Today marks 90 years since Proclamation 2039. While the historical event took place nearly 75 years before Bitcoin was created, its anniversary is a reminder why the top cryptocurrency was created and why it is important to consider owning some. 

What Was Proclamation 2039?

For one week beginning on March 6, 1933, banks across the United States were closed by order of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Roosevelt had only been sworn in less than 48 hours earlier, and was already making history. 

During the declared bank holiday, no one across the country could withdraw money, make a transfer, or a deposit. The move was in response to a series of bank runs in the US that began in the Great Depression that developed following the 1929 Wall Street panic. 

Faith in the financial system was falling apart. Fearing a rapid decline in the value of paper currency, US citizens began rushing to redeem paper currency for gold. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s gold reserves became so depleted, they fell below the legal limits, prompting Proclamation 2039. 

The week-long bank holiday allowed government officials to prepare legislation that ultimate became the Emergency Banking Act of 1933. 

Why It Is A Reminder To Buy Bitcoin

“I can assure you that it is safer to keep your money in a reopened bank than under the mattress,” said President Franklin Roosevelt. Trust in banks was broken, and governments once again stepped in. 

The tone across the finance industry today is ominous, with the vast majority of analysts expecting a significant recession and another crash reminiscent of the collapse in 1929. A similar lack of faith and trust in the financials system is festering. 

Bitcoin was born in 2009 in the wake of the Great Recession because the government was once again bailing out the banking system. The decentralized cryptocurrency cannot be shut down by the government for an impromptu holiday. 

Bank runs aren’t necessary with BTC, because so long as you hold your private keys, you are your own bank. The supply is managed by mathematical code and cannot be debased. All of the issues that prompted Proclamation 2039, wouldn’t exist on a Bitcoin standard. 

While the still-young cryptocurrency is nowhere close to replacing central banks or the current monetary system, it will allow users access to their assets during the next major financial crisis, no matter how bad banks have messed up this time. 

90 years ago today, FDR shut down the US banking system to stop the widespread bank runs happening at the time following the Wall Street Panic of 1929, as the Great Depression worsened.

This is why I believe in #Bitcoin. No one can close my bank. pic.twitter.com/Azir5fanEp

— Tony “The Bull” (@tonythebullBTC) March 6, 2023