4 ms·

If you can explain to me — without gaining citizenship in another country, or spending any large amount of money — how I can open a bank account in a country wi

If you can explain to me — without gaining citizenship in another country, or spending any large amount of money — how I can open a bank account in a country with good bank protections (meaning my account wont arbitrarily be closed/bank wont fail, or the denomination within wont become worthless), you would be right. But I don't think that is the reality we live in.

notch656a 4y ago
That's pretty much my point. It isn't technically infeasible but rather infeasible due to collusion of governments in the form of KYC/AML and other tyrannies against the populace.
- anigbrowl 4y ago
  This is valid but a half-point. I still have rather bitter memories of my brick-and-mortar bank slowly bleeding my checking account dry during a period of low income for 'failure to maintain a minimum balance.' Public overreach and private greed are two sides of the same coin, and addressing one without the other is a bit facile. The tyrannies you describe are often tolerated and sometimes engineered by economic incumbents who want to maintain their dominant position. It's not that I think your view is wrong so much as incomplete.
  - notch656a 4y ago
    A back-handed compliment is the closest I ever get to a real one on HN, so I'll take it.
MrPatan 4y ago
[redacted] fixes this
notpushkin 4y ago
I think you could open an account in Revolut (Lithuania) fairly easily before the Russo-Ukrainian war (the 2022 escalation specifically). You can still sign up with them, but you need at least a work visa in the EU. Shameless plug: https://revolut.com/referral/aleksamc7!DEC1-22-VR-EE https://revolut.com/referral/aleksamc7!DEC1-22-VR-EE You still can open account in Wise (UK / Belgium and other countries), though not from Iran I think (thanks to sanctions). It's not a bank but is an EMI and is regulated stricter than a bank. You can only order a card in handful of countries besides EU and the US, but for storing money it should OK. Shameless plug: https://ale.sh/r/wise https://ale.sh/r/wise If you live in Iran though... good luck, you'll need it.
- iamthirsty 4y ago
  So, at the moment, you can't open a legit bank account.
ashwagary 4y ago
Bitcoin allows you to open infinite free bank accounts and the contents are extremely hard to confiscate.

notch656a 4y ago

That's pretty much my point. It isn't technically infeasible but rather infeasible due to collusion of governments in the form of KYC/AML and other tyrannies against the populace.

anigbrowl 4y ago
This is valid but a half-point. I still have rather bitter memories of my brick-and-mortar bank slowly bleeding my checking account dry during a period of low income for 'failure to maintain a minimum balance.' Public overreach and private greed are two sides of the same coin, and addressing one without the other is a bit facile. The tyrannies you describe are often tolerated and sometimes engineered by economic incumbents who want to maintain their dominant position. It's not that I think your view is wrong so much as incomplete.
- notch656a 4y ago
  A back-handed compliment is the closest I ever get to a real one on HN, so I'll take it.

MrPatan 4y ago

[redacted] fixes this

notpushkin 4y ago

I think you could open an account in Revolut (Lithuania) fairly easily before the Russo-Ukrainian war (the 2022 escalation specifically). You can still sign up with them, but you need at least a work visa in the EU. Shameless plug: https://revolut.com/referral/aleksamc7!DEC1-22-VR-EE https://revolut.com/referral/aleksamc7!DEC1-22-VR-EE You still can open account in Wise (UK / Belgium and other countries), though not from Iran I think (thanks to sanctions). It's not a bank but is an EMI and is regulated stricter than a bank. You can only order a card in handful of countries besides EU and the US, but for storing money it should OK. Shameless plug: https://ale.sh/r/wise https://ale.sh/r/wise If you live in Iran though... good luck, you'll need it.

iamthirsty 4y ago
So, at the moment, you can't open a legit bank account.

ashwagary 4y ago

Bitcoin allows you to open infinite free bank accounts and the contents are extremely hard to confiscate.