One solid reason that I came across for the need of BitCoins. <Be Your own Bank>

[Rose_btc]

I recently went for USA Visa interview , i.e I applied for a business visa.

For the purpose of VISA, I needed the documents to show my bank balance, therefore I went for getting the bank statement sealed and signed from bank authorities. I am from India the bank in which I have account are one of the best banks in my country.

Now first I took out print out of 6 months statement, then went to bank physically, then the real pain started, they told me to put a seal and sign on my Bank Account Statement, they will charge 100 INR for one month's statement, and I felt cheated, I felt these guys are in a business of monopoly, for my money, my account, they are charging money from me just to authenticate that my balance amount is right.

We surely need crypto currencies, and do not need anyone else's validation to proof that we have our own money. More and More Power to BitCoin.

What steps I am taking to make people aware of the power of bitcoin, and cryptos?

• Helping them buy their first Bitcoins
• Making the understand the power of bitcoin hash power.

[Kakmakr]

Yes, Banks charge people for any administrative work that they do for them. The withdrawal of money in the Bank is more expensive than the withdrawal at the ATM, because human interaction is more expensive <salaries> than electronic interaction. You also pay a premium for the stationary that are used, because they over charge you for the paper/ink/stamp etc.

So, if you had full control over your bitcoins, you could simply sign the Bitcoin address with a message to show that you own the bitcoins in that address and the Blockchain will give them all the data that they want. 

[Eugenar]

In terms of being your own bank. It is not sufficient that you just have your own private keys stored somewhere on the internet. In cryptocurrency, there are also problems occurring similar to banks where people can have their money stolen. For you to secure your funds, an offline wallet is a must especially if you are to store thousand dollars worth of cryptocurrency. This article can help you in choosing which hardware wallet suits you and we'll help you up to set up your own bank.

[bitsurfer2014]

That is very unfortunate of you and I think your banking institutions are a little bit greedy! I think it would be more ideal if you had reported what you've experienced to proper authorities since it could be a fraud - on charging you excessive fee for just a mere bank statement alone.

In contrast, it is free to obtain a bank statement in my country and that document could be easily acquired after a few minutes of your request without any hassle.

In line with your narration, my only  hope is that the U.S. Government, specifically their VISA requirements, will  one day accept signed Bitcoin address as a way to show proof of ones financial capacity. Imho.

[Rose_btc]

That is very unfortunate of you and I think your banking institutions are a little bit greedy! I think it would be more ideal if you had reported what you've experienced to proper authorities since it could be a fraud - on charging you excessive fee for just a mere bank statement alone.

In contrast, it is free to obtain a bank statement in my country and that document could be easily acquired after a few minutes of your request without any hassle.

In line with your narration, my only  hope is that the U.S. Government, specifically their VISA requirements, will  one day accept signed Bitcoin address as a way to show proof of ones financial capacity. Imho.

Ohh yes, I think even if one superpower country amongst, China, USA, Singapore, comes up with full acceptance of cryptocurrencies, others will be pressurised to legalise it, once the law comes, then use cases and adaption will automatically rise on top of it. Let's wait and watch, and meanwhile, let us all HODL!! HODL!! HODL!! HODL!!

[TGD]

That is very unfortunate of you and I think your banking institutions are a little bit greedy! I think it would be more ideal if you had reported what you've experienced to proper authorities since it could be a fraud - on charging you excessive fee for just a mere bank statement alone.

In contrast, it is free to obtain a bank statement in my country and that document could be easily acquired after a few minutes of your request without any hassle.

In line with your narration, my only  hope is that the U.S. Government, specifically their VISA requirements, will  one day accept signed Bitcoin address as a way to show proof of ones financial capacity. Imho.

Ohh yes, I think even if one superpower country amongst, China, USA, Singapore, comes up with full acceptance of cryptocurrencies, others will be pressurised to legalise it, once the law comes, then use cases and adaption will automatically rise on top of it. Let's wait and watch, and meanwhile, let us all HODL!! HODL!! HODL!! HODL!!

China is already in to it. It's just a matter of when they will release there own digital currency since they already start developing there blockchain.
I'm US will not gonna let this slide and made a counter move for there rival country in terms of economy. Bakkt is the first mover in the Bitcoin ETf and
I'm sure that there still in the pipeline that US is still cooking. Maybe trump is accumulating then later will reveal that he owns 5% of bitcoin supply. 

[pooya87]

What steps I am taking to make people aware of the power of bitcoin, and cryptos?

• Helping them buy their first Bitcoins
• Making the understand the power of bitcoin hash power.

if that is the only two things you use then the second one is an odd choice because there are a lot of other more important characteristics of bitcoin to mention before the hashrate! for instance the most important thing is the decentralization and boarderlessness of bitcoin which i would focus on when i am introducing bitcoin to others. additionally new people must also be educated about ways to store and use bitcoin as most of them would ignore security (like using cold storage) and may even store their bitcoin on the exchange they buy it from! and that's a terrible idea.

