the rules and regulations of the government and since banks are backed with the government so they cannot go against with it, even if it sucks following all the government's policies. Banks are centralized and any institutions under the government will definitely be fully controlled by the government itself. And since the government wants to control all the activities of the people particularly in their finances, fiat banks have been put up so that people will trust them over their finances, and knowing that, this will all be certain to the one controlling the banks, the government.

Have you ever seen a government in your entire life that considers only the good of the people? I mean even in a situation where they do something good, that is usually means they either got bribed to do that, or they want to get votes for doing that. I have never seen any political party, any politician in any nation that did something good just because they want the people of that nation to be doing better.

This is why I believe that anything related to banks, or crypto, or any financial situation will not be regulated based on what would be the best for general population, it would be based on how they could enrich themselves and get more powerful. This is why I lost hope for regular financial fiat world and got into crypto, because I know that I could be right but justice system would defend banks against me even if they are 100% guaranteed wrong, why? Because I am not powerful and they are.

This is sad truth government's coming for peoples welfare but not doing anything related to this now I am also in 40s and I never have any government which is doing some better for common peoples in Third World countries they are bringing laws and regulations for their own sack and crypto is real for common peoples, so they are doing their all for stopping this and having regulations which prevent common peoples to never involve in this all because its can bring big changes in their lives which is not acceptable for them having some better technology and use of blockchain system is revolutionary, but they are not comfortable with this all now in many countries authorities bringing some strict policies for banks and financial institutes that peoples not do this all.

it's very obvious that government is for the people and by the government. The major objectives they are brought into power is to protect the interest of her nation not to innate a law that will not be favourable to the her people, that is the reason i said, that it's impossible for government to block everyone's bank account because of they are using cryptocurrency.

leadership is something versatile, and it's doesn't have one area of specialisation or concentration.
From my observation some government leaders really have the interest of their people at heart, it just the nation you are into you can explain better.

  actually the methods of leadership in government currently speaks negative about government, but those ancient days government were making provision for commoners, which i believe some countries still have such leaders that have the people at positive side of the heart.

Each government has different jurisdiction and government protect against fraud which is the bank was under by the government and banks are regulated by the government, they should always obey the government's law and regulation either. There's no way to challenge the government, it is understood that you should obey once you are a citizen but if not, you can move into other countries that never care about people, which is very common to have crimes every day because there is no government that has protected people.

Exactly  banks have complex regulations not only under the governement of a country but also under the world banks. And world bank really has a big power to do many things.
Fiat banks are centralized systems.
And they will also not let decentralized bank systems to defeat.
We have seen in many countries where cryptocurrency and also decentralized finances are against the government because they cannot control them. Yes, that is why the government will still maintain fiat banks whatever happen because they can regulate and control the banks. And moreover right now there is issue of Cbdc that can make a country have more interests

And up until now, I don't think we need to aim for replacing fiat banks because they will always be the priority of most governments. This is how they can control their financial aspect because if they go into crypto, it will be chaotic. So centralized systems is really necessary for them to be organized. Fiat banks and government work together, and that's a fact. So just be glad crypto can co-exist with fiat banks and we can enjoy the benefits of both systems.

No way to challenge the government, they're supposed to comply with the regulatory laws by the government. Whether it is bitcoin or some other cryptocurrencies, people should have the freedom to use it.

Even if it is a foreign bank having its service in other country, it agrees to the law and all procedures followed within the country. With time governments will realise and create framework that make bitcoin get used through banks which is found in very small number around the world.

In principle, cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance can get along quite well with fiat banks and there are no insurmountable contradictions in this matter. It's like a question of coexistence in the market of huge corporations, small companies and small businesses. There are some points of contact here, as well as completely different fields of activity that involve different specialization. In any case, regulation in the financial and banking sector is handled by the government and it will always have the last word, no matter what other opinions we have on this matter. Therefore, it is quite difficult or almost impossible to imagine a situation where banks will act against the state and policy in this area. It's just that while cryptocurrencies and decentralized finance are a new phenomenon and government agencies have not yet decided on the schemes of interaction in this area, but in any case, these schemes will be found and let's hope that they are quite favorable.

