US House Investigating Potential Operation Choke Point 2.0 To De-Bank Crypto

U.S. House Financial Services Committee looking into potential coordinated efforts by the U.S. regulators to de-bank the crypto market.
By Varinder Singh
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The U.S. House Financial Services Committee looking into potential coordinated efforts by the U.S. regulators to de-bank the crypto market by restricting banking services to digital asset firms. The lawmakers assert “digital asset activity is not inherently risky,” and the action by banking regulators shouldn’t result in the de-banking of the crypto market.

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US House Seeks Details on Potential De-Bank of Crypto

U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Patrick McHenry, Digital Assets, Financial Technology and Inclusion Subcommittee Chairman French Hill, and Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee Chairman Bill Huizenga sent letters to Jerome Powell, Martin Gruenberg, and Michael Hsu seeking all records of the agencies.

The House will investigate whether the Federal Reserve System, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and Office of the Comptroller of Currency coordinated an Operation Choke Point-type action to deny banking services to the crypto sector.

The potential Operation Choke Point 2.0 by the U.S. financial and banking regulators saw strong backlash from the crypto community and Congressmen such as House Majority Whip Tom Emmer. It led the U.S. House lawmakers McHenry, Hill, and Huizenga send letters to the FDICTreasury DepartmentFederal Reserve, and Office of the Comptroller of Currency’s on their actions and plans for the digital assets market.

The lawmakers believe the actions by the agencies are in contrast to the Biden Administration’s “Executive Order on Ensuring Responsible Development of Digital Assets”. The committee will excuse strategy against the crypto market at the expense of harming consumers and investors.

On January 2, the Fed, FDIC, and OCC issued a joint statement warning about crypto risks in the banking sector if banks continue to provide crypto-related services.

The letters state digital asset activity is not always risky. While the market is volatile, the FTX debacle and the banking crisis were not caused by crypto and its activities.

“The reaction by the federal prudential regulators to fraud and mismanagement should not lead to de-risking of the digital asset industry. Taken together, the actions of the Fed, FDIC, and OCC do not appear to be in reaction to recent events.

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Varinder Singh
Varinder has over 10 years of experience and is known as a seasoned leader for his involvement in the fintech sector. With over 5 years dedicated to blockchain, crypto, and Web3 developments, he has experienced two Bitcoin halving events making him key opinion leader in the space. At CoinGape Media, Varinder leads the editorial decisions, spearheading the news team to cover latest updates, markets trends and developments within the crypto industry. The company was recognized as Best Crypto Media Company 2024 for high impact and quality reporting. Being a Master of Technology degree holder, analytics thinker, technology enthusiast, Varinder has shared his knowledge of disruptive technologies in over 5000+ news, articles, and papers.
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