[blckhawk]

Banking systems work, but they do abuse their power sometimes. This is clearly one of the reasons why these systems appear unappealing to the people. Even though you get insurance and such, these micro-steps that makes it a harder process and shows people that banks want to profit on people in unjustifiable manner. We just need more adoption to make Bitcoin more convenient to use in the future.

[kaya11]

In terms of being your own bank. It is not sufficient that you just have your own private keys stored somewhere on the internet. In cryptocurrency, there are also problems occurring similar to banks where people can have their money stolen. For you to secure your funds, an offline wallet is a must especially if you are to store thousand dollars worth of cryptocurrency. This article can help you in choosing which hardware wallet suits you and we'll help you up to set up your own bank.

He never said anything about private keys, all he was saying is that we cannot trust any of the banks anymore. I guess the guy is experience in terms of financial stuffs, I bet he won't get scammed easily as he was being cautious from the first place with the monopolizing people.
Any way for the cause of Bitcoin I am also accepting payments of thru Bitcoin, I am running a printing shop, even though small it can barely manage to continue. Sometimes people wonder what is the QR code outside and just tell them straight about it, if they are interested then I give them more basic knowledge.

[Eclipse26]

Sad but we can't do anything about it. That's the reality. Because if they're not going to charge us, banks will have no profits. When they secure our money, they'll charge us for it. Anything the bank will do for their customers have an equal amount of charges. I know it's our money but they need income as well. Though sometimes I really think that they're taking too much advantage from their customers. That's why if we don't like banks to be involved with our money, bitcoin is here to help us with what we want.

[Rose_btc]

Sad but we can't do anything about it. That's the reality. Because if they're not going to charge us, banks will have no profits. When they secure our money, they'll charge us for it. Anything the bank will do for their customers have an equal amount of charges. I know it's our money but they need income as well. Though sometimes I really think that they're taking too much advantage from their customers. That's why if we don't like banks to be involved with our money, bitcoin is here to help us with what we want.

I do not know what country you are from, how does it work in India is, Banks give you interest rates of 4% annually, but if someone wants to take loans from them, they charge 10 - 12% annual interest. So they are easily making, 6-8% and even if there operational cost exists, banks are easily making a lot of money that too by saying they are securing money.

Also there is one more thing that I want to mention you, banks are highly in- secure and in the recent past in India there has been three big scams, one of Yes Bank, another of PMC Bank, and another of a bank, who got scammed by a fraudster called neeraj modi, a diamond merchant who took away 800 Cr, and flew to EU.

[Ailmand]

That is why people are keeping away from banks. They are stealing people's money. Imagine you are saving your money in a bank with a little interest, banks use your money to lend it to other people with a high interest and collateral, and if this people cannot pay they will take away their property and giving people a little interest for their deposits, charging excessive fees for their services.

[Rose_btc]

In terms of being your own bank. It is not sufficient that you just have your own private keys stored somewhere on the internet. In cryptocurrency, there are also problems occurring similar to banks where people can have their money stolen. For you to secure your funds, an offline wallet is a must especially if you are to store thousand dollars worth of cryptocurrency. This article can help you in choosing which hardware wallet suits you and we'll help you up to set up your own bank.

Thanks for referring me to the article, but I have a decent understanding of how to keep the coins secured, and I also own a ledger NANO S. What I am referring to is the financial systems, and how they are monopolised badly by banks in the current state. Indeed there are flaws in the existing blockchain ecosystems also, but they can be worked upon.

[tsaroz]

The recent development in finance around the world has shown how insecure our money are in the banks. We let banks hold our money while they make us feel they are doing us a favor. We can't use our money anytime and anyway we use. Crypto enables us to store our money securely with we keeping a full control over them. The money not being physical is unaffected by local crisis be it natural, criminal or political nature.

[hello_good_sir]

I recently went for USA Visa interview , i.e I applied for a business visa.

For the purpose of VISA, I needed the documents to show my bank balance, therefore I went for getting the bank statement sealed and signed from bank authorities. I am from India the bank in which I have account are one of the best banks in my country.

Now first I took out print out of 6 months statement, then went to bank physically, then the real pain started, they told me to put a seal and sign on my Bank Account Statement, they will charge 100 INR for one month's statement, and I felt cheated, I felt these guys are in a business of monopoly, for my money, my account, they are charging money from me just to authenticate that my balance amount is right.

That's weird as fuck. Even though 100 INR is only around 2 USD, it's still pretty unfair to charge. In my country, the banks charge something like a $1.5 dollar fee to mail you statements to you, but most peope opt out since online statements are just so much easier.

If they are charging you that to print out a statement, that's bullshit, but if it's something like a sealed or specific document, it does make some sort of sense...

We surely need crypto currencies, and do not need anyone else's validation to proof that we have our own money. More and More Power to BitCoin.

