Blockchain Association files additional FOIA requests on bank closures
Several Freedom of Information Act requests seeking information about recently closed crypto-friendly banks have been sent by the cryptocurrency advocacy group Blockchain Association to two regulators.
On April 14, the association said it had submitted Freedom of Information Law requests to the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the New York Department of Financial Services, just over a month after initially seeking additional information from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Board of Federal Reserve System and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
The organization is seeking additional information on the de-banking of crypto companies following the seizure of Signature Bank and the failure of Silvergate Bank.
BA said the request to NYDFS was to:
“Seeking to understand if the closure of Signature Bank was a result of the bank’s insolvency or a decision to send an anti-crypto message despite the bank being fully solvent.”
The association also reported that it was investigating whether the failure of Silvergate “was the result of a politically motivated decision by the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco, which is overseen by the FHFA, to take the extraordinary and unusual action of withdrawing a loan made to Silvergate just months earlier.”
1/ Following last month’s FOIA requests to investigate the possible de-banking of crypto firms, BA today sent additional public information requests to FHFA and NYDFS. pic.twitter.com/ZSeCSBiIaR
— Blockchain Association (@BlockchainAssn) 14 April 2023
In early March, Silvergate’s parent company announced it would “discontinue operations” for the crypto- and technology-focused bank. Its peer, Silicon Valley Bank, collapsed on March 10 after a bank run. The Treasury, Federal Reserve and other agencies shut down Signature Bank on March 12.
On April 16, the Blockchain Association and the DeFi Education Fund filed a lawsuit in a United States District Court regarding the sanctioning of Tornado Cash.
Related: Crypto regulation determined by Congress, not the SEC: Blockchain Association
The Blockchain Association is an advocacy and lobbying group for the crypto sector, with around a hundred members that include industry leaders, investors, companies, organizations and projects.
In 2022, the association spent $1.9 million lobbying the U.S. government, according to campaign finance data firm OpenSecrets.
Cointelegraph contacted the Blockchain Association for further details, but did not immediately receive a response.
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