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I live in America and have a Coinbase account and want to offer my two cents on the topic of all banks banning Bitcoin...
When you initiate a purchase of Bitcoin with Coinbase you are actually doing an ACH withdrawal for a specific amount. You can set up ACH withdrawals for virtually anything that you want. It could be for a donation, virtual services (such as web hosting), a purchase of Bitcoin on ebay (through Paypal) or even payment for a magazine subscription. The bank never has any dealings with Coinbase other than the deposits or withdrawals of money and never touches the Bitcoins.
I guess the United States government could be heavy handed about the purchase or ownership of Bitcoin in the future, but I assure you if they attempt a blanket ban it simply won't work. The government would have to defend hundreds of lawsuits in the coming years if it occurs and the chances are high that they will lose some of them.
When you initiate a purchase of Bitcoin with Coinbase you are actually doing an ACH withdrawal for a specific amount. You can set up ACH withdrawals for virtually anything that you want. It could be for a donation, virtual services (such as web hosting), a purchase of Bitcoin on ebay (through Paypal) or even payment for a magazine subscription. The bank never has any dealings with Coinbase other than the deposits or withdrawals of money and never touches the Bitcoins.
I guess the United States government could be heavy handed about the purchase or ownership of Bitcoin in the future, but I assure you if they attempt a blanket ban it simply won't work. The government would have to defend hundreds of lawsuits in the coming years if it occurs and the chances are high that they will lose some of them.
None of this prevents banks from arbitrarily closing accounts and refusing service to anyone involved in ACH transfers to any Bitcoin business, unless banks start getting sued under competition laws / antitrust.
I guess that banks could do something similar to that in the future if guidance (or laws) were issued by state or federal government regulators but why would they even attempt something like that at this time? There isn't any reason for banks to close accounts in America at this time because nobody in authority has said that Bitcoin is illegal.
They would if they perceive Bitcoin as a threat to the profits of the very payment systems that they have a financial conflict of interest in running, or if guidance remains so vague as to continue the chilling effect in the US. It's a reality that Bitcoin businesses have significant difficulties getting banked in the US, and there are numerous anecdotal reports of individuals being dropped by banks because of purchases relating to buying Bitcoins or even mining equipment.
These entities are going out of their way ironically to prove why we need Bitcoin in the first place!
I agree with your last sentence and also agree that bank accounts can be closed for various reasons. The problem is that as Bitcoin becomes more popular banks that ban Bitcoin dealings of any kind will have something similar to a Scarlet Letter on them. The people who want to deal with Bitcoin will have no dealings with the banks who ban them. As the numbers of people using Bitcoin in the future grows, that could hurt bank profits.
I mean realistically, it could be 5 -10 years before major online businesses start to accept Bitcoin. The transactions will almost always be of a more limited nature until wider acceptance of the coin has taken hold.
