[20-02-2020] Attorney General Says Banks Can’t Refuse Services To Crypto Firms

[Thekool1s]

Israel’s Attorney General refutes court’s blanket ban on crypto related transactions in banks and financial institutions. The AG disagrees with the two-year long blanket ban on banks dealing with crypto payments stating that “each case should be handled individually to check for any case of money laundering

Personally I think it's a dumb move, Especially with what goes on in the region... I have to say it can be used to fund the terrorists, it's a no-brainer at this point... What are your thoughts? Do you think people in Isreal should be allowed to use cryptos given that more than a million Palestinians hold citizenship of Isreal and the political mess the region is in?

After looking at this conversation with a fresh set of eyes I believe this move should be welcomed. People should never give up their freedom for a false sense of security.

Link: https://coingape.com/israels-attorney-general-says-banks-cant-refuse-services-to-crypto-firms

[gentlemand]

So you reckon an entire nation should be denied this service because a few of its inhabitants might use it for nefarious ends? That's daffy. The same goes for every single country on the entire planet. There are no shortage of terrorists elsewhere and some of them are even WHITE.

[bbc.reporter]

They will do what is required of them and create more strict regulations to control the cryptospace. Enforcing those rules effectively will be another problem hehehe.

[Thekool1s]

So you reckon an entire nation should be denied this service because a few of its inhabitants might use it for nefarious ends? That's daffy. The same goes for every single country on the entire planet. There are no shortage of terrorists elsewhere and some of them are even WHITE.

Well, I agree with you on the part that there is no shortage of terrorists around the globe but the fact that the region has seen so many casualties on both the sides in the past few years that precautions should be taken, it's like America's gun problem even tho people love owning them but they have been used more in Mass shooting than in self-defence over the years... I would say it's no brainer for me, Anything which will prevent further causalities in the region should be implemented right away and that includes both the sides... I don't like or cheer for conflict, I just don't like the fact that human lives are being treated as dirt while all people care about is making money and promote their shitty agendas...

[zakoliverz]

Like any functioning form of currency, cryptocurrencies facilitate payments between parties and provide a store of value. Will add value to Banks you know.

[gentlemand]

Anything which will prevent further causalities in the region should be implemented right away and that includes both the sides... I don't like or cheer for conflict, I just don't like the fact that human lives are being treated as dirt while all people care about is making money and promote their shitty agendas...

I find that a truly bizarre attitude. The potential actions of a few hundred people should not be dictating the choices of a few million. There are likely more deaths per ten minutes from the drug trade worldwide that there are per year from terrorism in Israel. Whole countries are not cut off because of it.

[hatshepsut93]

How do you imagine the funding of terrorism is happening? You think regular citizens who sympathize with the terrorists send them some money? Because usually it's not the case, terrorists get funded by states or wealthy individuals, in this specific case Hamas is mainly funded by Iran and its allies. And it's not like they just send some money to the terrorists, they often supply them directly with goods, weapons, food, etc. Terrorism existed  long before Bitcoin was created, and Bitcoin's emergence didn't change anything.

[NeuroticFish]

Personally I think it's a dumb move

No. It's not dumb. It's a correct step towards normality, a normality where people or companies have to have the same rights (crypto oriented vs classical, for example).
What is not normal is what happens now, where banks deny to do certain things with your own money.
Banks are not law institutions. They can report the fishy actions to the law institutions and those can take over the problem. That's what I'd call normal.

[DooMAD]

What are your thoughts?

The overwhelming impression I'm left with is that you're allowing fear and prejudice to warp your perspective.  Bitcoin was designed with no borders in place, so your preference for certain nation states to attempt to restrict access because of your views of the regional politics and violence occurring there is, quite frankly, perverse.

[Thekool1s]

I find that a truly bizarre attitude.

Bizarre? You call the pacifist approach bizarre... Well, I guess we will have to agree to disagree on that one...

Because usually it's not the case, terrorists get funded by states or wealthy individuals, in this specific case Hamas is mainly funded by Iran and its allies. And it's not like they just send some money to the terrorists, they often supply them directly with goods, weapons, food, etc. Terrorism existed  long before Bitcoin was created, and Bitcoin's emergence didn't change anything.

Well, I believe these all things are accommodated via Black money... So there are mechanisms already in place which "allow" the funding to go undetected... 

@DooMAD I will reply to you in the same manner as @gentlemand. Being a pacifist isn't being perverse... I might be a bit naive with what I have said but I'm not a political person... I'm a simple guy who is fed up with seeing innocent blood spilled each day...

[DooMAD]

@DooMAD I will reply to you in the same manner as @gentlemand. Being a pacifist isn't being perverse... I might be a bit naive with what I have said but I'm not a political person... I'm a simple guy who is fed up with seeing innocent blood spilled each day...

Fair play to you, then.  I just don't see how depriving everyone access to crypto is particularly helpful to the innocent.  Ultimately, the ones who do bad things aren't going to care if their use of crypto is legal or not, so it's not going to deter them either way.  It's only the law-abiding who would suffer as a result.  Therefore, it may as well be open to everyone.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Ultimately, the ones who do bad things aren't going to care if their use of crypto is legal or not, so it's not going to deter them either way.