There’s nowhere to go for bitcoin but to be adopted soon in the banks as more people are now aware of bitcoin existence and how it will contribute much on individual’s economy. Banks will definitely agree on integrating  fiat transaction with crypto in the long run because that’s what most of the people are looking forward to be realized.

However, banks are always associated with government’s laws and policies so even if they go against with the government, they will still not succeed as they are fully controlled by it. So it’s either they will be forced to close their establishment or continue their banking operation.

Replacing banks and fiat currencies has never been a goal of bitcoin, bitcoin was created with the intention of giving people the option to make transactions all over the world without the intervention of a third party, and this is something that bitcoin had begin doing since day one, so it is not necessary for the development of bitcoin to replace banks or anything like that, would that be a welcome outcome by me? Yes, but I am realistic and I know governments are never going to allow something like this.

Yeah, it’s very clear that cryptocurrency is not going to be replacing the banks at all. The only thing is that the government will keep trying as much as possible to see if they can regulate the cryptocurrency market/ecosystem. They are able to regulate part of it, because of the centralized exchanges that we have now. Why they are still unable to take over the whole ecosystem is because the market has become really huge now with miners across the world, and so many people making use of decentralized exchanges.

If it was very easy, then they would have have done everything possible to put an end to the cryptocurrency we known today. Finally, bitcoin has its own and I believe that it is accomplishing that, while fiat and the banks are on a different lane.

I do agree that banks and politicians could get together and try to destroy what we have in the crypto world, but I also believe that there is a good chance we may never have anything even remotely similar to that as well. I can't predict what they will do, I am assuming that they would be doing a lot of things to stop it, but then they do not even try.

I get that they may fail even if they try but I assumed they would at least try to ban it at least. Look at china, they keep having these "crypto is banned" news all the time and it sort of works, sure they can't stop it, but they are at least trying to do it, which means that other nations could try to ban it as well, and yet we do not see them trying that at all.

They can combine all they want if they are tending to destroy their market then they would surely fail off and this had been proven out by this market that it cant really be

possible to get rid of crypto and for sure they've been already trying for how many years already in silent but still we dont see any effects when it comes to this.

Manipulative things could be done though and some regulation tighten into those platforms but this doesnt mean that it could be stopped nor get rid of it.

we don't know what the real purpose of china is by always giving bad news on cryptocurrencies as it is today. if many countries do the same as china maybe the growth of crypto can be suppressed, but this is not done by many countries, in my opinion crypto is a technological development that is not easy to stop, so many countries are still waiting for further developments to make clearer regulations .

Isn't the reason very clear that they want to create their own economy and want to make their country replace the superpowers in the economic sector and try to be the king of all that is related to finance.
if likened to crypto itself is an independent part that is not bound by any law and they do not like this.
even if it can be suppressed but I'm not sure it will take long because indeed regulations will always change over time

I think most banks has their own policies and the government has nothing to do with accounts that they block or restrict due to crypto transactions. As for me, they're just trying to control fraudulent transactions. However, there are also trusted banks that don't do account blocking and liquidate crypto transactions. I think we should only pick trusted banks.

Government is controlling the money already and we can not  do nothing over government taking control of country economical system and talking of the central and other banks the branch banks is accountable to the central of any country and other countries have central bank.

I don't think you quite understood the OP, and mind you that banks are accountable to the federal government through the central bank, and take direct orders/policies/sanctions from them, it's not a case of reputable bank or not, there is actually nothing like that, every bank goes through rigorous scrutiny before they become established and once the required standards are met, then they are free to operate and are safe, secure and reputable. Having said that, banks aren't arbitrarily making decisions to block accounts related to crypto transactions, they actually do not even have the sole power to do so, they are taking the instruction and directive from the government through the central bank which they answer to. If Indeed the banks are trying to curb fraudulent txs, then why does it have to concern Bitcoin, all of this is just a calculated effort to discredit Bitcoin and make it difficult for people to purchase it.

Banks operate on the basis of the Law on Banking and Banking Activities and numerous regulations of the country's central bank. Bank employees do not have the right to be arbitrary and must strictly follow the instructions and orders of the central bank. Only clearly illegal decisions can be challenged in the manner prescribed by law. Therefore, bank employees may have their own opinion on some issue, but they are obliged to comply with laws, legal orders of the central bank.

Just thinking is this a legal move because these customers before opening accounts sign some form of contracts and depriving them this service should amount to suing the bank of acting outra vires .


