Bitcoin and the Rebirth of Financial Safe Havens
by Jon Matonis
'Private individuals should have more privacy [than politicians would be afforded], as they have not placed themselves into the political arena. They have not agreed to give up their privacy,' [says Attorney Jenice Malecki]. However, she also concedes that when it comes to offshore numbered accounts, 'it does seem that banking secrecy is eroding. Slowly, but surely, banks are releasing information for governmental investigations.'
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Decentralized cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin arrived on the scene in early 2009 and now provide an outlet for personal wealth that is beyond restriction and confiscation. The exchange rate for government fiat currencies may be volatile now, but as the market price eventually finds equilibrium and stabilizes, bitcoin will become an important store of value.
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Think of bitcoin as your own personal financial safe haven or offshore bank.
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Future regulatory and confiscatory attacks on safe havens and banking secrecy will become irrelevant, because bitcoin provides for a personal 'offshore center' under direct and sole control of the individual.
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Legitimacy is a politically charged term. One person's legitimacy may be another person's aggressive and unjustifiable overreach. Also, what a certain government sees as legitimate may be viewed in other parts of the world as a violation of fundamental human rights. This is clearest in authoritarian regimes that impoverish and imprison their political opponents for so-called crimes against the state.
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http://www.americanbanker.com/bankthink/bitcoin-and-the-rebirth-of-financial-safe-havens-1058216-1.html
