Perhaps in a different universe, the debanking of a lizard-skinned British politician would prompt widespread protests and cries for justice. Yet, when Nigel Farage, a key orchestrator of Brexit, found his account closed by Coutts, a private bank owned by NatWest, the outcry was somewhat muted. Surely, it seems abhorrent that a bank would close an account based on the account holder’s views.
Yet this escapade essentially holds a mirror to the long-standing practice of banks denying service to individuals based on arbitrary reasoning. An issue that strikes a peculiar chord with the cryptocurrency community, given the familiar narrative in the early days of crypto. As crypto service providers and platforms faced abrupt closure of their bank accounts, the very notion of financial censorship became a rallying cause.
A hiccup in the tailoring of this narrative is that Farage, unlike countless others who have been debanked, enjoyed the advantage of wealth and a bully pulpit to voice his displeasure. Consequently, the ensuing media furore led to apologies from NatWest CEO Alison Rose and eventually her resignation.
This twist, however, doesn’t veil the crux of the matter, were Farage’s fundamental rights violated? He must surely have a right to hold a bank account as much as any opinion. But again, should a bank not have the discretion to choose their clients based on established code of conduct?
The crypto scene is populated by enthusiasts who champion financial liberties, having themselves experienced debanking episodes. These advocates, often described as the “financial ACLU”, push for innovations that eradicate the involvement of human bias from banking decisions. They see cryptocurrencies as the panacea to financial censorship.
Yet, while Farage found vindication, the question lingers for countless others who are debanked each year, for reasons as banal as an overdraft by $5. Is our inherent belief that institutions must be held accountable simply a naive ideal? Or perhaps, it serves as a stark reminder that crypto, the refuge for financial outcasts, is steadily moving towards the forefront of financial discourse.
This episode presents an ironic twist. It takes a divisive figure like Farage, a public supporter of Bitcoin, to lay bare the governing biases in our banking system, thereby making the case for decentralized currencies stronger. Yet, while this might seem like a win for crypto, it serves to underscore that as much as we fancy a world founded on unshakeable liberal values, reality is often dictated by contemporary prejudices.
Source: Coindesk
