Jon Omega

Historical instances of confiscations, forced withdrawals from bank accounts, bank collapses and reckless inflationary policies: this is what Bitcoin is for! Yesterday, one of Paraguay’s major banks collapsed, freezing 3 million customer accounts. History, however, is full of similar scams, flawed policies and corrupt governments. 1933: USA (President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed Executive Order 6102, requiring the public to hand over most coins, bullion, and gold certificates to the Federal Reserve. Citizens were forced to hand over much of their monetary gold to the government). 1984: USA (One of the largest banks, Continental Illinois, collapsed after massive loan losses). 1989: Argentina (The government implemented the "Bonex Plan": fixed-term bank deposits were forcibly converted into ten-year, dollar-denominated government bonds. Savers lost access to their own money). 1990: Brazil (The Collor administration froze approximately 80% of bank deposits and financial investments for 18 months in an attempt to combat hyperinflation. Citizens were only permitted to withdraw limited amounts). 1991: Soviet Union (Gorbachev’s monetary reform suddenly invalidated 50 and 100 ruble banknotes, imposing strict limits on their conversion. Many citizens lost a substantial portion of their savings). 1991: USA (collapse of the Bank of New England, a major US banking group, taken over by the FDIC. It had approximately $21.8 billion in assets). 1992: Italy (On the night of July 9–10, the Amato government imposed a compulsory levy on bank and postal savings accounts, calculated based on the balances held on July 9, an extraordinary measure intended to restore public finances). 1998: Russia (The state defaulted on its ruble-denominated debt, leading to a sharp currency devaluation and a banking crisis. The interbank system seized up, and some banks restricted withdrawals during runs on the banks). 1999: Ecuador (The government declared a banking moratorium and froze deposits to address a financial crisis). 2001–2003: Argentina (The *Corralito* limited withdrawals to 250 pesos/dollars per week, per account holder. Subsequently, dollar-denominated deposits were forcibly converted into pesos. Some fixed-term deposits remained frozen until 2003). 2002: Uruguay (During a banking crisis, restrictions and suspensions were imposed on deposits). 2008: USA (The investment bank Lehman Brothers filed for bankruptcy on September 15, 2008. With approximately $639 billion in assets, it was one of the largest corporate failures in American history and contributed to the global financial crisis). 2008: USA (Washington Mutual, with $307 billion in assets, is the largest bank failure in US history. It was placed into receivership by the FDIC). 2008: Iceland (The country’s three largest banks; Glitnir, Landsbanki, and Kaupthing collapsed. The government introduced capital controls to prevent capital flight). 2008: Zimbabwe (Extreme hyperinflation led to the collapse of the Zimbabwean dollar. The national currency was gradually abandoned in favor of foreign currencies). 2011: France-Belgium (Dexia, a Franco-Belgian banking group, entered a serious crisis and underwent restructuring with public intervention and state guarantees worth tens of billions of euros). 2013: Cyprus (Banks were closed and capital controls were introduced. Depositors with more than 100,000 euro at the Bank of Cyprus were subjected to a 47.5% "bail-in"). 2015: Greece (Banks remained closed from June 28 to July 18. ATM withdrawals were limited to 60 euro per day, per card, and controls were imposed on capital transfers). 2016: India (Modi announced the immediate revocation of the legal tender status of 500 and 1,000 rupee banknotes. Citizens were required to deposit or exchange them through the banking system, facing strict limitations and long queues). 2016: Turkey (During a seizure of power, the government blocked bank accounts, as well as access to social networks and communication platforms, in order to control the spread of information and maintain public order). 2019: Lebanon (Banks introduced informal restrictions on dollar withdrawals and international transfers. Savers could no longer freely access their foreign currency deposits. These restrictions persisted in the years that followed). 2021: Venezuela (Average annual inflation of approximately 1,588.5%. The bolívar lost much of its purchasing power, and the population increasingly relied on dollars and other monetary alternatives). 2022: Canada (During the "Freedom Convoy", emergency measures allowed for the freezing of accounts and financial products linked to the protests. Financial institutions reported approximately 280 frozen accounts, totaling around 8 million Canadian dollars). 2022–2023: Russia (Following international sanctions, the Central Bank of Russia limited foreign currency cash withdrawals to $10,000 per account. Any remaining funds could be withdrawn in rubles. This restriction was extended until March 2023). 2023: USA (Silicon Valley Bank for $209 billion, Signature Bank for $110.4 billion and First Republic Bank for $229.1 billion were closed by the authorities and transferred to other institutions). 2023: Switzerland (Credit Suisse, a major global systemically important bank, was acquired by UBS in an emergency transaction organized by the Swiss authorities. The transaction included a write-down of approximately CHF 16 billion of AT1 bonds). 2023: Nigeria (A reform of the naira currency notes triggered a severe liquidity crisis. Withdrawal restrictions and a cash shortage left many citizens and businesses without access to the money needed for daily transactions). 2023: Zimbabwe (CPI inflation at year-end reached 778.8%, according to data reported by the IMF). 2026: Paraguay (On November 2, the Central Bank initiated resolution proceedings for Ueno Bank after its solvency ratio fell to less than half of the regulatory minimum. Approximately 3 million customers were affected). Bitcoin cannot prevent governments from making bad decisions, banks from collapsing, or currencies from losing value. But it gives individuals an alternative: an asset they can hold themselves, without needing permission from a bank or government to access it.