Kerby Anderson

This administration is choking cryptocurrency. That is the conclusion that members of Congress and former prosecutors have mentioned. A few weeks ago, I quoted former member of Congress Barney Frank who alleged that regulators seized Signature Bank (where he served on the board) “to send a message to get people away from crypto.”

Katie Haun worked for more than a decade as a federal prosecutor pursuing organized crime, political corruption, and terrorism. In her final years, she focused on the beginnings of the crypto industry. She admits that crypto has had its share of crime and fraud, but it also has attracted some of the “brightest engineering talent in the world.” Unfortunately, they are being lumped in with bad actors.

The tool currently being used is what has been called choke point. Many years ago, I wrote about “Operation Choke Point” that was used by a bank against an online gun and tactical store. That tool has been used against businesses that government regulators didn’t like.

Now the same tool is being used against banks that provided services to crypto. Nic Carter refers to this as “Choke Point 2.0.” He observes that “what began as a trickle is now a flood: the US government is using the banking sector to organize a sophisticated, widespread crackdown against the crypto industry.” Although some government officials deny this is happening, he said this goal is “expressed plainly in memos, regulatory guidance, and blog posts.”

President Trump and Republican lawmakers were able to put a stop to Choke Point for some time, but that didn’t last. The Biden administration has been able to pick up where the Obama administration left off. Rather than regulate the crypto industry, the administration seems bent on destroying it.