Spain confiscates 0.03% of all bank deposits.

[ThomasCrowne]

they're so knee-deep in shit that there's not really much else they can do.

It's really time that people see the benefit of Bitcoin.

it's not like bitcoin is the only other alternative option though.

Nope...those damn Spaniards are famous for loving/hoarding their gold.  Only the uber-wealthy Spaniards will take a serious look at bitcoin as a store of value given the volatility over the past 8 months.  Once things settle down for awhile or the next big surge comes then watch out whatever government is in charge of the next collapsing economy.  Domino effect has begun fellas.  So much for the Debt-based Fiat systems lasting forever huh?

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[cr1776]

It is not right to penalise those who worked hard and save up for retirement, over those who spend every penny they earn.

Funny thing is, I've spoken with people who regard savers as selfish pricks that are hoarding money instead of spending it and helping to keep others employed.  The person commenting is usually young, without any savings, and with huge debts for rapidly value depreciating products.

Exactly. And you see it here often too - all the talk about "hoarders" and "redistributing their bitcoins" if they aren't used it X time.  It is always easier to try to get someone else to pay more to support you than to do so yourself.

[counter]

A step in the wrong direction and is bullish for bitcoin.  These types of fees have a way of going up incrementally over time.  Thanks alot for bringing this to our attention I plan to follow this story as things progress.

[DannyElfman]

It is not right to penalise those who worked hard and save up for retirement, over those who spend every penny they earn.

Funny thing is, I've spoken with people who regard savers as selfish pricks that are hoarding money instead of spending it and helping to keep others employed.  The person commenting is usually young, without any savings, and with huge debts for rapidly value depreciating products.

These people are generally very liberal and will come to expect that everything will be paid for by the government and the successful.

[tee-rex]

It is not right to penalise those who worked hard and save up for retirement, over those who spend every penny they earn.

Funny thing is, I've spoken with people who regard savers as selfish pricks that are hoarding money instead of spending it and helping to keep others employed.  The person commenting is usually young, without any savings, and with huge debts for rapidly value depreciating products.

These people are generally very liberal and will come to expect that everything will be paid for by the government and the successful.

And often living off their parents' income ("the person commenting is usually young").

[onezerobit]

Moves like these is why people trust the decentralized virtual currency, and this move begs for spanish people to unify for bitcoins

[CryptInvest]

This decision once again confirms the reliability of Bitcoin as a long term investment

[Harley997]

A step in the wrong direction and is bullish for bitcoin.  These types of fees have a way of going up incrementally over time.  Thanks alot for bringing this to our attention I plan to follow this story as things progress.

I don't think that they took a large enough percentage of bank deposits for this to be bullish for bitcoin. I am sure that people will not like this however It would amount to losing around a years worth of interest and would likely not get a lot of people to stop using the banking system.

[Skele]

This new supports Bitcoin, buy more now before is too late, it is a great long-term profitable investment.

Soon or later everyone will get infected by the only virus which brings more benefits than bad things: Bitcoins

[freedomno1]

Start small have a tiny precedent no one will complain about
But a precedent nonetheless to set and to pave the way for making a larger confiscation in the future.
Not a good sign at all here.

[Ron~Popeil]

Start small have a tiny precedent no one will complain about
But a precedent nonetheless to set the pave the way for making a larger confiscation in the future.
Not a good sign at all here.

That was my thought as well. Get people used to the idea by taking a small amount then take larger and larger amounts over time. Sort of like a progressive income tax but using time to dilate the process instead of progressively larger amounts from smaller and smaller groups of people.

[InwardContour]

Start small have a tiny precedent no one will complain about
But a precedent nonetheless to set the pave the way for making a larger confiscation in the future.
Not a good sign at all here.

That was my thought as well. Get people used to the idea by taking a small amount then take larger and larger amounts over time. Sort of like a progressive income tax but using time to dilate the process instead of progressively larger amounts from smaller and smaller groups of people.

But the amount taken was very small, less the what Spaniards likely earned in interest in their bank accounts in one year so the net effect was essentially zero.

The EU banks are still very questionable in reference to their health and may or may not be able to payout deposits as needed.

