A few weeks ago, in September 2021, I brought to your attention a rather incredible number: $332B. This figure represents the total fines paid by the world's leading banks since 2000 for breaking the rules in the world of financial services.
The various rules broken over the past twenty years by banks such as Bank of America, JPMorgan, Citigroup, Wells Fargo, Deutsche Bank or Goldman Sachs are varied and diverse, as you can see by quickly reading the list of the main reasons that led to these penalties :
- Abuse of mortgage loans.
- Fraud.
- Toxic abuse of securities.
- Violation of investor protection.
- Violation of the economic sanction.
- Breach of consumer protection
- Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
- Weaknesses in combating money laundering.
- Bank violation.
- False Claims and Related Act.
- Manipulation of the foreign exchange market.
- Price-fixing or anti-competitive practices.
- Manipulation of the reference interest rate.
- Tax violations.
Bank of America was fined over $82 billion over 20 years. The $332 billion figure is even more impressive because it only represents the penalties paid by the banks, not the actual value of the damages suffered by the banks' customers.
Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin to provide an alternative to the corrupt and flawed banking system
As you can imagine, for $332 billion in penalties, the banks have ten times the profits from their actions, showing total corruption of the banking system, but also a general failure.
Satoshi Nakamoto already had this in mind when he created Bitcoin, as I often like to remind people with this quote from Bitcoin's creator:
“The main problem with conventional currency is all the trust it takes to make it work. The central bank must be trusted not to devalue the currency, but the history of fiat currencies is littered with violations of that trust. Banks are supposed to be trusted to hold our money and transfer it electronically, but they lend it out in waves of credit bubbles with barely a fraction of the reserve. We have to trust them with our privacy, trust them to keep identity thieves from draining our accounts. Their huge overheads make micropayments impossible.”
The fact that it was impossible to trust the central and private banks led Satoshi Nakamoto to create an alternative system owned by the majority. We can only thank Satoshi Nakamoto for giving us Bitcoin as a priceless gift to humanity. Now it's up to us to put it to good use so that the Bitcoin revolution can come to an end.
In today's world it is becoming clear to more and more people that there is a need for a weapon to fight the current banking system and its abuses. The latest example came from Israel in the past few days.
Esther Freeman Turned $3.2K Bitcoin Investment into Just Over $320K
It is about Esther Freeman, a 69-year-old retired citizen of Israel. In 2013, Esther decided to invest $3240 in Bitcoin, following the advice of her son and nephews:
“I listened to my son and my nephews, the young guys, and I said an attempt will be made. Without any knowledge of the subject, in the true innocence of an ordinary citizen. I never thought that NIS 10,000 would become almost NIS 1 million.”
Esther Freeman has been patient since 2013 to remain a Bitcoin HODLer no matter what. Today, she is rewarded for her faith in the Bitcoin revolution, as she was able to multiply her initial investment by x100. She turned her $3240 investment into just over $320K.
All this sounds idyllic to Esther Freeman, but there is something, but as always in the banking system. Her longtime bank, Bank Hapoalim, refuses to let her transfer bitcoin converted to fiat currency on the exchange platform she uses to her bank account.
The reason that was given by Bank Hapoalim? Esther Freeman used cash in 2013 to fund her $3,240 purchase of bitcoin, so Bank Hapoalim explains that the money originally used may have been linked to "money laundering or terrorist financing." The bank went even further, responding to Esther Freeman with this:
"The characteristics of virtual (ie digital) currencies allow them to be transferred anonymously and unsupervised, often bypassing the need to use the financial factors that apply to the AML/CFT regime.
Her bank abuses its power by denying Esther Freeman the ability to recover funds from the sale of her bitcoin
This is an abuse of power on the part of Bank Hapoalim, but this is not surprising since the banking system is built on arbitrary rules put in place by a minority of corrupt people. Everything is done to prevent you from using the fruits of your labor as you wish.
Esther Freeman has protected the fruits of her labor from the ravages of monetary inflation on the Bitcoin network. She should be able to take advantage of that today, having the freedom to use her wealth as she pleases. But this is impossible within the current banking system. This only reinforces the need to have the bitcoin system at your disposal and especially to go hyperbitcoinization so that you can use your wealth directly in BTC without going back to fiat currency.
To get her money back, Esther Freeman hires lawyer Shaul Tsioni and begins legal proceedings against her longtime bank. Esther says she has always been a loyal customer and now wants her money back to help one of her children:
"The bank knows my behavior. I have no money anywhere else, only in Bank Hapoalim. They know I don't launder capital and I don't do business outside the bank. I'm retired. All four of my children have bank accounts. The money I need to help one of my children buy an apartment.”
Shaul Tsioni said his client wanted the court to declare that the money invested in Bitcoin by Esther Freeman was “ known, clear and supported by references ". In addition, Freeman kept his bitcoins in various digital wallets where no transactions took place. This, of course, confirmed Esther Freeman's claim.
The court ruled in favor of Esther Freeman, but Bank Hapoalim decided to take time to decide whether to follow the court's decision
The court agreed with Esther Freeman, ruling that Bank Hapoalim should not restrict the activity of its customers' accounts solely because they are linked to digital currencies such as Bitcoin. Instead of immediately complying with this court decision, Bank Hapoalim promised to study the details of this court decision and respond in a timely manner.
This is yet another abuse of power by Bank Hapoalim when Esther Freeman should be allowed to enjoy the fruits of her savings as she sees fit. The example of Esther Freeman is just another example of banks not only attacking Bitcoin, but also abusing their power by making arbitrary decisions against customers.
Bitcoin is definitely your best weapon to protect yourself from this corrupt and flawed banking system. All the while supporting the progression of the bitcoin revolution, so the hyperbitcoinization of the world will allow you to switch to bitcoin as an alternative system so that you no longer have to depend on the banking system.
This is the ideal that all bitcoins will pursue in the coming years.