Hoskinson says banks are promoting crypto with their actions after the Kanye West, JP Morgan fallout

by Arthur · October 17, 2022

Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson stated that US banks have helped market crypto better than industry players, according to an Oct. 17 tweet.

People keep asking why cryptocurrency doesn’t do a better job of marketing, the answer is that every bank in America does a pretty good job of doing it for us pic.twitter.com/OANsCCDPMw

— Charles Hoskinson (@IOHK_Charles) 17 October 2022

Hoskinson made the statement in response to a photo of Kanye West wearing a cap with a Satoshi Nakamoto inscription after he was wound up by JPMorgan.

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JPMorgan cut ties with Kanye West

Media reports revealed that US banking giant JPMorgan had cut ties with the legendary rapper earlier this month and had given him until November 21 to move his assets to another financial institution.

The bank has reportedly not given any reasons for the decision.

Many have assumed the bank made its decision following West’s recent anti-Semitic statement. Before then, the rapper had criticized the bank’s management and had strained relations with several prominent business partners, including Adidas.

Kanye West says he broke no law

In a widely circulated video on Twitter, Kanye West said he did not break any law, adding that JPMorgan’s decision was surprising.

Kanye West speaks out after being beaten down: “I put $140 million into JP Morgan and they treated me like shit. So if JP Morgan Chase treats me like this, how do they treat the rest of you?” pic.twitter.com/YYuMgqfqT5

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) 16 October 2022

West said:

“I put $140 million into JP Morgan and they treated me like shit. So if JP Morgan Chase treats me like this, how do they treat the rest of you?”

Financial censorship

Several traditional financial institutions have recently taken the big stick, cutting ties with various individuals and institutions without giving a specific reason.

Portuguese banks closed the accounts of several crypto firms, including CriptoLoja and Mind the Coin, without giving any reason. The same scenario played out in the US, with JP Morgan Chase closure account of Uniswap founder Hayden Adams last year without notice or explanation. Before that, it closed Bitcoin miner Compass Mining accounts in 2019.

Aside from these traditional financial institutions, PayPal was recently in the news over a now-cancelled misinformation policy that would have fined users up to $2,500 for misinformation.

Meanwhile, several sexual content creators revealed that traditional financial institutions such as PayPal, Venmo, Circle, Square and Cash App had prevented them from using their services because it is a violation of their terms of use,

Financial censorship can increase crypto adoption

The traditional financial institutions’ penchant for arbitrarily closing user accounts may increase crypto adoption.

Protesters in Canada and Nigeria had used crypto’s censorship-resistant nature to their advantage as traditional financial institutions clamped down on fund-raising activities.

Ukraine had also used crypto for fundraising for its defense against the Russian invasion of its border.