[atemerev]

Bitcoin already works for cheap international transfers.

And no, my bank won’t give any details about my account and its transactions (unless I do something really horrible), even to the national tax authorities (I live in Switzerland, where bank secrecy is still a thing, at least for the residents/citizens).

[vinay427]

This is generally true in Switzerland as you stated (with those exceptions for more serious issues) for residents, as Swiss citizenship is irrelevant. Anyone resident in any of a host of countries with which Switzerland has signed agreements can have their bank details shared with the country of residence.

I suspect a fair amount of other countries have this discrepancy as well. Based on a brief online search it seems like the data on US checking/savings accounts of US residents are not shared with the IRS, for instance, unless a summons (which can be contested) is approved. I'm not sure what the difference is in practice.