Not only that, but terrorism was around long before bitcoin was, as was the drug trade, human trafficking, money laundering, and all the other things that people say bitcoin is linked to. Furthermore, if suddenly some huge fatal flaw was discovered and bitcoin rendered immediately obsolete, all the things I've just mentioned would carry on regardless. All these things are abhorrent and should be condemned, but they are neither caused by, nor reliant on, bitcoin.

I always refer to this answer by Andreas Antonopoulos whenever points like these are raised: https://youtu.be/7S1rHqz43nQ?t=136

People ask me "Well, aren't you worried about the fact that you can buy drugs with this money?" As far as I'm concerned, I don't know of any form of money that you can't buy drugs with. More specifically, drugs are the second most traded commodity after food in the world and have been for the last 150,000 years. And if you couldn't buy drugs with your money, I would argue it's not actually money.

So one of the criteria of money is that you can purchase products and services, and if you couldn't purchase the second most traded commodity in the world with them, then it's not really money.

[hatshepsut93]

I find that a truly bizarre attitude.

Bizarre? You call the pacifist approach bizarre... Well, I guess we will have to agree to disagree on that one...

Because usually it's not the case, terrorists get funded by states or wealthy individuals, in this specific case Hamas is mainly funded by Iran and its allies. And it's not like they just send some money to the terrorists, they often supply them directly with goods, weapons, food, etc. Terrorism existed  long before Bitcoin was created, and Bitcoin's emergence didn't change anything.

Well, I believe these all things are accommodated via Black money... So there are mechanisms already in place which "allow" the funding to go undetected... 

@DooMAD I will reply to you in the same manner as @gentlemand. Being a pacifist isn't being perverse... I might be a bit naive with what I have said but I'm not a political person... I'm a simple guy who is fed up with seeing innocent blood spilled each day...

What does pacifism have to do with Bitcoin? You can't stop wars by banning Bitcoin, you can't prevent terrorism by banning Bitcoin, in fact there's no evidence that Bitcoin is used to fund terrorism in any significant amounts. If you start taking freedom away from your own people then the terrorists have already won, because that's exactly the point of terrorism - to provoke some negative reaction from the government to cause more conflict.

[Thekool1s]

I'm gonna backpedal here, I was just not thinking straight I guess... Maybe that had to do something with me not sleeping for 3 days straight... Anyway looking at this conversation with a fresh set of eyes ^{( literally slept for more than 20 hours )}, I can clearly see what you guys are suggesting... Bad people will always find a way to hurt people... Like e.g Automobiles aren't made to plough into people but people with bad intentions have done it, Now we can't ban cars in an area of conflict just to prevent loss of life... it may help people flee when their life is in danger... I can see how Bitcoin or other Cryptos can help people in regions which are in conflict... E.g Moving Cash would be a nightmare when there are checkpoints every 2 blocks while with bitcoin all you need is a pen drive.

[bbc.reporter]

What were you doing not sleeping for 3 days straight? I hope it did not include some items hehehe. Doing that regularly is a fast way to transform yourself from Smeagol to Gollum.

[NeuroticFish]

Maybe that had to do something with me not sleeping for 3 days straight...

You should not deprive you from sleep this much. The worse thing it could happen on the forum would be people thinking that you are trolling. But in the real life you can get into serious trouble.

[alani123]

Worth noting that it's in Israel!

I doubt any such case could become reality in the US where it matters most. First of all it's hard to define such things in federal jurisdiction, but also banks would fight it back for sure. What's more, is that businesses know better to move their banking offshore where they have guarantees their accounts won't be closed down. Fur such a case to even be brought to court, somebody would have to sue at fist. But serious creditors are never going to bother as they store funds abroad.

[gentlemand]

You should not deprive you from sleep this much. The worse thing it could happen on the forum would be people thinking that you are trolling. But in the real life you can get into serious trouble.

It's free and legal high. I was watching Cape Fear with someone after not having slept for a few days. I had to be talked out of calling the police because I thought it was happening in real time in front of me.

[DooMAD]

I doubt any such case could become reality in the US where it matters most.

Unless you mean it matters to you personally because it would benefit you, this is another common preconceived bias that isn't accurate. 

Contrary to popular belief, no, the US is not the centre of the known universe.  If you think one geographical region "matters" more than another, you probably need to check your privilege.

[alani123]

I doubt any such case could become reality in the US where it matters most.

Unless you mean it matters to you personally because it would benefit you, this is another common preconceived bias that isn't accurate.  

Contrary to popular belief, no, the US is not the centre of the known universe.  If you think one geographical region "matters" more than another, you probably need to check your privilege.

I'm in Greece so I have no benefit over accepting that the U.S. is the biggest economy in the world. It's simply a fact that most blockchain-related enterprises also have their parent organizations doing most of their business in the U.S. also. I'd argue that development of the crypto space is delayed worldwide due to how slow regulation in the world's biggest economy takes is enacted.