Signing an address with your funds is just so sick, an aspect of that can definitely be incorporated in the real world money.

[Rose_btc]

Yes, Banks charge people for any administrative work that they do for them. The withdrawal of money in the Bank is more expensive than the withdrawal at the ATM, because human interaction is more expensive <salaries> than electronic interaction. You also pay a premium for the stationary that are used, because they over charge you for the paper/ink/stamp etc.

So, if you had full control over your bitcoins, you could simply sign the Bitcoin address with a message to show that you own the bitcoins in that address and the Blockchain will give them all the data that they want. 

I do understand that banks are charging more money for administrative work, and salaries, and other day to day operational expenses are there. And they are also providing us various other services etc.

Now what I want to say is, At least In India, how does it happen is banks, are giving an interest of 4% annually on my money, and if someone wants to take loans they are giving it on 10 - 12% interest rate, which is a lot of money. So they already are making so much money, and for every small things, like transacting from ATM more than 5 times in a month, they will charge one time fee, and even for this small seal and stamp work they can charge, but not cheat or scam. In the current state it is all `we decide the rule of the game`

[Kyraishi]

Is it just me, or does anyone else think OP is making a story out of nothing? I don't see anything wrong with taking a very, very small fee for a bank to provide their seal on a document and basically verify it for everyone, I'm pretty sure all banks do this and it's fairly common practice, a bit annoying for sure, but it's understandable.

Now what I want to say is, At least In India, how does it happen is banks, are giving an interest of 4% annually on my money, and if someone wants to take loans they are giving it on 10 - 12% interest rate, which is a lot of money. So they already are making so much money, and for every small things, like transacting from ATM more than 5 times in a month, they will charge one time fee, and even for this small seal and stamp work they can charge, but not cheat or scam. In the current state it is all `we decide the rule of the game`

This is what usually happens with most countries, actually, India has it a bit better since their inflation is only around the 3.4%, which means you can actually profit off this, which can't be said for some other countries.

It's what banks are going to do, unfortunately, squeeze as much money out of their customers for performing actions as possible.

[crwth]

I recently went for USA Visa interview , i.e I applied for a business visa.

I don't know how Bitcoin would help you directly get a Business Visa but what I think you can do is earn the money to pay for those 100 INR charges for those statements. I do know that most of the banks do bill you for just getting your statements and those fees would differ whether you have the right account or not. So example, they would give zero fees with those accounts that have been with them for a long time and have a lot of money in the bank. For accounts that are not so big, they would probably charge you that 100 INR per statement. That's the reality.  You can never be helped by Bitcoin to get a Visa unless it would be accepted by the authority in which USA Visa's are given. I just don't see the point and connection.

[jhonjhon]

Yes, Banks charge people for any administrative work that they do for them. The withdrawal of money in the Bank is more expensive than the withdrawal at the ATM, because human interaction is more expensive <salaries> than electronic interaction. You also pay a premium for the stationary that are used, because they over charge you for the paper/ink/stamp etc.

So, if you had full control over your bitcoins, you could simply sign the Bitcoin address with a message to show that you own the bitcoins in that address and the Blockchain will give them all the data that they want. 

This is very true, considering you already went the hassle of lining up for you to do withdrawal at a teller which can be very inconvenient and yet they will charge you even more compared when you do it in an ATM machine. Also I had an experience that I had to change my card because it not working because they changed the type of card that should be on my account but then was charged for the replacement because I didn't open the account in their branch, geez and some bank personnel aren't that professional in treating customers. Anyways, bitcoin is easier and convenient better to save in bitcoins.

[stompix]

Is it just me, or does anyone else think OP is making a story out of nothing? I don't see anything wrong with taking a very, very small fee for a bank to provide their seal on a document and basically verify it for everyone, I'm pretty sure all banks do this and it's fairly common practice, a bit annoying for sure, but it's understandable.

Yeah, we need another subject to prove banks are evil but we still use them because we're masochist or bitcoin is not helping us in some situations because it can't.

Now, the OP is angry that the bank charged him 1.5$ for a statement.
I welcome you to the western world where in the nearby mall it cost me 25 euro cents to print a A4 paper.
The horror!!!

Funny how people are annoyed by a 1$ fee a month but when the tx went up to 10$ they were all defending saying is not that much.
Hypocrisy? Of course.

So, if you had full control over your bitcoins, you could simply sign the Bitcoin address with a message to show that you own the bitcoins in that address and the Blockchain will give them all the data that they want.  

It doesn't work that way.
They are not interested in the balance, they asked that statement to check the source of the funds in the last period and see if there is anything that connects the funding to something else or there is a group behind that is inflating those numbers.

Evidence of funds to cover your expenses while in the United States
That you have a residence outside the U.S., as well as other binding social or economic ties, that will ensure your return abroad at the end of your visit

How do you prove with bitcoin that the money you get from an address is your monthly paycheck and not just yourself funding that address in a circle?