President Trump and Crypto Allies Undertake FDIC over Demolition

Anchorage Digital CEO Nathan McCauley stood up at a Senate hearing in one message earlier this month. His Crypto Bank was cut off without warning. Bank Anchorage has been working together for two years and pulled out the plug overnight. No phone. No explanation. there is nothing.

“We had a bank that had a growing relationship with many years of decisions that we decided to turn off our bank accounts because we are basically using DIME,” McCauley said on Saturday with CNBC. mentioned in an interview with He rejected the bank’s name, and an Anchorage spokesman confirmed that the company refused to disclose it.

McAuley is not alone. Crypto companies across the industry report the same. US Banks is suddenly closing its doors for digital asset companies. Executives claim this is not random. They call it “Operation Chalk Point 2.0”. This is a suspicion of coordinated efforts to cut banks’ ties with crypto under the Biden administration. They say the first “Chalkepoint Operation” was under Obama when the banks were supporting gun manufacturers and payday lenders.

Republicans begin investigation into code decanking

The term “Debanking” refers to Crypto executives working directly with Congress and top White House Republicans. Once Trump takes office, the GOP is investigating everything that happened under the previous administration.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos last month, Trump directly condemned the political motivations of JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America. He argued that major financial institutions are shutting down conservatives under regulatory pressure. The bank denied everything and Trump provided no evidence, but the claim was enough to set fire to the fire under a Republican-led investigation.

Sen. Rick Scott (R-FLA.), who is now chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, is pushing for the issue. He revealed that at a hearing on February 5th entitled “Investigating the Real Impact of Debanking in America.”

“It’s so surprising and discouraging to hear about digital asset businesses, politicians, financial institutions that cut off services to conservative businesses and individuals,” Scott said. Ta.

For McAuley, Republican Congressional control gave the crypto industry a megaphone. Anchorage Digital is a federally chartered Crypto Bank, which forced the sudden loss of bank access to fire 20% of the workforce, including 70 US employees.

“I can only imagine what’s going on with small entrepreneurs who didn’t have the resources they could ex-s to keep their bank accounts open,” McAuley said. Many startups did not survive.

To this day, Anchorage clients are unable to send wire transfers to third parties, according to McCauley.

Crypto’s political influence grows under Trump

This is no longer a policy fight. It’s a political war. The Crypto Industry helped select Procrypt candidates nationwide in November, but is now garnering those alliances.

Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the United States, spent more than $75 million in support candidates in the 2024 election cycle. That Procrypt super PAC, Fairshake, won an additional $25 million pledge in 2026. Ripple has donated approximately $50 million.

The companies have been fighting the SEC for years under former chairman Gary Gensler. The crypto industry hated Gensler. His SEC sued Coinbase. Ripple fought a billion-dollar lawsuit.

now? Trump is paying them back.

His executive order on Crypto promises “fair and open access” to financial services. He appointed longtime Elon Musk Ally venture capitalist David Sacks as the White House’s first AI and Crypto Czar.

The SEC has already rolled back restrictions that prevent banks from holding Bitcoin on their balance sheet. The FDIC is under pressure to reverse policies that have made it difficult for banks to serve digital asset companies.

House Committee Probe “Operation Choke Point 2.0”

Crypto executives have testified before Congress about alleged crackdowns on break-up under Biden.

On February 6th, Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Growal and Mala Holdings CEO Fred Thiel testified before the House Financial Services Committee. The hearing was frankly titled “Operation Chalk Point 2.0: Efforts to Place the Biden Administration Code on the Cross.”

“No one wants to see if they are refusing basic banking services based on political views or working in an industry that may be preferred by the current administration,” Grewal said. told CNBC.

The FDIC internal records obtained through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request confirm that regulators send a “suspension” to encourage banks to rethink their relationship with crypto companies.

Nick Carter, founder of Castle Island Venture, digs into these documents. He says FDIC has put pressure on banks to avoid crypto clients.

“Smoking guns are communications between regulators and the bank itself,” Carter said.

The House Committee is currently investigating allegations that bank executives and financial regulators secretly blacklisted crypto companies.

In his testimony, Tiel said, “discriminatory banking and monetary policy threaten the digital asset ecosystem” and “banks and payment processors effectively determine which industries exist and can grow within the US economy. “It’s.”

Silvergate, Signature and Billion Dollar Bank Bullet Scandal

The forced closure of Silvergate Bank and Signature Bank in 2023 continues to be one of the most controversial aspects of the banking scandal. Both were FDIC insurance banks that cater to crypto companies. Both were shut down after the FTX collapse.

Silvergate Capital’s bankruptcy filing has led to an increase in regulatory pressure, revealing that banks have been shut down. The bank met capital requirements and had the funds to continue operations.

The signing bank was seized by regulators in March 2023. Bernie Frank, a former Democrat who is a member of the Signature Committee, openly claimed that the FDIC would shut it down and send an anti-crypto message. FDIC later arranged for sale of the signature assets, excluding $4 billion in crypto deposits.

Former Coinbase attorney general and Silvergate chairman Mike Lempres wrote in the Wall Street Journal that the federal government has denigrated encryption for years and uses legally questionable tactics to enforce compliance.

Now, Trump’s administration is turning that course back.

Trump’s Crypto Empire and Mask’s Financial Acquisition

For Trump, cryptography is not just about politics. That’s money.

Before he took office, Trump and Melania launched a meme coin with instant additions of billions of dollars to their net worth. The project has raked together tens of millions of deals.

A week after his term, Trump launched Truth.fi, the financial arm of Trump media, to promise ETFs, Crypto Investments and “Patriot Economy” assets.

Meanwhile, Elon Musk has X placed as an alternative bank. His vision? With the complete financial system within his social media platform, users allow users to move funds, make payments, and trade all X between banks and digital wallets.

The industry is responding.

“It’s a whole new day for Crypto in America,” said David Marcus, former head of Crypto at Meta and current CEO of infrastructure startup Lightspark. He called the Trump administration’s change “a flip side of the atmosphere and energy polarity of our industry as a whole.”

The battle over crypto and banking is not over. But with Trump, Congress and the industry coming together, leaving may have just met that match.