"Be your own Bank with Bitcoin" - A reminder why this is so important!

[Lucius]

Bitcoin will always be the "alternative" currency, when the shit hits the fan in the Banking industry. It will find it very difficult to be the primary or reserve currency, because the governments are blocking that privilege. 

There are few countries in the world that prohibit the use of Bitcoin as a means of payment in public use, and most do not prohibit it in any way - but you still do not see large companies and small sellers deciding to accept Bitcoin as a payment currency. The reason is more than clear to me, and that is the volatility of the Bitcoin price - although most people are not aware that they can bypass this with payment processors that will enable them to receive fiat on their account.

Let's face it, it's not an ideal solution, but it's still better than nothing. Another way is to use LN, which provides instant transactions, but this is still too much of an unknown for most of those who would like to pay something with Bitcoin.

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[el kaka22]

This type of story always makes me laugh. She literally had to "rob" the bank to get her own money, and like she could have asked for more, she could have asked for everyone’s money, the bank was probably willing after seeing her with the gun, and that means she purposely didn't want anyone’s money, she just wanted her own money and that is a wonderful thing.

I know that we shouldn't glorize these type of gun related stuff, it is traumatizing to so many people who were in the bank that day, and the teller has no say in this, banks decide this and the one you point the gun to is a teller, not the bank CEO, but still, getting out with only her money is a good move.

[Russlenat]

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/woman-holds-up-lebanese-bank-13000-her-own-money-advocacy-group-says-2022-09-14/

" One woman with a gun and some associates briefly held hostages at a branch of BLOM Bank (BLOM.BY) in the capital Beirut, before leaving with more than $13,000 in cash from her account.... "

" Lebanon's banks have locked most depositors out of their savings since an economic crisis took hold three years ago, leaving much of the population unable to pay for basics. "

Let's just imagine this scenario where you have to "rob" a Bank to get access to your own money that you deposited with them. We think these things are impossible, but it is happening and this is a reminder that it does still happen. 

Bitcoin allows you to be your OWN Bank .....and it allows you to have access to your own money, without any intermediary having the power to block it. Just make sure that you have sole access to your Private keys. 

Unfortunately, banks these days are not reliable anymore. They can be very entertaining at the time when we are depositing, but when we decide to suddenly withdraw our funds, most likely they will make it hard for us. I'm not pertaining to all the banks, but there are really few banks who are acting like this. Im just saddened with what the woman go through just to get her own money. If its in bitcoin, this won't be happening to her as bitcoin serves as our own bank and that's why its fully decentralized.

[trendcoin]

This news is an absolute tragedy. I was truly saddened listening to the poor woman's explanations. Moreover, the money that the woman wants to get back is only $13,000. :( A similar situation was experienced by people who could not buy plane tickets during the Venezuelan economic crisis...

I don't think of such extreme situations most of the time, but there are bad times when Bitcoin -exactly- comes to the position of the savior. In such chaotic times, we need to protect our lives first and then our material assets. Our life is entrusted to God, our money is entrusted to Bitcoin. :)

[Scripture]

This news is an absolute tragedy. I was truly saddened listening to the poor woman's explanations. Moreover, the money that the woman wants to get back is only $13,000. A similar situation was experienced by people who could not buy plane tickets during the Venezuelan economic crisis...

I don't think of such extreme situations most of the time, but there are bad times when Bitcoin -exactly- comes to the position of the savior. In such chaotic times, we need to protect our lives first and then our material assets. Our life is entrusted to God, our money is entrusted to Bitcoin.

Ordinary saver are the one to suffer here the most while the banks are just using our money to continue their business. This is indeed a sad story and a reality that even with the banks, we can’t totally control our money. It’s good now that we have Bitcoin as an option or a crypto wallet, I hope many will start to learn how to use cryptocurrency, this is for the benefit of everyone especially ordinary people.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

Bitcoin allows you to be your OWN Bank .....and it allows you to have access to your own money, without any intermediary having the power to block it. Just make sure that you have sole access to your Private keys. 

Bitcoining or Banking all have their respective risks, though I agree with you that it is time people start learning to become their own bank, but then, you must agree with me that we mustn't all be our own banks... We all should buy and hold bitcoin, but I think the banking system should still be there as an alternative to those who are not well educated enough to cope or understand the operability in bitcoin and cryptocurrencies - this is in respect to our grand parents and great grand parents that are still alive today, this group of persons or individuals will never want to go out of their traditional means of transacting, hence, they never can get involved in bitcoin no matter how you try to convince them.

