Some of Idaho’s banking institutions don’t think you should be able to use your money to support things they don’t believe in, even if they involve your constitutionally protected rights. Idahoans shouldn’t be surprised by this. So long as third parties control your money, there is a risk to your financial liberty. This is why Idahoans should consider alternatives free of third party brokers — namely through technologies like Bitcoin.
Leaders of the Idaho Central Credit Union (ICCU) made headlines for targeting conservatives in their newly updated terms and conditions. They added firearms and ammunition to a list of “materials that promote intolerance, violence, or hate” that are sanctioned by their policies. Suspiciously, they assert they reserve the right to monitor and block your transactions, though they simultaneously claim they do not actively do either.
The credit union tried to explain-away the outrage as a misunderstanding of “standard industry verbiage” and updated the document to exclude the areas of concern by simply applying more broad, nonspecific verbiage.
Conservatives should not be surprised that the “industry standard” is so slanted against them. It is ridiculous for the credit union to claim that guns and ammunition inherently promote hate and intolerance. But this is the view of the left and, evidently, the banking industry at large.
The ICCU is far from the only example of America’s financial institutions targeting conservatives. Debanking — defined as “political and religious discrimination by financial institutions” — is commonplace in the modern American financial system.
Wells Fargo is under scrutiny from the Montana attorney general for debanking industries that are inconsistent with their ESG — read environmental, social governance — agenda. Industries in agriculture and energy, which are major economic drivers for states like Idaho and her neighbors, are among those injured by this practice.
Bank of America also uses ESG to evaluate the “social risk” of who they do business with. Non-green industries, religious groups, and conservatives are the target. Though recent pushback in some states forced the bank to loosen these policies, like their blanket ban on lending to firearms manufacturers, conservatives are still debanked.
If banks were private institutions, it could be argued that they should have the right not to serve industries or groups they disfavor. But banks are unlike normal businesses. They are so heavily regulated by the government that they are effectively extensions of the federal bureaucracy. As such, they offer federal bureaucrats many of the same powers conservatives (and others) rightly fear with the implementation of a central bank digital currency (CBDC), barring some degree of precision in control.
The power of banks comes through gatekeeping the financial system. Without banking services, it is impractical to participate in the modern economy — particularly as an organization or business. This is how debanking disrupts entire industries and, presently, strongarms adoption of the left’s agenda.
The ICCU incident illustrates a larger, systemic problem — your money is never treated as yours. Modern banking is no longer for the freedom-loving American, and overregulation thwarts any innovation that would resolve the problems faced by this now abandoned group of consumers.
The answer to these concerns is to defend market-based alternatives to banking. Digital asset technologies like Bitcoin are shifting to a new paradigm of finance that avoids entrusting third-parties — whether banks or the government — to manage our transactions. They would provide the truly free-market solution that conservatives have been waiting for to combat destructive banking practices.
Fundamental rights to retain and use digital assets must be a part of any truly free-market oriented sound money agenda. It includes the right to mine, own, and transact in Bitcoin and other digital assets. Prominent politicians, other states, and Idaho’s supermajority Republican Party have acknowledged the value of these rights, and they are betting on the promise of Bitcoin as one way to defend American liberties.
Idaho is ripe to implement these policies at the state level next legislative session. Similar legislation narrowly failed in both the House and the Senate during the 2024 legislative session. With momentum building in the state Republican Party and at the national level, it is time for Idaho to finish the job.
Protecting digital assets like any other personal property provides a means for the market — not bureaucrats — to decide how to rectify the issues we see in American banking.
The ICCU incident should be a wake-up call for Idahoans. To truly defend our liberties, lawmakers must first protect the right for consumers to vote with their wallets and escape the financial system that opted to leave them behind.
