Today i went downstairs, mind full of excitement; ready to check the mail. I had been expecting a package from eBay that had claimed it was out for delivery today. To my dismay the mail had been delivered but my package was not there. To make things worse, there was a first class U.S. Postage Paid PrintMail addressed to me from my local bank. Oh, but this wasn’t even personal... My girlfriend and even my father who both happen to have an open account at the same bank, also received the same piece of mail.
I wondered what my bank could possibly even want from me? I hardly ever even visit the place anymore since they have a mobile app available on the App Store. As i flipped over the card and began to read the content on the back side, there it was like a rotten tomato in the back of the fridge, “CASH WITHDRAW LIMITATIONS: You may withdraw no more than $500.00 through the use of ATMs in any one day, OR, if you are under age 18 you may withdraw no more than $250.00 from your On Your Way Checking or On Your Way Savings through the use of an ATM in any one day.” The card went on and on about a load of new limitations on my bank account effective by March 15th, 2021.
This was a problem to me because regardless of if I even wanted to use more than $500 per day, now my bank is telling me I cannot. When I thought about how my money in my account was mine and the bank was telling me what I can and cannot do with my own money, it kinda made me rethink everything I once knew about banks. Or at least everything that I thought I knew about banks and the account options made available to me. Bitcoin hasn’t tried to limit me and tell me how much of my coin that i can use in a day. I truly realized that my bank and many other banks just stank. Now i use the past tense version of the word stink, not only because it rhymes with the word “bank” but also because just like the word stank; i am trying to leave my bank in the past tense as well.
As someone who is new to the world of crypto, I learned recently that when dealing with cryptocurrency; if you do not have access to the private key then you simply do not have true ownership of your crypto. I have also read online countless of times and heard plenty of older and wiser folk rant on and on about the fact that if you don’t buy physical gold or silver, then you do not really own the gold or silver that you have purchased on an online account. They would argue that true wealth is tangible or in other words, possible to hold or touch. Technically my private key when dealing with cryptocurrency is the same type of deal. I could keep it safe like a gold coin and protect my wealth with a fire proof safe or vault. This is not even to mention my that my hardware wallet would be extremely hard to hack into and steal my assets from.
When dealing with banks and bank accounts however, I don’t have anything other than a card to spend with and hackers or fraud is basically expected. To make things even worse they just adjusted my limitations on that card! They give me no private key, or no physical wealth to hold onto. They just take my money and promise me safe keeping and then the second I walk out of the bank, I’m pretty sure they invest my money and give me an annual return of 1%. I’m no expert but they probably made way more than 1% off of my money in my account and i only get back a measly 1%. I have seen plenty of regular bank cards or even crypto cards with better annual return percentages. However, I wouldn’t even recommend getting a crypto card because many of them are literally just banks working with exchanges and that kind of defeats the purpose of ditching the bank. Personally i think i will end up leaving my bank behind for the most part and begin heading towards more of a crypto friendly future where I am literally in full control of my assets.
I have a lot of research and learning to do before I leave my bank behind in the dust and exclusively use crypto, and so should anyone else who wants to do the same. But just think of how great it will feel to finally have full custody of all owned assets. The traditional idea of banks in my opinion are just outdated or old news. I think eventually more cities, countries, and governments will shift towards the crypto revolution and when that happens the only banks around will be ones who decided to buck up and HODL some Bitcoin or other digital assets.
The world is changing fast and so are people’s minds. Cities like Miami and even some employers around the country are starting to offer payment in Bitcoin or even allow purchases of their goods and services to be made with bitcoin. Imagine buying things in crypto but without a crypto card that is owned by a bank and all those bank fees that come along with it. You could pay a simple network fee and then you would be on your way. It isn’t very hard to imagine. People like myself and plenty of others, are waking up daily to the idea that banks do not have their customers best interests in mind. Everyday people are starting to realize that bankers are typically just in it for themselves, and now those same everyday people can look out for themselves as well. The answer could be as simple as just becoming your own bank with digital assets like Bitcoin and other alt coins, and that solution gets more inviting each and everyday that I keep my old bank account open and actively use it.
