Bitcoin Forum

I had a Bitcoin discussion with my relatives yesterday and one of them asked me a question about keeping Bitcoin safely, this discussion started with banks trying to provide crypto services to customers.

I told him I will never store Bitcoin in the bank or use their safes to keep my recovery seed, and now said what if the banks find a way to attract people to reconsider? I ask him to give me an example.

He said if banks can give a gold bar to every 1 BTC owners for keeping their Bitcoin and accepting their bitcoin services as a bank wouldn't Bitcoin holders change their mind? He claimed if one Bitcoin is worth half a million this is a possibility.

Would you allow such to happen? What can banks offer you as a Bitcoin holder thay can make you change your mind?

How much does the gold bar weigh? if the banks give fair amount based on USD equivalent, it's actually not that bad because if the banks bankrupt, you still own the gold bar and can sell it. I just not understand why your friend want the banks to hold their coins instead of themselves? what's the difference with holding gold bar? it's the same, there's always a risk to lost and you have to take care your security.

Even it's a fair deal, I don't see the point.

If i were to hold big amount of bitcoin, gold as an incentive to store my bitcoin in bank won't budge me because not your key not your coin.

I like self custody so that's the end of argument for me, but I'm sure there are people who will be interested in this scheme.

When you look at the fact that there are few people who willing to give up bitcoin ownership in the custody of L2 staking contract, you realize some people willing to give up ownership temporarily for 3% APR.

In this forum, people are generally against this idea, but it can make sense in some cases. For example, if you have 200 bitcoins. You can have 100 bitcoins in the bank and manage 100 bitcoins yourself for risk diversification. That way, you can be sure that 100 bitcoins won't be taken from you with a $5 wrench attack. Obviously, if you have that many, you will have protected yourself with multisig systems or by keeping the keys in different locations, but I am saying this so that the idea is understood.

Besides, most people do not think like us. I know people under 40 who have bitcoin ETFs and do not have bitcoin. I am not even mentioning older people, who are used to doing everything through the bank.

So, does the bank give me a gold bar for keeping 1 bitcoin with them, and that gold bar is mine, along with the bitcoin kept with them? In that case, I might consider it if I have more than 1 bitcoin, and I could simply use this to get some extra money in the shape of that gold I'm getting from them. I think if they give incentives to people for keeping their Bitcoin with them, a lot of people will be interested, and they will get a lot of customers doing this.

That being said, I don't think they are ever going to provide an offer like that because industrial investors will start keeping all their bitcoin with the banks and then they will have to compensate them for each bitcoin they are keeping with the bank, and I don't think a bank would have any benefit by doing that in the long run, I mean, I know that they are going to use the Bitcoin kept with them and earn money with that, but will they be able to earn enough money to compensate so many customers? I don't think so. :)

Bitcoin is the evolution of money. Banks emerged because gold was not practical as money and a medium of exchange, but with Bitcoin, banks are no longer necessary  everyone can be their own bank.
Bitcoin is peer-to-peer digital cash, which means everyone holds their own money and exchanges happen directly, from person to person, without intermediaries.

Will banks try to do the same thing they did with gold and keep the monopoly? Probably yes.
People have for generations been dumbed down and taught that the bank must keep their money, so it is to be expected that they will try to do the same thing with Bitcoin.
We already see that the narrative is spreading that Bitcoin is digital gold, but Bitcoin is not digital gold Bitcoin is much better money than gold and we do not need banks.

What is the worth or such Gold bar? This is the question you need to consider first after which you then see if it is worth considering. Personally a Gold bar from the bank will not cause me to want to save my crypto asset with the bank because somehow I believe that there is some risk attached to that which I am not willing get involved with, since you will be saving your seed phrase with them it could be you giving them access to your wallet of which may be later regret because the greatest security you can place on your wallet would be with how we you protect access to it.

On a second taught, the intended control you were supposed to get when you are fully taking control of your wallet will be limited because you have given some access to thw banks by saving your assets with them, in all I don't see it as ideal, the decentralised nature of theses assets remains best and better than banking with out local commercial banks if they decide to start offering crypto deposit and savings services.

