House Republicans Release 53-Page Report Accusing Biden Administration Regulators of Pressuring Banks to Avoid Crypto

The Republican-led U.S. House Committee on Financial Services just published a 53-page report accusing Biden Administration regulators of attempting to push crypto firms out of the American financial system.

The report claims Biden Administration regulators attempted to dissuade financial institutions from providing services to crypto firms, an alleged policy that Republicans and digital asset stakeholders have coined “Operation Choke Point 2.0.”

Republican Committee staff say the Biden Administration’s anti-crypto efforts were “of particular concern” because they happened at the same time as lawmakers in Congress were attempting to establish regulatory guidance for digital assets.

The report points to crypto policies promoted by the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

“The Fed Vice Chair for Supervision discouraged banks from engaging in digital asset-related activities through policy statements, supervision and regulation letters, and the creation of a Novel Activities Supervision Program. The Novel Activities Supervision Program increased the supervision of ‘novel activities,’ including digital asset-related activities, conducted by supervised banking organizations.

The FDIC sent ‘pause’ letters to financial institutions, effectively encouraging them to stop efforts to engage in digital asset-related activities. This delay tactic — and the FDIC’s voluminous document requests — made it impracticable for financial institutions to pursue digital asset-related activities.”

The report claims the OCC required supervised institutions to receive non-objection letters before engaging in digital asset activities. It also points to the SEC’s numerous regulatory enforcement actions against crypto firms.

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