[hollowframe]

Start small have a tiny precedent no one will complain about
But a precedent nonetheless to set the pave the way for making a larger confiscation in the future.
Not a good sign at all here.

That was my thought as well. Get people used to the idea by taking a small amount then take larger and larger amounts over time. Sort of like a progressive income tax but using time to dilate the process instead of progressively larger amounts from smaller and smaller groups of people.

Hopefully a larger percentage of bank deposits will not need to be confiscated. If it does then I would say that people would move their money out of spanish bank deposits and into bitcoin, like what happened in cypris.

[freedomno1]

Start small have a tiny precedent no one will complain about
But a precedent nonetheless to set the pave the way for making a larger confiscation in the future.
Not a good sign at all here.

That was my thought as well. Get people used to the idea by taking a small amount then take larger and larger amounts over time. Sort of like a progressive income tax but using time to dilate the process instead of progressively larger amounts from smaller and smaller groups of people.

But the amount taken was very small, less the what Spaniards likely earned in interest in their bank accounts in one year so the net effect was essentially zero.

The EU banks are still very questionable in reference to their health and may or may not be able to payout deposits as needed.

Well you know what they say start small and work your way up
But basically it's the government saying we can't manage our books so we are introducing this fee to allow us to keep spending without needing to worry about fiscal austerity, do not worry its only going to be a small tiny fraction of a percent. (But it could become more if we need it)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/07/04/spain-tax-deposits-idUSL6N0PF2SF20140704

The country has one of the lowest tax takes in the European Union after a burst property bubble crippled the construction sector, one of the largest contributors to government coffers.

Madrid passed in June a blueprint for tax reform which aims to cut income and corporate taxes to stimulate consumer demand and investment in the midst of a nascent economic recovery.

Kind of backwards in a sense but who knows that might work lower taxes in the hunt for that Laffer Curve that probably was set at a higher tax bracket but this looks more politically appealing .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laffer_curve

[theonewhowaskazu]

If I was a politician who wanted to steal this small of a portion of people's bank deposits, I would just implement a special tax on interest that equates to the same thing, justifying it because "the depositors aren't working or doing anything to earn that income anyway." Maybe toss in some leech imagery if the tax is at all unpopular. Or even better, just print 0.03% more money and thereby tax even people holding cash, without anybody noticing at all.

Doing it this way just seems like a terrible political decision.

[Bit_Happy]

Despite the small %, shouldn't this cause a panic of people taking all their money out of Spain's banks?

[freedomno1]

Despite the small %, shouldn't this cause a panic of people taking all their money out of Spain's banks?

Perhaps if the citizens think this is just a test and will become something larger later on.
Kind of hard to say for certain what will happen though

[micaman]

It's just like theft, but they call it politics.
Now try to picture it with bitcoin... nah

[CoinsCoinsEverywhere]

It's just like theft, but they call it politics.
Now try to picture it with bitcoin... nah

They may not be able to just skim a little off the top with bitcoin, but they could kill it.  If a large government or other organization wants to destroy bitcoin, there are a number of things they could do that would at least damage it.

As for Spain's "confiscation," it sounds like an experiment to me--see what kind of reaction it draws from its citizens and the financial markets to gauge the feasibility of doing it again, probably with a higher percentage.  I mean really--how much good would 0.03% do for their economy anyway?  It's just a drop in the bucket.  That's not going to help anything.

[micaman]

It's just like theft, but they call it politics.
Now try to picture it with bitcoin... nah

They may not be able to just skim a little off the top with bitcoin, but they could kill it.  If a large government or other organization wants to destroy bitcoin, there are a number of things they could do that would at least damage it.

As for Spain's "confiscation," it sounds like an experiment to me--see what kind of reaction it draws from its citizens and the financial markets to gauge the feasibility of doing it again, probably with a higher percentage.  I mean really--how much good would 0.03% do for their economy anyway?  It's just a drop in the bucket.  That's not going to help anything.

They would definitely kill it. Or at least lose a lot of its value. But i guess there would be so many different coins that they can't "regulate" them all.