Banks that give you a gold bar for one Bitcoin? And if that Bitcoin is worth more than a gold bar in ten years, what will they do? Will they give it back to you? I don’t think so. Banks are like Judas, they will betray you sooner or later. Keep your Bitcoin safe, but keep it yourself, because banks can fail along with the entire fiat system behind the

The example your friend gave is something that the banks will not consider doing, they won't give customers gold bar to convince them into letting their Bitcoin be saved in the bank, why would they even do that? No matter how attractive any offer looks, I won't risk saving my Bitcoin in the bank because like I have said before which is something that many old experienced Bitcoiners has said before, putting your Bitcoin in the bank means that you are still letting the third party to control your assets meanwhile Satoshi created Bitcoin for us to be independent of the financial institutions and have full control of our money if we want.

It sounds like 1 bitcoin deposited to a Bitcoin bank account will be pegged by 1 gold bar. It sounds unfair with me, as we know Bitcoin has better ROI than gold over the years since 2009, and I believe it will continue to have better ROI than gold in future years.

This means if that bank has problems, you will receive an equivalent 1 gold bar with less value than 1 bitcoin. It's unfair and I don't need such service as I have bitcoin and only want to have bitcoin, full access to my bitcoin any time. While with Bitcoin banks, I can not have such things, so why do I need to choose Bitcoin banks rather than open-source and non-custodial wallets.

Bitcoin open-source non-custodial wallet, Bitcoin private key > my bitcoin, full access, that's enough.

The main purpose of creating Bitcoin, a digital decentralized asset, BTC, is freedom, meaning that no specific bank or government can control it, so that ordinary people can transact freely without the need for a third party. A person can exchange whenever they want using the internet from anywhere, without the need for specific government approval.

From my point of view, greed always leads people to destruction, so it is absolutely stupid or irrational to decide to keep Bitcoin in a bank out of greed. I will never keep my Bitcoin in the bank. I will control my assets independently and never be dependent on a third party.

This is what you would do if you have 200 Bitcoin, that's great but I will never do such, maybe you have good time using your bank in your country but not me, I have experience almost all the bad things that your banks can come up with to carter away with customers fund and also illegal deduction from my bank account that they claimed to be charges for using their services.

Banks are also fraudulent too, if I have up to 200 Bitcoin I will only keep 20 in the bank and this is even if it is a must to do so, maybe if they come up with some documents that is important for individuals if they can keep their Bitcoin in the bank, this is the only way I can keep 20 Bitcoin with them, the other 180 Bitcoin belongs to me for safeguarding not them.

Say your garden, bitcoin is indeed yellow and white in general seen in logos and images, it does not mean bitcoin can be equated with gold, banks cannot make real storage for bitcoin, because the value of bitcoin can change instantly and is formally.

If the bank storing Bitcoin for customers, of course the bank must eliminate what is attached to the current bitcoin.
1. Blockchain technology.
2. decentralized and peer-to-peer.
3. Global nature and scarcity.

Obviously, the bank cannot do it all, for that if seen the bank cannot do as your friend dreams, who is responsible, if the price of Bitcoin suddenly drops to $ 10 and who is responsible Suddenly the price of Bitcoin rose to the level of $ 10 million, as far as I know the bank is vulnerable to all risks, what else is Bitcoin not real like other items.

Is there a bank that accepts bitcoin for deposits? I wonder if theres a bank like that and how ls the term of the bank if theres one. Since bank bound to pay up some interest. Does it mean they also gave some interest for btc deposits?

Any country with this working already or operating?

No idea about that but research show that this 7 banks are accepting Bitcoin for deposits https://atlos.io/blog/banks-that-accept-cryptocurrency-deposits

But it would be more better if our local banking institution would allow us to deposit Bitcoin directly with certain percentage profit return since this is really good development that will happen in the scene.

Since they are not yet accepting maybe more better for people to settle up holding their Bitcoin and don't trust any sites saying that they are bank then they could offer those services they are seeking the same on their local banks could offer.

What can they do will depend on their terms and conditions. If this is a complete exchange of possession, then we should not expect for more once the transaction is done but if not or the Gold they give to us is only just a form of collateral for the Bitcoin that we save on their vaults, then they should return it to us in the designated dates. If they won't, then they can face punishments and their reputation will get affected badly.

I think those banks that are long in the business won't likely do that. Bitcoin's advocacy is to give freedom for all mankind, so if we will just entrust our Bitcoin in the banks, then that already destroys its true purpose.

