On February 5, 2025, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation issued 175 documents from Biden-era FDIC correspondence before hearing the US Senate Banking Committee GOP on debanking of Crypto companies. The new documents reveal new details of the so -called “Operation Chok Point 2.0”.
After Trump’s inauguration, a pro-crypto team took FDIC and biased with a coinbase in the fight against the alleged debuts of companies working with Cryptocurrency.
In 2024, the Coinbase sued the FDIC. The move allowed the company to use the Freedom of Information Act to force the agency to issue some of its correspondence with financial institutions. FDIC released a portion of heavy rearflated documents, now known as “poses letters”.
Those letters showed that FDIC was pressurizing financial institutions to prevent all operations of companies using cryptocurrency, effectively separating them from the right to use banking services without proper reason. This exercise strengthened the growing concerns of the ongoing “Operation Chok Point 2.0” under democratic administration.
The new FDIC team is important for its predecessors and voluntarily released new documents, without the relationship of the coinbase using FOIA.
What is inside the new batch of FDIC correspondence
The new chair, after a review under Travis Hill, was compiled for release of another 175 documents of FDIC. Coincides with release date Senate hearing begins “Checking the actual effects of debanking in America” is title. Documents can serve as additional evidence of biden-era FDIC’s efforts to block businesses dealing with cryptocurrency out of banking services.
The newly issued documents revealed that FDIC pressed more companies to debank crypto customers. The efforts of banks to oppose or ask additional questions were completed with silence from FDIC which could live for months. On some occasions, FDIC sent instructions to completely suspend or avoid all crypto-or blockchain-related activity.
Coinbase Cloe, Paul Grewal, who has been active and outspoken in the fight against the debanking of Crypto clients, took X to perform and comment on several parts of the documents published. He compared the functions of FDIC to execute and called them “regulation from exhaustion”.
Documents stated that in cases when banks and FDICs entered into agreements, which limit services to crypto customers, the corporation made efforts to cancel such agreements and obtain comprehensive sanctions.
The FDIC was compatible in demanding banks by supporting customers involved in the crypto transactions despite all efforts by financial institutions to protect such transactions and to explain the agency of sound. Looking at the available documents, the banks were losing in this fight and stopped all operations with companies dealing with crypto. The refusal of crypto transactions did not mean that customers were receiving banking services.
FDIC cited some customers refusing reputation risk, crypto instability and consumer protection as the reasons for denying banks to use banks.
An unexpected colleague
At the 5 February hearing, both Democrats and Republican agreed that the cases which were investigated were observed improper denials of banking on political grounds. Surprisingly, even Sen Elizabeth Warren, which often occurs saw As a clear enemy of cryptocurrency, stepped to investigate and take action.
Warren sent Letter to President Trump In which he expressed his desire to work to work with President, President Tim Scott and Congress. In the letter, she shares some of her conclusions. According to his analysis, in three years, there were thousands of cases of unfair debanking, and more than half of the complaints belong to four banks: Bank of America, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo and Citigroup.
It is an indication that his letter does not mention cryptocurrency, which means that Warren uses Crypto’s agenda, while clearly does not express his attitude towards cryptocurrency.
What will happen next?
Now that FDIC and government become coinbase ally, the anti-crypto operation of the previous FDIC recurrence will probably be prevented. There is a strong sign of bipartine enmity in the debating initiative.
Based on the press release, we can portray an approximate image of future relations between FDIC and Crypto industry. According to Travis Hill, FDIC is going to revaluate ” [their] Supervisory approach to crypto-related activities. It contains many points. First, the corporation is going to change Financial Institute Paper (FIL) 16-2022This letter compels all institutions viewed by FDIC to inform any connection with cryptocurrency activity and provide information for reviews. As we can see now, after these reviews, banks have been forced to prevent working with crypto customers.
The FDIC will work closely with the President’s Working Group on Digital Assets Markets. Hill insisted that FDIC would continue to follow security and sound principles.
