[rafaelero]

> What I don't understand is why do banks work this way?

People don't want to lose their money to inflation, so banks are implicitly required to make up for that. Also, it's just too tempting for them not to use the money that is collecting dust.

Hopefully people will emerge from this with a better understanding of Bitcoin's advantage to normal fiat system, which is something that is severely lacking in discussions I see here in HN.

[hot_gril]

Except the bank interest still doesn't beat inflation, let alone the rate of M2 increase. Chase offers 0.1% on savings accounts right now, which would be pointless to me.

It's more difficult just to hold onto wealth than most people see. It'd be nice if everyone holding the currency weren't implicitly taxed through dilution, forcing them to passively invest, creating bubbles... and still being taxed on the so-called gains. These passive investments are more about stashing wealth in something with a limited supply (stocks etc) than about the actual business they're investing in, making them not all that different from the concept of a broadly-adopted cryptocurrency. Difference is they have to keep fleeing from one "save haven" to another as the money moves and the bubbles pop.

[rafaelero]

I agree. That's why we need a currency with guaranteed limited cap that can act as a device both for saving and for spending.