🚀🔮 "We are all Nigels now." Welcome to the wild world of banking, where even the former chief economist for the Bank of England, Andy Haldane, can get denied a bank account for being "politically connected"! 🤷‍♂️🤣

🏦💸 Banks are closing accounts left and right, thanks to anti-money laundering rules that make "normal" customers unprofitable. In 2023, the U.K.'s largest banks closed the accounts of more than 140,000 companies. That's 560 businesses losing banking access per working day! 😱

🔍💼 But here's the kicker: it's not just about preventing money laundering. It's about the running cost of certain account profiles, imposed by questionable AML rules. Banks are doing risk assessments on each client, which are often unprofitable, especially on small accounts. So, they're choosing not to serve low-income customers. 😔

🏝️🌍 This isn't just happening in the U.K. Entire countries are dealing with local branches of foreign banks closing, cutting off access to the dollars or euros needed to pay for imports. Even in developed economies, it's becoming increasingly difficult to get and maintain a bank account. 💔

💡🔗 But hey, there's a silver lining! Crypto is becoming an increasingly practical alternative. More individuals and businesses are realizing the security in having access to an alternative savings and transaction system. And any increase in the number of crypto users delivers network effects that encourage usability improvements. 🎉🚀

👇💬 What do you think? Is crypto the future of banking? Let's chat in the comments! #DeFi #Web3 #CryptoIsTheFuture