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Comment by sneak | Hacker News Reader

For the time being? Keeping your funds on an exchange (or in a bank) means they are, quite literally, not your funds.

If you don't want the risk of loss, don't give your money to second parties.

That's true for an exchange, but is absolutely not true for a bank (in a well-run modern state). At least if you don't have millions+ of dollars in the bank, the state ensures that even if the bank were fraudulent, your money is still your money.

They don't really for brokerage accounts, which is what most people's retirement savings actually are in.

The post I was replying to was saying "Keeping your funds on an exchange (or in a bank) means they are, quite literally, not your funds.". I was pointing out that it's absurd to compare unregulated crypto exchanges to proper banks (in a working state - I am sure banks in failed states can well be just as bad).

Your statement is commonly believed, but is completely false. Money held in banks, at least in the USA, can be frozen or taken indefinitely by the state with no evidence of wrongdoing or even probable cause.

There is a blog post on my website called "Your Money Isn't Yours" about the time Chase and the state of Indiana conspired to steal all of the money I had in the world without any basis or reason.

Many people misunderstand this about property in the USA. Civil asset forfeiture among several other mechanisms means that property is guilty until proven innocent and can be stripped from you at any time without any evidence whatsoever.

Money held in the bank in your account is literally not your money. It's the bank's money with a corresponding liability to you. They prove this quite plainly by loaning it out to other parties.

The government can also seize your house, your cash, or your gun using civil assets forfeiture.

So either there is no private property in the USA, or your money is your money, even if it's in a bank.

I don't think property being subject to confiscation at any time is exactly the same thing as "no private property".

Technically it's true that the depositor gives up "ownership" of his funds upon making a deposit, but in the US this is practically a moot point for most people because of FDIC protections. Depending on the state (for example, "right of setoff" in NY) there may be some unusual corner cases, but in general crypto exchanges have far more power over your crypto deposits than traditional banks do over your cash deposits.

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