House Majority Whip Questions FDIC Over Crypto Banking “Purge”
Important takeaways
- House Majority Whip Tom Emmer questioned FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg about Operation Choke Point 2.0.
- In his letter, Emmer cited several cases where federal regulators had pressured banks to stop offering their services to crypto companies.
- Emmer called the regulatory strategy “lazy and destructive”.
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Rep. Tom Emmer sent a letter of pointed questions to FDIC Chairman Gruenberg following reports that federal regulators were trying to cut off the crypto industry from the banking sector.
A lazy and destructive regulatory strategy
Crypto has important allies in Congress.
Today House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) sent a letter asks Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Chairman Martin Gruenberg to address rumors that the FDIC and other federal entities had pressured the banking industry to stop providing services to the crypto industry.
“Recent reports indicate that federal financial regulators have effectively weaponized their authorities over the past few months to purge legitimate digital assets and opportunities from the United States,” the letter said. Emmer went on to list several instances — including a joint statement by the Federal Reserve, the FDIC and the OCC on Jan. 3 discouraging banks from holding crypto or providing services to crypto companies on “safety and soundness” — where the Biden administration appeared to have illegally targeting the crypto industry.
“The administration’s demonstrated effort to strangle digital assets from the US financial system is a lazy and destructive regulatory strategy that stagnates innovation and exposes US users of digital assets to less sophisticated regulatory jurisdictions,” Emmer said.
The congressman went on to ask point-blank whether the FDIC had instructed banks not to offer services to crypto companies, and whether the regulator had threatened banks with more “onerous” supervision if they did not follow the instructions. The FDIC was given until May 24 to respond.
Tom Emmer has proven to be one of crypto’s staunchest allies in Congress over the past year. In July 2022 Emmer Narrow the Securities and Exchange Commission for its “power-hungry” approach to crypto regulation; he also sent a letter interrogative the Treasury’s motives for banning the privacy protocol Tornado Cash.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned BTC, ETH and several other crypto assets.
