Negative interest rates are insane but I guess that insane is the new normal. I have yet to see any argument even trying to explain how negative rates make any sense at all.

But bail ins that I’m referring to happened on a large scale in Cyprus and with several Italian banks (leading to at least one suicide). See this article for instance:
http://investmentwatchblog.com/bank-deposit-bail-in-law-is-biggest-threat-to-average-usa-g20-savers-hsbcs-james-steel-gold-is-a-highly-regarded-asset/

After the Cyprus “experiment”, the European Union and the United States both quietly wrote bails-ins into law. Anything to save banks.