It’s the ‘Real Answer’ – Kanye West, JPMorgan and PayPal Reveal ‘The Case for Bitcoin’
Banking giant JPMorgan has cut ties with billionaire rap mogul and former US presidential hopeful Kanye West, sparking criticism from the bitcoin and crypto community.
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Right-wing commentator Candace Owens shared a letter on Twitter from JPMorgan to Kanye, now going by Ye, revealing that the bank is ending its “relationship” with the rapper, with “no official reason” for the decision given, just days after Instagram and Twitter suspended his accounts for anti- Semitic Commentaries.
The move follows an almighty backlash against PayPal, the internet payments pioneer co-founded by Tesla billionaire Elon Musk, after it announced a shock new policy that was quickly reversed.
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Kanye West appears to have until November 21st to find another bank for his business after JPMorgan … [+]
“The text for bitcoin has never been stronger,” Layah Heilpern, the author of Undressing Bitcoin and host of The Layah Heilpern Show, so via Twitter, pointing to PayPal’s policy blunder, JPMorgan’s rejection of Western and central banks – including the US Federal Reserve – exploring so-called central bank digital currencies (CBDCs).
“No one is safe,” bitcoin and crypto investor Lark Davis posted. “The text for bitcoin is getting clearer every day!”
There are fears CBDCs, somewhat inspired by bitcoin and private currencies such as Facebook’s failed libra-diem digital currency, could give governments unprecedented power over how people spend their money. China began rolling out a digital yuan in late 2019, with a British spy chief recently warning that it “allows surveillance of citizens[s].”
Bitcoin
Bitcoin has crashed back since late 2021, losing around 70% of its value, but it remains around double its early 2020 level as the market adjusts to a higher interest rate environment, which could cause “panic”.
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Bitcoin price has been rising higher since 2016, rocketing to nearly $70,000 per bitcoin before … [+]
Proponents of bitcoin argue traditional finance, controlled by banks and Wall Street, and so-called fiat currencies managed by governments and central banks, leave users at the mercy of bankers and policymakers.
“If they can close Kanye West’s bank account, you’re next,” bitcoin and crypto investor David Gokhshtein posted to Twitter. “Bitcoin is really the answer here.”
In September, Kanye West publicly criticized JPMorgan and some of the bank’s executives, including bitcoin and crypto-skeptic CEO Jamie Dimon.
“I feel that there is a lot of control and manipulation to suppress my ability to influence the American economy and industry,” West told Bloomberg.
Appearing on Joe Rogan’s popular podcast in 2020, West has said that “geniuses” in the bitcoin and cryptocurrency community “have a perspective” on “the true liberation of America and humanity.”
