Banks are some of the oldest and most powerful institutions in the world. Almost no other sector has such profound effects on our daily lives. With banks, society and the economy grow, but they also may fall into a deep depression. What are the hidden practices banking houses use to affect the freedom to manage our very own money?

The financial market is one of the keystone industries in our world. It has gained enormous power with governments, corporations, and societies based on it. Also, it is continuously influenced by the public sector - in the form of regulations and obligations being passed on to clients.

In this article, we will point out its effects on the common user and the general public.

Blocking payments: Into cryptocurrencies, but also gambling and other stigmatized industries.

At first glance, it is usually presented to us that banks building barriers between their clients and cryptocurrencies, gambling or other defamed industries is basically a service for our own good. However, this is only until you realize how disproportionate it is to interfere with the freedoms of an individual.

The moment banks start to determine what is moral and what is not, we enter a slippery slope. Why should financiers have a say in how we manage our own funds?

These days, banks have the absolute power to stop transactions. They usually resort to such actions out of fear regarding account theft or the breach, though unjustified freezes of transactions that lead to legitimate entrepreneurs are also very common.

This concerns trusted cryptocurrency exchanges or legal platform providers on which the gaming industry can be run. Even the pornography industry or other traditionally Internet industries cannot avoid the bank's interference into the transaction.

Wanting to do business in the world of cryptocurrencies? Good luck opening a bank account then! 

There is a rather problematic situation on the Czech financial market in the relationship between some entrepreneurs and banks. If your business works with cryptocurrencies, only Equa Bank will open an account for you. Unfortunately,, Equa will become a part of Raiffeisenbank in the third quarter of 2022. Raiffeisenbank is well known to have an excessively negative attitude towards cryptocurrencies, therefore the future of many remains uncertain.

For many, this may be a surprise, but the possibility of no longer being able to buy cryptocurrencies via a traditional domestic transfer is very real. This can indeed threaten the blockchain industry, which has been steadily growing in our country for more than ten years.

The Czech community used to be at the forefront of the development of Bitcoin and other decentralized virtual currencies. Hardware wallets and the only crypto-currency mining scheme used today - so-called "pooling" - were actually created here.

How can problems caused by banks be solved?

Provided that Raiffeisenbank really terminates the accounts of cryptocurrency entrepreneurs with Equa, there will be no domestic financial institution leaving crypto transactions in play. Alas with no solution in sight whatsoever.

If this is the case, two possibilities emerge:

• Utilizing IBAN accounts: The best option, though affecting explicitly Czech-oriented companies. They would need to educate their communities on how to handle the international payment system.
• Waiting for MiCA regulation: European regulation will mean that banks will have to provide services or face the threat of discrimination lawsuits. MiCA will come into force in a few years, regardless of urgent need of such regulation to be in place immediately.

The difficulties outlined above are artificially induced by financiers. Our community will continue to fight them!