Interesting scenario here, yet individually I will not hand over my Bitcoin to any bank, even when they are dangling incentives. The entire point of Bitcoin is personal custody and having freedom from the risk third-party. A bar of gold or any perk won't outweigh the risk of losing control of your coins if the bank gets hacked accidentally, seized, or even imposes restrictions.

When banks want the trust of Bitcoiners' there wouldn't be bribes, it would come from the point of proving that they can provide real security, transparency and no strings hidden on it. Though for some of us, nothing overtakes self custody.

Unfortunately, banks will never do that because it would only burden them. Banks are more concerned with how to get people to trust them with their Bitcoin, using powerful narratives that make it seem safer and more convenient to store Bitcoin in a bank.

But you understand that one of the key points of Bitcoin is the individual's complete control over their assets without any intermediaries. If you entrust your Bitcoin to a bank or other third party, you're simply giving them access to fully manage your assets. You don't have full control over your assets, and you could lose them at any time if the company goes bankrupt, due to hacking, or other issues.

Just remember “not your keys, not your coins”.

Nope, how much is a gold bar compared to the price of Bitcoin? if it's the 1 kg then that's $200k, I'll take that because that's higher price than bitcoin. But the banks are wiser than we think and they're not going to do any trade that has a loss for them.

They don't have to do anything at all. I'll still use the services they have mainly for banking but if it's about bitcoin and holding, I won't use them as that's not how they have been built for. Maybe for some loans and deposits, yes.

Yeah, incentive to hold isn't likely and if there's any it's from interest not direct incentives from their treasury.

Bank most likely will try to make impression that saving your bitcoin in bank is regulated and insured, if the worse comes to the worst you will get your money back, that's the narrative.

The same way they assure you to save your money in their services, though it can also benefit people who just unable to self custody.

Why not? But then again, it will totally defeat the purpose of BYOB when you are into Bitcoin. So I don't know if there are Bitcoin holder, specially maximalist here that are willing to down to that path and have banks held their Bitcoin in their custody and in turn have a gold bar. But you are going to kept your gold bar in the bank too? If that is the case then you have nothing to hold and you allow the banks to have total control of your Bitcoin.

Then there is also the question of mnemonic phrase or private key, who will hold it then? Is it the banks or you're still gonna have it?

This depends on the size of the gold bar the OP is talking about, as by international standards 1 gold bar weighs up to 400 troy oz, which is 12.44kg. It is worth many times more than 1BTC when compared at current prices.  ;D ;D


Most bitcoin investors make similar statements and so do I. But if that really happens, if the bank offers attractive incentives like high interest rates along with other attractive incentives similar to what OP mentioned. I would be skeptical if the majority of people still insist on holding their bitcoins in custodial wallets and rejecting the incentives from banks. Since many of us are still using banks, saving money in banks, so it would be suspicious that many people still refuse to accept those attractive offers.

They can offer to freeze your money for any reason they want. And in the event that they lose your money they will probably come up with an excuse to not pay you anything. If you trust a third party, you are risking everything. And it does not matter how trustworthy banks seem. Everyone has a breaking point.

From my perspective, I am the only bank worth trusting. Any attempts to coerce, bribe or entice me out of my custodial priviledges should be considered as malicious actions meant to take my money away.

Banks are profit-making organisations. I don't think they will ever offer customers something valuable just because they want to provide custody services. Banks will only offer services they would benefit from.   

Bitcoin is not just about profit-making or money. It's about freedom and privacy. My seed phrase will always be in my custody.   

If the banks will go to the extent of offering me something just to help me store my bitcoins, I shouldn't be getting excited yet, rather it is a sign that there is something fishy going on. Come to think of it, why are they so desperate to help me take custody of my bitcoins?

I will never fall for such an offer. If anyone wants to offer me anything to have access to my seedphrase, it means they have something they stand to gain from doing so. My seedphrase will only be in my possession!

