The root problem with conventional currency is all the trust that’s required to make it work.
– Satoshi Nakamoto
The financial system / the banking sector has arguably increasingly been used as a political tool over the past several years, sometimes an extra-legal one. And not only against various “axis of evil” countries but also against domestic citizens or groups.
Nothing to see here, or a trend?
What do you think about the examples below? Who will be the next querdenker or group of lateral thinkers to be denied using a bank account, or get his, hers or their assets frozen?
(Last updated 2024-08-30)
Examples against domestic citizens or groups
| Country | Year | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 | 2010 | Operation Payback: Visa, MasterCard and PayPal choked off donations to WikiLeaks |
| 🇺🇸 | 2010 | Tea Party: IRS official admitted the agency had been aggressively scrutinizing groups with names such as “Tea Party” and “Patriots” |
| 🇺🇸 | 2013 | Operation Choke Point: The US government pressured banks to “debank” gun sellers, coal producers, etc |
| 🇹🇷 | 2016 | Gülen supporters: The Turkish government cancelled a banking license over Gülen links |
| 🇮🇪 | 2016 | Pro-Palestine activists: Palestine bank account closures in Ireland “clearly political” |
| 🇺🇸 | 2017 | Jihad Watch: Online payment company PayPal banned Jihad Watch and the site’s director Robert Spencer from accepting donations |
| 🇺🇸 | 2018 | Gab social media. Gab was banned by Stripe. The twitter-like service said it was placed on “banking blacklist” |
| 🇩🇪 | 2018 | Nicolaus Fest: German AfD politician Nicolaus Fest debanked by Deutsche Bank |
| 🇺🇸 | 2018 | Proud boys: Shopify banned shops tied to the Proud Boys |
| 🇦🇹 | 2020 | Martin Sellner: Austrian activist Martin Sellner claims to have been blocked by 17 banks |
| 🇸🇪 | 2020 | Swedish journalist: Swedbank terminated a journalists bank account without just cause |
| 🇺🇸 | 2020 | Amazon: Amazon halted donations to members of Congress who voted against certifying the Electoral College results |
| 🇺🇸 | 2020 | Epik: PayPal drops domain name registrar Epik |
| 🇺🇸 | 2020 | New Project 2: Patreon Alternative New Project 2 was banned by MasterCard |
| 🇺🇸 | 2021 | January 6 protestors: PayPal and Venmo banned organizers of the “Stop the Steal” rally. Stripe, Shopify and GoFundMe acted similarly |
| 🇺🇸 | 2021 | Fair access rule paused: OCC announced pause of the “Fair Access” rule that was intended to prevent another Operation Choke Point |
| 🇺🇸 | 2021 | Freedom Phone: PayPal banned Freedom Phone permanently, as did Shopify and Amazon Pay. PayPal also held up $1.2 million in payments(!). |
| 🇺🇦 | 2021 | Anatoly Shariy: Ukrainian politician (blogger?) Anatoly Sharij’s real estate and bank accounts were frozen |
| 🇨🇦 | 2022 | Canadian truckers: The Canadian government froze bank accounts for “anyone linked” with protests |
| 🇺🇸 | 2022 | Colin Wright: This evolutionary biologist was kicked off PayPal and Etsy |
| 🇺🇦 | 2022 | Anatoly Shariy: Ukrainian politician Anatoly Sharij claims Binance cryptocurrency exchange took money from his wallet |
| 🇺🇸 | 2022 | Firearm retailers: Visa, Mastercard and American Express added ISO merchant category for firearms retailers after political pressure. This opens up for information sharing to third parties (i.e. who is buying a gun, potentially side-stepping the US Constitution) |
| 🇺🇸 | 2022 | Toby Young: The British journalist, chief editor of the Daily Skeptic, saw his and the company’s account suddenly suspended by PayPal |
| 🇺🇸 | 2022 | PayPal; PayPal attempted to impose a $2500 fine on users who promoted “misinformation” |
| 🇬🇧 | 2022 | Santander. Santander UK announced limits of payments to crypto exchanges |
| 🇧🇷 | 2022 | Brazil protests. Brazil Supreme Court ordered banks to seize/block funds from protesters participating in mass demonstrations |
| 🇺🇸 | 2022 | US government: Biden administration wants to make it easier to seize crypto without criminal charges |
