Outside Source
“You must ensure your staff cease and desist destruction of all materials and end retaliatory actions immediately,” Lummis wrote.
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Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis sent a letter to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) claiming that whistleblowers informed her that the agency allegedly destroyed documents related to Operation Chokepoint 2.0.
Lummis instructed the government agency to cease the destruction of documents and preserve all records related to “digital asset activities,” including the supervision of Signature Bank and the liquidation of Silvergate Bank. The Senator warned the FDIC:
“If it is uncovered that you or your staff have knowingly destroyed materials or sought to obstruct the oversight functions of the Senate, I will make swift criminal referrals to the US Department of Justice.”
Operation Chokepoint 2.0 — a concerted effort to cut off crypto-related firms from banking services — widely impacted the industry in multiple countries and was a major pain point for industry advocacy groups during the 2024 United States election.
Letter sent by Senator Lummis to the FDIC. Source: Senator Lummis
Related: Pro-crypto lawyer John Deaton offers to probe Operation Chokepoint 2.0
Crypto founders speak out against financial targeting
Following an appearance by Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Marc Andreessen on The Joe Rogan Experience, more than 30 crypto founders took to social media to share their debanking experiences.
The list of executives speaking out included Frax Finance founder Sam Kazemian and Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.
Armstrong filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain letters originally sent by the FDIC in 2022 asking banks to pause crypto-related activities.
The FDIC sent the Coinbase executive heavily redacted versions of the letters — prompting Judge Ana Reyes to order the agency to produce more transparent documents.
Reyes wrote in her Dec. 12 order, “Defendant cannot simply blanket redact everything that is not an article or preposition,” and characterized the redacted documents as a “lack of good-faith effort” to produce meaningful records.
Despite the significant regulatory pressure placed on the crypto industry, firms managed to adapt and survive.
Many crypto firms turned to stablecoins to finance their operations after losing their business accounts at traditional banking institutions during the debanking operation.
Magazine: Crypto has 4 years to grow so big ‘no one can shut it down’: Kain Warwick, Infinex
This article first appeared at Cointelegraph.com News
