In his recent appearance on “The Joe Rogan Experience,” legendary investor Marc Andreessen alleged that the Biden administration had secretly “debanked” — that is, closed the bank accounts of — tech founders, crypto founders, and “just generally political opponents.”
“We can’t live in a world where somebody starts a company that’s a completely legal thing and then they literally get sanctioned,” Andreessen said.
If this is news to you, I have a quite story to tell you. It isn’t just tech founders backed by billionaires running into trouble with the small matter of holding on to their money. Let me introduce you to the practice of “civil forfeiture,” which allows law enforcement to seize your assets without a criminal conviction — or even a criminal charge. Yes, the government can take away all of your things based on the mere suspicion that your assets are tied to criminal activity. And if the government takes your money, the burden is on you to prove it is innocent.
Due process ensures I cannot be imprisoned without a jury of my peers finding me guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. Why, then, can my money be taken without the same protections?
