The French President Macron made a mistake when he raised fuel tariffs in November. Protests and violence, unlike anything since the 1960s, takes place all across the country. The yellow vests are everywhere, and now they are coming for the banks.

Demonstrations in France – targeting banks

What has happened until now? Well, the demonstrators have fist-fought with police, cars have exploded and buildings damaged. Some of the yellow vests have given up, but their rage has not. It is the ninth week of bloody French riots, and they are now charging French banks to bring the government to its knees.

It started back in November after the unpopular decision by the French government to raise fuel prices. Protesters started to fill the streets and started to break windows, monuments and disturbing traffic.

Yellow vest activists are now urging French citizens to empty their bank accounts. They want to spark a massive run on French banks in their fight with the government. Yellow vests are issuing calls on social media for massive cash withdrawals from banks.

What will happen to the banks and France?

Protesters hope the move will force the government to listen to their demands. In particular, their call for more direct democracy through the implementation of popular votes that allow citizens to propose new laws. According to their Facebook page, the yellow vests planned another demonstration outside the Rothchild Bank of Lyon today, January 9th.

The boxer Nicolle Maxime is spreading the news on Youtube and urge supporters to withdraw their funds from the banks.

French banks hold an estimated one-quarter or less of all the funds that would be required should French citizens take such an action. A bank run like this has the potential to paralyse the country and even collapse the euro.

Activist Maxime Nicolle called it the “tax collector’s referendum.” In a video message, Nicolle said “we are going to get our bread back … You’re making money with our dough, and we’re fed up.”

The craziness is all over the media, and a video of a French boxer punching down a riot police officer has gone viral on social media.

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe announced plans to punish people who hold unsanctioned protests. He said that the government would create new legislation to ban protestors from wearing masks at rallies and support:

“New law punishing those who do not respect the requirement to declare [protests], those who take part in unauthorised demonstrations and those who arrive at demonstrations wearing face masks.”

Unfortunately, it does not help. The demonstrations have gained even more momentum, and as many as 80,000 security forces will be deployed on the streets for the next expected wave of protests that are not limited to Paris.

Demonstrations and Bitcoin

The demonstrations might affect bitcoin. Bitcoin fanatics have rallied behind the yellow vests, and some of them even wear vests saying “buy bitcoin.” However, most of the yellow vests might not understand bitcoin, but they do understand that something is not right with our current system. Max Keiser even said, on Twitter, that if every person converted 20% of their bank holdings into bitcoin, the French banks and government would collapse. It would be possible since many Tobacco shops now sell bitcoins in their shops all over France.

Image Source: “Flickr”