I don't think they can not be happy because this is as good as loss of business and am certain these guys have targets which will be  difficult to achieve with the imposed policies.

There are procedures to follow before such is implemented, say go through parliament as a bill and if this is supported it becomes law, but here everything is being rushed.

It is a black and white dilemma basically. Banks would love to have zero regulations, and would be able to pay everyone a whole lot more money if that was the case, the less government interference there is, the more money they could make. There are good things that come with it of course, like all of us as customers making a ton of money, a lot more than what we are making and could even become rich.

However, it is obvious that if they do this, then the risks would be insane and we would be losing a ton of money instead of making money and that is the risk we would be taking, plus if we do not want government to meddle, then when banks collapse then government should not help neither, if they can't regulate it then they should not save it neither. All in all regulations are there to prevent a bad thing to happen, and yet it still does even with regulations.

The truth is that these banks are not going to be happy about that. Crypto investors and like one of the biggest customers that banks can have these days, and that's because there's a lot of money to be made from cryptocurrency investment. So, when governments instructs banks to block customers who are making use of cryptocurrencies , I don't think that they are happy doing such, and that is because they would be losing their customers. So the banks are not happy about it, and there is still nothing that they can do about it, because they work for the government and the government has the final say.

If you are living in a country where the government has decided to ban cryptocurrency, then it is up to you to be careful and know how you are going to be trading in to avoid being noticed. This is the time you have to switch to making use of decentralized exchanges, that way you wouldn't be caught.

It's the same gang, they are working together! In the last few years, it's been a real mess in my country... one of the interesting things is that banks used to charge clients to process a loan... and someone discovered it's illegal and people and some associations started suing banks for that! Over 30k lawsuits... and many won and got their money...


So, all services offered by the bank have a clear price, only the costs of loan processing do not! And it was like that until September... when some supreme court said "Banks have the right to collect credit commissions"... and now many people are confused, lawyers are striking against some new rules!

And to not mention how government said and banks supported how credits and loans in Swiss Franc are safe... so people took loans for buying apartments, approximately 50k euros, and after years of paying that loan they owe more than the value of the credit!!!! https://www.obserwatorfinansowy.pl/in-english/financial-markets/chf-denominated-mortgages-in-western-balkans/ (https://www.obserwatorfinansowy.pl/in-english/financial-markets/chf-denominated-mortgages-in-western-balkans/)
And some countries and their governments find a way to help people, but not here in my country...

From the OP shared article:


I am always on side of people! And it's nice to hear that Nigerians found a way around the banks!

Generally, governments should not interfere with banks. The central bank is responsible for the exchange rate of the national currency and the financial policy of the state, and only it is authorized to give the banks instructions and instructions that are binding on them.
It hardly makes any practical sense for bank employees to challenge any instructions from the central bank. Direct appeal to the central bank does not lead to anything, and appeal to the court is expensive, and even after that, you can lose your job.

I guess its seen in the faces of bank employees if they are happy turning down some of their customers just because they are using crypto. Of course they are not, but since banks are under the government so they are obliged to follow the rules and policies given by the government. And if any employee will try to oppose, for sure he'll be reprimand and might end up losing his job. So there's no way for banks to contradict what had the government has mandated. After all, government has always backed banks ever since.

A more appropriate word is an oligarchy where some people control the government, and they only control the government through banks. So that banking policies always support the oligarchs because banks are indeed used as a tool to further enrich the oligarchs and provide them with fresh money through the collection of customer savings funds which are ultimately used by them for capital. Banks, fiat, and the stock market are major sources of economic instability.

Yes, there are other banks that is fair and just, whom doesn't interfere with other matters that is not reflecting or may harm certain banks. But naturally, banks do obey what governments are told them to do, besides it's where they get their licensing and policies. So what do we expect? They can't just disobey the government that easily because they aren't independent.

but even so they remain above the bank and the regulations in the bank are under the control of the government.
maybe they literally can't do something that makes them interfere, but on the other hand they have a closeness that can make banks submit to them without them having to regulate it to the extreme.
This is a reciprocity where when the bank is submissive then the government can guarantee them and on the government side when they can guarantee all forms of regulation in the bank they will get more profits there

Banks that operate their services in a country have an obligation to comply with government regulations that allow them not to break the rule just to support crypto transaction. If indeed the bank can do anything independently without government intervention, then the people at the bank must be able to be involved in this investment.