[P2PECS]

Bitcoin allows you to be your OWN Bank .....and it allows you to have access to your own money, without any intermediary having the power to block it. Just make sure that you have sole access to your Private keys. 

I agree and believe that responsible people should have a portion of their savings in BTC. Not all of it, because today it has many drawbacks, including the wrench attack, as discussed later, but part in the bank and part in BTC. That way, if you find that the bank has frozen your funds, it has not frozen them all and you can use BTC.

[traderethereum]

I imagine in the future, we all have bitcoins in our wallets and don't keep our money in the bank because the government gives us the option to save money.
If we want to buy something, we can pay using bitcoin or exchange our bitcoins to a local exchange and then they send the money to our bank and we just need to withdraw the money through an ATM.
If the government can do that to the people, I think it will give us a choice so we can be free to save our money and not be tied to the bank.
The news that circulated was very sad. People could not withdraw their money from the bank even though the government told them to keep their money in the bank.

[Darker45]

I imagine in the future, we all have bitcoins in our wallets and don't keep our money in the bank because the government gives us the option to save money.
If we want to buy something, we can pay using bitcoin or exchange our bitcoins to a local exchange and then they send the money to our bank and we just need to withdraw the money through an ATM.
If the government can do that to the people, I think it will give us a choice so we can be free to save our money and not be tied to the bank.
The news that circulated was very sad. People could not withdraw their money from the bank even though the government told them to keep their money in the bank.

You are confusing.

If in the future we can easily pay using Bitcoin, there is no need to convert them into fiat. Why would we when Bitcoin is already an acceptable currency? People would rather pay in Bitcoin directly.

Bitcoin makes us our own bank, why would we need to open bank accounts? And for all we know, even cash in ATMs could be frozen. It's not just over-the-counter transactions that could be halted.

[$anounimus$]

My view There are many possible reasons - security, anonymity, and awareness of what a digital currency is. The fact that Bitcoin doesn't require a central server may be far in the future when you want to create or store coins beyond the reach of banks and governments.

I don't believe that bitcoin will ever replace banks, but I think it can help people become more independent in their financial decisions and choices. The idea of starting a bitcoin-only bank is a great idea, one that I believe will be able to attract users from all over the world, and it will be as big as the current largest bank in the world. The idea of having your own bank and bitcoin wallet on your phone and computer is a great idea!

[trendcoin]

...

for some people this amount is small - but for the other it is more than the life time saving
So nothing can be compared to other.

I commented for the bank. $13,000 isn't a lot for a bank. We see banks that can't even pay $13,000, events like this should put our perspective on Bitcoin on a more solid foundation. When the fragile structure of the current financial system falters for a moment, we encounter problems that create a domino effect. We are experiencing all the environmental conditions necessary for us to question everything. Beyond theory, there is an experimental environment open to practice. These are the events where the perspective on Bitcoin can receive positive feedback from all humanity.

[samcrypto]

...

for some people this amount is small - but for the other it is more than the life time saving
So nothing can be compared to other.

I commented for the bank. $13,000 isn't a lot for a bank. We see banks that can't even pay $13,000, events like this should put our perspective on Bitcoin on a more solid foundation. When the fragile structure of the current financial system falters for a moment, we encounter problems that create a domino effect. We are experiencing all the environmental conditions necessary for us to question everything. Beyond theory, there is an experimental environment open to practice. These are the events where the perspective on Bitcoin can receive positive feedback from all humanity.

Wondering why banks need to freeze the account of many just to prevent any economic crisis but in general, people are already suffering and them without access to their money it will really be hard because expenses doesn't stop at all. I cannot blame that lady for doing this but maybe she overdone it and whatever here excuse is, she still did a crime and probably will suffer more. This is an eye opener, we should not put too much money on a bank because it is beyond our control and we should start anticipating now for the worst case scenario, especially with a threat of WW3 because that can affect all of us. Having your crypto wallet might help, but don't overconfident about that you still need a backup for cash.

