So, no:

- savings in gold/silver bullion

- your sister's small business, back in the home country

I'm sorry; if your position basically makes ever free person a criminal, then perhaps it isn't them that are the problem?

Owning gold/silver is legal. It's also regulated - it's not legal tender.

Investing in a business is legal. It also means sending money, which is regulated by KYC/AML and you're still responsible for taxes.

Investing in small businesses isn't legal because you need to be an accredited investor which only the top 1% of the wealth pyramid qualify for.

It's these kinds of rules to "save people from themselves" that have the bonus effect of the rich gatekeeping the best investments that make a lot of people mad and see the current system as corrupt.

Being able to spend and invest my money how I want should not be a crime.

What? I think you have some fundamental misunderstandings here.

Buying a stake in a small biz is perfectly legal and people do it all the time.

That's entirely separate from the requirement to be an accredited investor to buy unregistered securities.

Maybe unregistered securities is what I want to buy. What gives the government the right to say I'm not allowed to enter into a consensual agreement with someone selling them? Why do I have no way of opting out of these protections unless I'm rich already? Sometimes it feels like I'm explaining water to a fish on here.

> Investing in small businesses isn't legal because you need to be an accredited investor which only the top 1% of the wealth pyramid qualify for.

Whaaaaat? Sorry, but that comment makes no sense. You can buy a share in any small business you want.

You're mistaking this for some types of stock market investments[1], which are made to "save people from themselves", from back in the day before 1929 when access was free for all and hawkers peddling crappy stock brought the entire world economy to a halt by getting the general population to join the stock market casino (slight exaggeration, but not by much).

[1] And guess what, your sister's lemonade stand isn't listed on the NYSE or even on the Romanian BVB :-p

Sounds like you live in the USA right? And probably have a good income?

I tried for years but angel list never accepted me being an investor because of income or nationality restrictions. And other methods of gaining access to silicon valley startups didn't work out.

Now imagine how hard it is for someone in India or Thailand to invest in USA startups.

In crypto I can buy their token in seconds from anywhere in the world, no kyc required, and no middle men taking their cut to custody it for me.