I have a friend who works for a local bank, he really can't invest in cryptocurrencies because they are set up not to.

The banking system should have their own policy that the operate on, that not withstanding the regulations in the bank is subject to the governments interference, the government can always give out orders and the banks have no other choice than to accept this only that the could modify it into ways that could favour them instead.

The government did same in my country as at last year but the bank interfered by asking us to change our descriptions while carrying out transactions.

yeah, bank have rule for their customer, and need to protect them from outside. government need permission to look something about bank customer, and they dont have any power if it no relate with crime. but, bank must obey what government said, as long as they dont touch their customer. both can cooperate to protect society by their way.

The government will always do what they want and how they want it. If the government decides to block every crypto transaction and affiliation, then you can always go for peer to peer transactions on exchanges. What I know is that the government can not watch you in your close door. They can only enforce it but make not monitor your activities in your close door.

if you pay attention to the bank under the auspices of the government, so that the fiat currency in a country seems to be coordinated by the bank which supports the economy of a country. the bank seems to be an extension of the government to print state money, so both work according to the rules that have been made by the government itself

You have to be specific with the word "bank" because there are public and private banks, but the bank that print money is under the supervision of the government and that is the central bank.  They don't have the same function as normal existing banks as central banks are the ones who regulate the whole banking industry.

Am sure we are from the same country which is Nigeria if am right, but I will tell you that the banks are not really happy with this but they don't have choice they just have to do it. I have a friend which his account was blocked and he went to bank to complain and the bank traced his transaction and it shows that he used luno around 2016 that's why his account was blocked, the bank opened another account for and he was able to withdraw all the money in the old account which was blocked and he deposited it in the new account which he created. So if you think the banks are happy you are totally wrong and if your account have been suspended you can contact your bank and make complain.

I would suggest that private banks or investment banks are basically connected to central banks as well. The moment banks are dealing with horrible losses, central banks start to print money, why? Because if these banks end up bankrupting, then they are not going to just bankrupt themselves, they are going to bankrupt with everyone’s money in it.

This is why central banks print money and give it to them so that they could help the nation grow instead of bankrupt. This is way, I believe that we are talking about connection between them, not directly of course but it is still there, so all in all we are talking about two different things but two things that are quite related as well.

They can do that if the whole banking industry is in trouble, but if a single bank only, then it's not necessary as it's not new to us seeing a bank that is bankrupt cause by mismanagement of the owners and their executives, banks will only print money when there is a national emergency, just like when the world is hit with the covid-19 pandemic.

the government will not issue regulations without a solid basis. I think crypto is not a threat that can harm the economy of a country, so there is no reason for the government to block crypto. crypto is part of today's technological advances, the government should not prohibit but facilitate it because crypto has been proven to improve the economy of many people.

in my place, public will be more cooperate with customer than private. bank under government, have many problem, like how good the connection when you make transaction, and other. and public is very chosen, and there is no fright about the other thing like tax. maybe this is different thing, but most people stumble while processing their money.
overall, they have good service for us, give us best deal when we need something.

If the bank doesn't accept crypto transactions then P2P transactions could be good for you. In my country crypto is not legal so we do p2p transactions mostly without any involvement of the bank. I think we are partially experiencing the usefulness of decentralization.

Govt always tries to regulate everything so that they have overall control over their people. It's not far away when people don't need any bank involvement for their fund's management.

Of course, because they are government banks and employees are paid by the taxes of the people, they should be more cooperative and give the best service being a banker. In our country, I think it really depends on the bank, but usually bank employees regardless of what company, they are well trained to do their job especially on customer service.

It must be recognized that in many countries the Banks are complicit in what the government does, and many of their laws are based on what the government wants to achieve, otherwise it could be very harmful for a bank to go against the laws that the government imposes on it, in this case FIAT money are really the biggest problems of the corrupt, because they do not have to do with so much, that is what the banks are for, generally in my country the banks do not have much validity right now because the local currency It is worth nothing, but it is already starting to work based on Dollars and Euros, but ordinary normal people do not have access to it, that is, everything is a round-robin business between the government and banks, at least in Venezuela it is like that.