> Sure there can also be interesting discussions about actual bank account closures, but I think it's a lot more of a minority, there's better recourses, and most decent countries will be willing to guarantee citizens can get some form of banking whatever their situation.
I think you're just speaking form your personal point of view as an entrepreneur. Losing access to the payment system would be the end of your career, yes. But losing the ability to hold a basic checking account would be a death sentence for most normal citizens, including you.
Think of everything that is primarily paid in checks or bank transfers. Think of all your income that you receive primarily in checks or bank transfers form.
Now think of using cash for those use cases. You'll quickly find that it's untenable and sometimes plain impossible. Cashing a personal check your grandma sent you? Forget about it. Cashing a pay check? Go to one of those cash-for-check places that keep 20% of it!
"death sentence": about 5 million households in the US do not have checking accounts. Although it's a great inconvenience, and in many cases may be an injustice, it doesn't seem incompatible with life.
Note that a "normal" checking account customer poses basically zero risk to a bank - money goes in via direct deposit, comes out via debit, ACH, and withdrawals, and the bank is never left holding the bag.
From the article: Employees of crypto companies are not "normal" bank customers. Recent history shows that there is a significant risk that they may deposit commingled funds from their employer, which (a) puts the bank at risk for huge money-laundering fines, and (b) puts it at additional risk (I think?) if the crypto company fails.
If you have a credit score of 300 and complain about not being able to get a mortgage, I won't have a lot of sympathy. If your employment history is spotty and you're not a full-time employee, I might have more sympathy but I'll still understand why it would be hard to get a loan.
It turns out that if you work for a crypto company, you're a bigger risk to the bank than someone with bad credit is to a mortgage lender, as the possible losses are far higher than the amount of money they'd ever make off of you, and the fraction of crypto companies that have gone down that route is uncomfortably high. Oh well.
BTW, Walmart charges $4 to cash checks less than $1000, and $8 for $1000-$5000. If Grandma's check is $200 or less, it will cost $6. Your local post office will sell you a money order (up to $1000) for about $3, and you can get prepaid credit cards to pay online bills at your local 7-11, again for prices in the single digits.
I think you're just speaking form your personal point of view as an entrepreneur. Losing access to the payment system would be the end of your career, yes. But losing the ability to hold a basic checking account would be a death sentence for most normal citizens, including you.
Think of everything that is primarily paid in checks or bank transfers. Think of all your income that you receive primarily in checks or bank transfers form.
Now think of using cash for those use cases. You'll quickly find that it's untenable and sometimes plain impossible. Cashing a personal check your grandma sent you? Forget about it. Cashing a pay check? Go to one of those cash-for-check places that keep 20% of it!