Because it being backed by actual USD also means it's subject to the reach of the US federal government. That means your funds can potentially be arbitrarily frozen/seized.
2. "seize you" is much harder to do (ie. court conviction) than freezing a bank/stablecoin account
What activities can a non-american do that would result in seizure of their funds, but wouldn't also subject them to arrest? (other than accruing IRS debt)
If your net worth is high enough to afford such an arrangement, by all means do that.
> What activities can a non-american do that would result in seizure of their funds, but wouldn't also subject them to arrest? (other than accruing IRS debt)
activities that generate enough suspicion for the authorities to target you (ie. civil forfeiture) but for which the authorities don't have enough evidence to convict you.
How much net worth do you need to find a bank that's doesn't have a branch or other offices in the USA which would require them to obey USA seizure requests? Can't you just look for a small local bank that's not part of an iternational bank with offices in the USA?
activities that generate enough suspicion for the authorities to target you (ie. civil forfeiture) but for which the authorities don't have enough evidence to convict you.
I meant specifically, not general hand waving "anything that makes authorities suspicious".
I just want to know what the legitimate use case is for using crypocurrency to shield your funds from the USA that couldn't also be done at a traditional bank.
It was unclear whether you were talking about american or foreigner in that context. For a foreigner, you'd have to contend with local banks that are subject to requests from local police.
>I meant specifically, not general hand waving "anything that makes authorities suspicious".
literally any of the civil forfeiture horror stores that show up on HN from time to time.
You said "not everyone lives in the USA", so I was speaking of non-americans, keeping their money out of the reach of american authorities. But for the German citizen keeping money in a German bank, what specific activity would lead his money to being seized that would not also subject himself to arrest and prosecution.
literally any of the civil forfeiture horror stores that show up on HN from time to time.
I've seen lots of cases reported where cash is seized, but what ones had their bank accounts seized without having committed a crime that would lead to prosecution?
Again, I'm just asking for a specific example of why someone would use cryptocurrency because they are doing some legitimate activity that would lead to their bank account being seized, but wouldn't also open themselves up to prosecution.
Stories of paypal cancelling a business because they locked up all the revenue were quite common when I was interested in that kind of stuff a few years ago.
Banks in the developing countries may be less trustful than crypto currency.
- Government agencies can ascertain the identities of virtually all accounts with Chainalysis, following the money to the fiat entry/exit points.
- Even with a theoretical anonymous account, with centralized stablecoins like USDC or USDT, the balance held by that account can be frozen because the issuers of those tokens have crafted their token contracts such that they maintain the ability to mark certain addresses as incapable of transfer
Theoretically yes, but in practice no. A quick search turns up https://www.theblockcrypto.com/post/129133/tether-freezes-ov... for instance