Leaders in the cryptocurrency space have been in a state of unrest ever since recently uncovered documents revealed that the Biden administration instructed banks not to engage in cryptocurrency business. These documents seemingly confirm the suspicions of cryptocurrency tech founders being "debanked" under a program referred to colloquially as "Operation Chokepoint 2.0."

Silvergate Bank's Collapse and Regulatory Impact

Chris Lane, the former chief technical officer of Silvergate Bank, has accused federal regulators of playing a role in his bank's downfall. After the documents were made public on Friday, Lane wrote on social media that "Silvergate became what it was serving cryptocurrency clients. [Crypto was a] strategic vertical we started focusing on in 2013. Regulators came in sometime in Spring 2023 and severely limited the amount of U.S. dollar deposits we could hold for digital asset clients. There went our entire business model." He described the experience as equivalent to being "shot in the back."Cryptocurrency's future has been a topic of much discussion in light of these events. How will it change after Trump's election win? This is a question that remains unanswered but has sparked intense speculation.

The Role of Coinbase and FOIA Requests

Last week, Paul Grewal, the chief legal officer of Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchange platforms, shared documents that he and his team obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests. These requests have been part of a protracted legal battle between the company and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC). The documents showed that the Biden administration's FDIC sent numerous letters to banks, calling on them to "pause all crypto-asset related activity."This has raised concerns among cryptocurrency industry leaders who believe that law-abiding American businesses should be able to access banking services without government interference. Grewal pledged to continue fighting for transparency and obtaining unredacted copies of the documents.

Regulatory Stifling and Political Motives

Concerns over regulators stifling cryptocurrency's engagement with banks gained renewed attention during Thanksgiving week. Tech investor Marc Andreessen stated on Joe Rogan's podcast that more than 30 tech founders had been "debanked" for political reasons. He compared this to a similar Obama-era program known as "Operation Chokepoint," which aimed to inhibit high-risk industries like payday lenders and gun dealers.Bipartisan lawmakers are now pushing Biden to investigate Hamas' cryptocurrency financing. They believe that the incoming administration has the opportunity to reverse many of the poor crypto policy decisions, including politically motivated regulatory decisions like Operation Chokepoint 2.0.Fox News Digital reached out to the FDIC and SEC for comment but did not receive a response by press time. The cryptocurrency industry continues to face significant challenges as it navigates through these complex regulatory issues.