Peter Adeney, a blogger who writes under the pseudonym Mr. Money Mustache, has recently said Capital One froze his bank account. Adeney has notably written a popular article that advised his readers to stay away from Bitcoin, the flagship cryptocurrency
WOW! @CapitalOne Just froze my bank account (and all $309,000 of cash I had collected for an upcoming house purchase), and said I have to call to release it. But then they put me on hold and never answer.
25:08 and counting on my SECOND attempt. Feels like I have been robbed.
— Mr. Money Mustache (@mrmoneymustache) August 13, 2018
In his article “Why Bitcoin is Stupid”, Adeney likened the cryptocurrency to tulip bulbs, beanie babies, and the dotcom bubble. In his opinion, Bitcoin has no use beyond speculation. He wrote
“These are all things that people have bought in the past, and driven to completely irrational prices, not because they did anything useful or produced any money and value to society, but solely because they thought they would be able to sell them to someone else for more in the future.”
After seeing his bank account get frozen, Adeney noted that kind of move was “insane,” as a person’s entire life could derail if they aren’t able to access their funds at the right time. As he put it, “people could lose their primary house, cars, incur tax penalties, etc.”
Bitcoin’s Censorship Resistance
Adeney’s experience with his bank revealed the advantages of Bitcoin’s censorship-resistant nature. Some Bitcoin enthusiasts did not miss the opportunity to point out the fact that funds kept in a Bitcoin wallet could not be confiscated as long as he controlled his own private keys.
In any case, the reason bitcoin even came up was because of MMM’s “Bitcoin is stupid” article. He just got a tiny taste of what many people experience in parts of the world with corrupt banks and governments who arbitrarily seize money. Bitcoin grants financial sovereignty. ✌🏼
— Brix Jørgensen (@brixjorgn) August 14, 2018
Tweets like that of Brix Jorgensen, included above, refute Mr. Mustache’s claim that Bitcoin had no use beyond speculation. It is often said that people who have had their assets confiscated or live in countries with broken financial systems easily appreciate the need for censorship-resistant money.
On the other hand, those living in developed nations are less likely to have a pressing need for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, as they live in countries with well-developed financial systems. Despite seeing his assets get frozen, Adeney still didn’t seem fond of BTC.
He was able to reach his bank after 40 minutes and had his problem fixed. The statement he made afterward shows that he isn’t considering Bitcoin as an alternative.
He noted the situation wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been:
Still, better than having the money truly stolen. It's just a customer service issue.