[bhooscream]

This may be one of the advantages of Bitcoin. Through Bitcoin, we can have our own wallet and keys so that only we who are able to access it without any permissions. We are available to access and manage our Bitcoin 24/7wihtout any limitations. However, this is individual and more privacy. We hold our own money in our hand, not likein banks in which we seem like leave our money to the bank, moreover they also ask for our identity, and sometimes complex regulations to access and ask for our own money.

[sunsilk]

These incidents are eye openers for those people that have a lot of money in the bank, no one's money is safe there anymore.

People tend to forget that fiat money is basically IOU papers and they're usually the property of the central bank.

Money in the bank account is just a number. And a bank is a private business, hence they care about their business, not about you. While in EU there are now laws protecting the funds under certain limits, this is rather new, this is only in EU and even there... laws can change. Plus I will not even start with the crap they're doing lately because of crypto, hiding under the "in the name of KYC" blanket.

But as said, Bitcoin is also not perfect, since it's easy to steal and hide. This being said, being your own bank is, sadly, not for everybody.

However, with a bit of carefulness, Bitcoin is clearly superior. And being your own bank certainly gives a nice feeling

Well said.

AFAIK, most of the banks have their limits and will guarantee a protection and insurance for the depositors but that's not a lot. But for small time depositors, that's already big.

It's better to have that hold of your own money these days. Although no doubt that we still need cash but, don't save all of your money in the bank because this can happen at anytime that they won't allow depositors to withdraw due to economic and business reasons.

It's been happening in many countries that are tightening the procedure of the withdrawals of their depositors. This can also happen but for those that don't hold their own private keys, their bitcoins.

Those bitcoins that are deposited in the exchanges and even how hard we're campaigning that everyone should hold their keys. There are still people that are leaving their bitcoins in exchanges.

These incidents are eye-openers for those people that have a lot of money in the bank, no one's money is safe there anymore.

This has been a scenario for bank users who have been involved in serious crimes. Their accounts are being frozen and locked and they couldn't access their funds anymore. Banks always want to take control of our finances so we should be wise about where to store them. Bitcoin has been giving us a better privilege on where we could keep our funds safer.

But sadly, even the innocent ones are being held and stopped for their withdrawals. This is what centralization is all about, even how badly you need the money, your money.

If they have some procedures to be done and for some reasons, they're halting everyone's withdrawal, you can't skip it even you have no issues against them.

[Ultegra134]

Honestly, I enjoy having my money on my personal computer without it being able to be traced back to me. It works as a savings account, your own personal bank, as you mentioned. It's such a shame that Lebanon is facing this. Your money is simply being held hostage. We had something similar in Greece a few years ago, with capital controls. You were unable to withdraw large amounts of money, and it was only possible to withdraw specific amounts every week, till the restrictions were lifted. They lasted over 2-3 years, if I remember correctly. However, as the following user suggested, it doesn't protect you from being mugged.

Bitcoin doesn't remove the risks of you getting mugged. If anything, it's potentially worse with bitcoin/crypto. They just hit you with a wrench at your home until you give up access to your wallet. Hence why being private/secretive about your holdings is very important!

https://cryptosec.info/wrench-attack/

A general rule when it comes to moneymaking is to be silent about it. Either with Bitcoin, assets, or fiat currencies, it's best that people do not know that you're wealthy. I've heard quite a few instances here where people were mugged right after withdrawing from their bank accounts. If you are not cautious, you may be forced to give up your Bitcoin wallet as well. The same rule applies to everything. Let me remind you that in the past, they used to hide money inside mattresses.

[Gyfts]

And in fact, this happens a lot more than people think: https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/23/economy/china-bank-runs-protests-intl-mic-hnk/index.html

Peter had put his life savings of about $6 million into accounts at three small banks in China’s central Henan province. He says he hasn’t been able to access them since April.

You are at the bank's mercy when you declare your funds to be an asset of a centralized financial institution. Banks should be viewed as nothing more than a business. You put money into the solvency of a business, collect interest payments, and do not guarantee to yourself that your funds should be there the next day. If a bank goes under for whatever reason, what are the chances you'll receive your funds? You don't have recourse.

[Silberman]

And in fact, this happens a lot more than people think: https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/23/economy/china-bank-runs-protests-intl-mic-hnk/index.html

Peter had put his life savings of about $6 million into accounts at three small banks in China’s central Henan province. He says he hasn’t been able to access them since April.

