How Banks Profit from Your Deposits
Here's something your bank will never explain to you. When you deposit $10,000 into a savings account, the bank doesn't just keep it in a vault. They lend it out — to other customers, to businesses, to home buyers — and they charge interest on those loans. The spread between what they earn and what they pay you is their entire business model. Meanwhile, your savings lose value every year.
Your bank typically earns 6-8% on the money it lends out. What do you get in return for providing that capital? A savings rate of about 0.5%. Sometimes less. The bank pockets the difference — and that difference is enormous.
On your $10,000 deposit, the bank might earn $600-800 per year in interest income. You get $50. That's not a partnership. That's a business model built on the assumption that you have no better option.
For most of history, you didn't. If you wanted to save money, you needed a bank. If you wanted to send money, you needed a bank. If you wanted to receive your paycheck, you needed a bank. The entire financial system was designed around intermediaries who take a cut of every transaction.
How Bitcoin Eliminates the Banking Middleman
Bitcoin changes this equation fundamentally. With Bitcoin, you can hold your own money without any intermediary. No bank takes a spread. No institution earns interest on your deposits while paying you a fraction. You hold it. You control it. Period. See how much your bank is costing you in lost purchasing power.
Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase earns over $80 billion per year in revenue, much of it from the spread between what they charge borrowers and what they pay depositors. Ask yourself: would the CEO of the world's largest bank recommend a technology that eliminates the need for his bank?
Why Banks Lobby Against Bitcoin
This isn't unique to JPMorgan. Every major bank has the same incentive structure. They profit from being the middleman between savers and borrowers. Bitcoin removes the middleman. Learn about self-custody. From a bank's perspective, Bitcoin isn't just competition — it's an existential threat to their core business.
That's why you'll never see a bank advertisement encouraging you to buy Bitcoin. That's why financial advisors at traditional banks rarely mention it. And that's why the banking industry has spent years lobbying for restrictive crypto regulation. They're not protecting you. They're protecting their margins.
Understanding the Incentive Structure
None of this means you should close your bank account tomorrow. Banks provide useful services — payments, credit, convenience. But you should understand the incentive structure. When your bank tells you Bitcoin is "too risky" or "too volatile," ask yourself who benefits from you keeping your money in a 0.5% savings account instead.
The answer is always the same. The bank does.