| 🇬🇧 | 2022 | Nationwide. UK’s Nationwide imposed limit on transfers to crypto-currency providers (following similar moves by Santander, TSB, Virgin Money and Starling Bank) |
| 🇳🇬 | 2022 | Nigeria: Nigeria capped ATM cash withdrawals at ~$45 daily in part to promote its CBDC eNaira |
| 🇺🇸 | 2022 | Fed: U.S. Fed proposes plan for banks to manage climate-linked financial risk |
| 🇪🇺 | 2022 | Basel 4: EP groups proposed amendments on Basel 4 to penalise fossil fuels |
| 🇺🇸 | 2022 | Crypto bill: Senator “Pocahontas” Warren introduces new crypto bill targeting self-custody wallets |
| 🇺🇸 | 2023 | Signature Bank: “…regulators wanted to send a very strong anti-crypto message” according to board member & former congressman Barney Frank |
| 🇺🇸 | 2023 | South Dakota: South Dakota governor vetoed bill which tried to prevent Bitcoin and crypto from beinged defined as money |
| 🇺🇸 | 2023 | Signature Bank: Sources say any buyer of Signature must agree to give up all the crypto business at the bank (later denied by FDIC) |
| 🇬🇧 | 2023 | Tide: UK fintech company Tide shut down podcast Triggernometry’s bank account |
| 🇸🇪 | 2023 | Marginalen bank: Sweden’s ‘Marginalen bank’ blocks bank account of media outlet SwebbTV |
| 🇸🇪 | 2023 | Nordea: Former SD politician denied bank account, but bank reversed its decision after media coverage |
| 🇸🇪 | 2023 | If: Insurance company If starting to terminate business customers deemed not “sufficiently sustainable” |
| 🇬🇧 | 2023 | Brexit: “Brexiteer” Farage says his UK bank accounts are being closed |
| 🇺🇸 | 2023 | GoFundMe Far-left news site Grayzone says GoFundMe prevented access to donations, due to “external concerns” |
| 🇬🇧 | 2023 | JP Morgan Chase: JPMorgan’s UK bank Chase to ban crypto transactions, reportedly due to “crypto scams” |
| 🇬🇧 | 2024 | Barclays: Sex workers denounce UK banks for waging ‘war’ on their jobs |
| 🇸🇪 | 2024 | Banksh: Crypto exchange Goobit announces that its provider has unilaterally terminated access to payments via Swish |
| 🇸🇪 | 2024 | Christian organisations: Christian congregations and missionary organizations have accounts shut down or is being denied bank accounts |
| 🇺🇸 | 2025 | Anedot donation platform: Non-profit U.S. Internet Preservation Society denied bank account. (details) |
| 🇸🇪 | 2025 | Banks: 28 Youth Organizations: Banks Threaten Children’s Democratic Rights |
Examples when the banking sector needed a bail-in or bailout
| Country | Year | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 🇨🇾 | 2014 | Haircuts on savings; The government confiscated parts of households’ savings through haircuts on deposit accounts |
| 🇱🇧 | 2022 | Withdrawal limits: The country of Lebanon was hit by a wave of robberies after imposing withdrawal limits |
International examples of using the financial system as a weapon
| Country | Year | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 🇮🇷 | 2018 | Iran: SWIFT suspended Iranian banks’ access to messaging system |
| 🇻🇪 | 2019 | Venezuelan gold: Bank of England blocking the release of 31 tonnes of gold |
| 🇷🇺 | 2022 | Russia: International sanctions as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine |
| 🇷🇺 | 2024 | Russia: US Treasury Secretary Yellen: “necessary and urgent (…) to find a way to unlock the value in those [Russia’s] immobilized assets…” |
Examples of when Swedish authorities confiscated cash
| Country | Year | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 🇸🇪 | 2017 | Confiscation: 98-year-old Ada wanted to trade in her bank notes - the government confiscated her life savings |
| 🇸🇪 | 2017 | Confiscation: Gunnar tried to redeem SEK 311,500 - but the Riksbank kept all the money |
| 🇸🇪 | 2021 | Confiscation: Inherited SEK 85,000 from his father – the government confiscated the banknotes |
| 🇸🇪 | 2021 | Confiscation: Gunnar had 2.6 MSEK in his bedroom - now the Riksbank will burn it all |