Comment by notch656a | Hacker News Reader

Comment by notch656a | Hacker News Reader

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Not to blame the victim, but having all of your money in one jurisdiction is like putting all your eggs in one basket. This is why the federal government loves FATCA, as it makes the banking requirements so onerous for US citizens abroad that a foreign bank can only afford to bank a rich US citizen after compliance costs.

This is not an accident, and the fact the compliance cost far outweigh any tax benefit yet the burden remains make this crystal clear.

Edit: to all the people offended by this comment. Ponder why international banking is infeasible for the domestically banked and then question why that may be and whether the state of things may be for the benefit of governments to better control their populace. Thus you will understand this comment wasn't actually about impugning the common domestic bank account holder but to show some incentives that keep them locked in domestically. If you pointed out why international banking is infeasible then you finally got the point of my comment and perhaps some understanding of why some third world people may be desperate enough to use an evil pyramid scheme environmental wrecking shitcoins like bitcoin or ethereum etc.

Having the ability to keep money is multiple jurisdictions is something that an extremely small % of world's population could achieve.

First of all, you almost surely need to go to a trip abroad in person to create a bank account. (So, you need a passport, and money/time).

In many countries you can open a bank account only if you're a resident in the country (which creates a catch-22: can't open bank account without an address, can't rent without a bank account).

Stuff might be easier if you have a right citizenship (rules are relaxed e.g. in EU and you can open an account in some online banks abroad via a smartphone app), otherwise, good luck.

In any case, if you open an account in a bank, and you want to have any serious money there - more than $200 or so - you need to declare in which country you're a taxpayer, and your taxpayer number, and that country authorities get notified.

Also when declaring taxes in the country you're a primary resident, there's often a rule that you need to declare all your abroad accounts, equities etc. and if you don't and they find out, you can be fined $$$$$.

Most already banked people could realistically achieve it if KYC/AML and FATCA-like reporting requirements were eliminated. It is not technically infeasible, but as we both pointed out infeasible due to government imposed limitations.

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.

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

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

If you live in Iran though... good luck, you'll need it.

So, at the moment, you can't open a legit bank account.

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

[redacted] fixes this

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.

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.

A back-handed compliment is the closest I ever get to a real one on HN, so I'll take it.

You realize that this sounds woefully out of touch? Normal people don't have access to international banking which would be out of the reach of their government. Normal people living under authoritarian regimes absolutely don't have access to international banking, period.

That's not even getting into the fact that these people would also need to have enough money to justify moving it overseas. Or, that, if your government freezes your accounts, you're likely screwed in the near term, regardless of money you have overseas. What exactly is the plan to convert those hidden Swiss Francs into physical bills that you can spend at the market?

> desperate enough to use an evil pyramid scheme environmental wrecking shitcoins like bitcoin or ethereum

Your post is mostly okay, but you're wrong about this. Bitcoin and Ethereum are not any of that nonsense. If you truly believe that, you may have been brainwashed by the people that desperately want to ban them in some way or another, and to centralize everything resulting in the dangers you stated.

Satire

Thanks god

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