You are at the bank's mercy when you declare your funds to be an asset of a centralized financial institution. Banks should be viewed as nothing more than a business. You put money into the solvency of a business, collect interest payments, and do not guarantee to yourself that your funds should be there the next day. If a bank goes under for whatever reason, what are the chances you'll receive your funds? You don't have recourse.

People simply decide to ignore these warning signals, they believe this isn't something which will ever happen to them until it does, but by the time they realize the truth absolutely nothing can be done to remedy this situation, banks are one of the worst places in which we can put our money, you receive a very low interest rate, if any, they can do whatever they want with your money, and in the case of an economic crisis they could even keep your money legally with the backing of the government, in that case even keeping your money under your mattress seems like a better option than most banks.

[Smack That Ace]

Bitcoin allows you to be your OWN Bank .....and it allows you to have access to your own money, without any intermediary having the power to block it. Just make sure that you have sole access to your Private keys. 

Bitcoining or Banking all have their respective risks, though I agree with you that it is time people start learning to become their own bank, but then, you must agree with me that we mustn't all be our own banks... We all should buy and hold bitcoin, but I think the banking system should still be there as an alternative to those who are not well educated enough to cope or understand the operability in bitcoin and cryptocurrencies - this is in respect to our grand parents and great grand parents that are still alive today, this group of persons or individuals will never want to go out of their traditional means of transacting, hence, they never can get involved in bitcoin no matter how you try to convince them.

Viewed objectively, both have advantages and disadvantages, banks should not be completely eliminated, they are still a part of us that we will still use in our lives. Bitcoin is your own bank but there is also the risk that if you cannot operate or store it well your bank can also be hacked by others, internet attacks are increasingly unpredictable. As you say, old people like our parents, grandparents won't be able to use bitcoin, using bitcoin is very difficult let alone storing private key.

Bitcoin holdings are not always profitable or maintain stable value. If you need money while we are in bear season and your assets are depreciating 50-70%, are you willing to use them? Of course not.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

There is also a possibility that the hardware itself could not be working anymore after some years. Replacing a new hardware wallet is not easy because you can't just buy it anywhere, most often you need to order it abroad which will cost you some money if the shipping fee is expensive.

If replacing a hardware wallet is cost-prohibitive, then I'd guess that you don't have a whole lot of crypto stored on it--or that you seriously don't have enough reserve cash or crypto to spend on such a contingency.  The cost of buying a new Ledger or Trezor or whatever HW wallet you use is kind of a minor issue when we're talking about "being your own bank" on a grand scale.

Also, keeping your seed phrase or other form of backup safe is also kind of a small, if not trivial, problem.  A seed phrase engraved or stamped on a piece of metal just needs a safe place to be kept in, no?

[gunhell16]

https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/woman-holds-up-lebanese-bank-13000-her-own-money-advocacy-group-says-2022-09-14/

" One woman with a gun and some associates briefly held hostages at a branch of BLOM Bank (BLOM.BY) in the capital Beirut, before leaving with more than $13,000 in cash from her account.... "

" Lebanon's banks have locked most depositors out of their savings since an economic crisis took hold three years ago, leaving much of the population unable to pay for basics. "

Let's just imagine this scenario where you have to "rob" a Bank to get access to your own money that you deposited with them. We think these things are impossible, but it is happening and this is a reminder that it does still happen. 

Bitcoin allows you to be your OWN Bank .....and it allows you to have access to your own money, without any intermediary having the power to block it. Just make sure that you have sole access to your Private keys. 

If we compare a bank to Bitcoin, it is quite a big difference because first of all Bitcoin is not a company while a bank is a company. But if we also look at banks and Bitcoin, there is also a risk when we invest our money.

But the percentage of risk in the bank is higher because it can be robbed by exploitative people like thieves or the bank suddenly closes without us knowing that it is a bankrupt bank. Whereas with Bitcoin there is also risk so it is not as high as a regulated bank. Because the only risk that I see with bitcoin is that if you misplace the private key, seed phrase, or password, you will not be able to recover your balance from your bitcoin address, but if you can hide it correctly and it will be good at any time. is that you can withdraw your bitcoin to exchange it for the fiat currency of your country. And the percentage is also a big chance that you will get depending on the future movement of the cryptocurrency market.