Crypto firms have been facing account closures and denials of banking services for years under the label of de-risking. Many in the crypto industry believe that the debanking represents a policy-driven effort to suppress digital assets, referred to as “Operation ChokePoint 2.0.”
After President Donald Trump’s pro-crypto team won the election, many believed the era of debanking was over. His campaign rhetoric and early policy moves signaled a friendlier environment for digital assets, leading some to expect banks would ease restrictions on crypto clients.
However, recent incidents suggest the practice remains entrenched. Last week, Andreessen Horowitz partner Alex Rampell warned that big banks are squeezing fintech and crypto apps in “Operation Chokepoint 3.0,” by hiking fees to access account data or transfer funds to platforms like Coinbase and Robinhood.
Echoing these concerns, Alex Konanykhin, CEO of Unicoin, told Cointelegraph that US banks are continuing to close accounts for crypto firms without explanation, despite growing political pressure to end the practice.
“We know about it first-hand, as Unicoin and its subsidiaries have been de-banked, without explanations, by several banks,” Konanykhin said. He listed five banks that have cut ties with Unicoin or its subsidiaries over the past years, including Citibank, Chase, Wells Fargo, City National Bank of Florida and TD Bank.
Cointelegraph reached out to all these banks for comment but had not received a response by publication.
Operation Chokepoint 3.0 by Alex Rampell: Source: a16z
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Large-scale “nationwide operation”
Konanykhin claimed that Unicoin was debanked by four banks this year alone, which “suggests that Chokepoint is a large-scale nationwide operation.” Unicoin is a publicly reporting corporation with six years of audited financials and over 4,000 shareholders.
Konanykhin added the debanking campaign has created “highly disruptive and damaging” conditions for crypto companies in the US, depriving them of access to basic financial services and “suppressing the American crypto industry.”
On Thursday, Bloomberg reported that President Trump will sign an executive order directing federal bank regulators to identify and penalize financial institutions that have engaged in debanking.
The order will reportedly require regulators to review complaint data, while banks overseen by the Small Business Administration must work to reinstate clients who were unlawfully denied services.
Konanykhin expressed hope that President Donald Trump’s proposed executive order to curb debanking could bring relief. “The President knows the pain of de-banking first-hand and seems determined to stop this form of economic warfare against American businesses,” he said.
He said ending debanking could help US crypto reclaim global leadership. “Ending the War on Crypto will boost the American crypto industry. It may become as impactful internationally as Hollywood is in entertainment or Silicon Valley in IT,” he noted.
Related: Trump to order probe of crypto and political debanking claims: WSJ
Crypto reform hinges on final wording of rules
Meanwhile, Elizabeth Blickley, a partner at Fox Rothschild’s Tax Controversy & Litigation Practice, said that while Trump has directed agencies and Congress to review how crypto can be integrated into mainstream finance, meaningful change will depend on the final wording of regulations and laws.
She pointed to the recently signed Genius Act, which gives the Federal Reserve’s Stablecoin Certification Review Committee 180 days to design a regulatory framework.
Blickley warned that most bills in Congress never make it out of committee and that any eventual legislation will likely face litigation from both sides of the regulatory debate. “A regulation may facially comply with the President’s request or a law passed, yet have little application or disproportionate impacts based solely on word-choice,” she said.
For now, Blickley said, banks are likely to continue their risk-averse stance toward crypto until new rules clearly reduce perceived risks. “It’s all about making risk-averse entities and people feel like crypto is less of a risk,” she concluded.
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