[quote author=Somegory link=topic=5560358.msg65851477#msg65851477 date=1758939177

Would you allow such to happen? What can banks offer you as a Bitcoin holder thay can make you change your mind?
[/quote]
I will never allow such to happen to me.with the experience I have had with bank all this while that I am using their services,i regretted using their services,but it's because I was ignorance about Bitcoin before, but now that I have gradually going into Bitcoin and understanding it little by little, I don't think there's any offer coming from bank that will ever convince me to go back to bank service.and what we should know is that if bank offers you anything of that kind, mind you that they will take it back from you without you knowing and even if you know and bring complain to them,they will start teasing you around by telling you to come back after seven working days and at the end your money or your valuable asset has gone.. through different charges you will pay back whatever offers given to you by bank..so for me i will never accept any offer from bank,i prefer remaining into Bitcoin and no any other place..

I agree with you — banks never give anything away for free. Where I live, there’s a saying: “The dog never wags its tail for nothing.” 🙂

The advantage better be good, if I have to keep my Bitcoin in a bank they must be giving the likes of me a very good deal, or else I don't see any reason why anyone should do this, banks will probably lend your Bitcoin and use it for some business behind your back, they are very good at this.

I would never trust a bank with my private key, hardware or recovery seed. You know, banks are always at risk, even though they promise to be responsible &  accountable to you, under pressure they can break accountability, get hacked, sometimes the entire bank could collapse. Even custodial banking has many problems, if the bank loses that key or someone steals it, keep in mind the blockchain does not forgive mistakes. :P

Again, as you said, if a bank does 'offer a gold bar for your BTC', it is just a show-off. They will add conditions, ask for identification, want to control, thus destroying the sovereignty of Bitcoin.

In my view, the only thing that can change my mind is a zero-trust custodial service. So my base layer will always be selfcustody.

If they could give me gold equivalent to the amount of Bitcoin they hold, that would be fine, but if not, I would avoid placing my assets with them. Entrusting your Bitcoin to a bank is like giving them control over your assets. This means they're not just holding your Bitcoin, but they could also use it for other purposes. You just don't know because banks are typically not transparent about how they manage their clients' assets.

So, I feel like putting my money in an unreliable institution like a bank just isn't worth it. I'd rather manage it myself, and whenever I need it, I can access it without having to confirm with anyone.

I can never answer the question, since Bitcoin is a decentralized currency and gives customers complete freedom, why would customers give their Bitcoin to a bank to be held by them? This process is called independent custody, which is ridiculous. What does the bank even gain from it? If they charge a fee for holding your assets, I think my assets are safer with me. Whatever offers banks make, it may not be worth it to Bitcoiners, because ultimately the security of your assets is more important to you than to the bank.

Bank cannot promise you gold when they can't get something bigger than the gold from you. If bank are giving out such rewards, how would the bank generate income from Bitcoin by customers holding it, that's a question to ask.

Bank will eventually convert Bitcoin to xyzBTC to be used for savings, staking or lending where the highest customer that participates in it will be rewarded Gold, but the reward will be less than the amount such user had invested, that's how bank works.

They can't give you rewards for free, customers holding just Bitcoin won't give them what they want.

Yes, banks are businesses and their main goal is also profit. So they wouldn't offer big incentives or something valuable just to get more people to deposit bitcoin into their service if they don't get a bigger benefit from the idea. This scenario will never happen.



More precisely, bitcoin was created to help us become freer and protect our privacy. But the sad truth is that most people who are turning to bitcoin these days are primarily in it for profit. Not many people care about the freedom and privacy it brings. That's why the amount of money pouring into bitcoin is so huge, but mainly through centralized exchanges and ETFs.

You mean the bank would literally give me a gold bar for every 1 BTC deposit? Which bar, the standard 400 troy ounce one? I'd go for it right away. I'd willingly deposit all my coins to the bank. I'd even get all the loans I can and sell all my properties for the sake of Bitcoin just to be deposited to the bank. Why not, right? My coin is worth $500,000 each. And how much does a gold bar cost, $1.5 million?

All puns aside, I don't see this happening. Banks have been around for millennia. That's not their behavior.

Those who really know that Bitcoin is about privacy will not be interested because it is still risky to store BTC in the bank. Besides that, the bank will not give a gold bar to every 1 BTC owner because what if someone has 10 BTC? Will the bank give that gold bar? That will be an expensive gift from the bank to us ;D

I would prefer if banks and Bitcoin went their own separate way. We never let other parties control our Bitcoin because that will give us a risk especially if they don't know much about how to protect Bitcoin with the right precautions.