Big banks are making it harder and more expensive for consumers to use fintech and crypto apps, which amounts to what could be seen as “Operation Chokepoint 3.0.”

That’s according to Alex Rampell, General Partner at venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). In its latest fintech newsletter, Rampell pointed to traditional financial institutions charging high fees to access account data or move money, particularly to services like Coinbase or Robinhood, as a move to strangle the competition.

“Under the Biden administration, Operation Chokepoint 2.0 tried to debank and deplatform crypto,” Rampell said. “That era has ended, but now the banks are aiming to implement their own Chokepoint 3.0 — charging insanely high fees to access data or move money to crypto and fintech apps — and, more concerningly, blocking crypto and fintech apps they don’t like,” he added.

Chokepoint 2.0 refers specifically to the debanking of crypto businesses and executives as a result of pressure exerted during President Joe Biden’s administration by regulatory authorities like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC). After Donald Trump was elected U.S. president, the Chokepoint 2.0 ended as regulators reversed many of the directives put in place during the previous administration.

JPMorgan accusation

JPMorgan Chase, one of the largest U.S. banks, was singled out as an example.

Under current U.S. law, specifically Section 1033 of the Dodd-Frank Act, consumers have a right to access their own financial data.

But banks are now asserting control over how that data is delivered electronically, sometimes charging fees for access to information as basic as routing and account numbers.

A16z’s executive argued that such tactics could make transferring funds to alternative platforms more costly, deterring users and reducing competition.

“If it suddenly costs $10 to move $100 into a crypto account,” Rampell wrote, “maybe fewer people will do it. And if JPM and others can block consumers from connecting their own freely chosen crypto and fintech apps to their bank accounts, they effectively eliminate competition.”

Rampell’s words echo those of Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss, who said JPMorgan charging fintech platforms for access to customer banking data will “bankrupt” them. “This is the kind of egregious regulatory capture that kills innovation, hurts the American consumer, and is bad for America.”

Read more: Winklevoss Claims JPMorgan Halted Gemini Onboarding After Data Access Fees Criticism

JPMorgan hasn’t address the platform directly, but did address the criticism. The bank told Forbes that nearly 2 billion monthly requests for user data come from third parties, and that by charging fees it aims to curb misuse.

Rampell, meanwhile, is calling on the Trump administration to stop such practices by the banks before they become standard among the rest of the financial institutions.

“In a perfect world, consumers would vote with their wallets. But every bank will likely do this, and getting a new banking charter takes years. Many banks have hostages, not customers,” Rampell said.

“We don’t need a new law; we just need the administration to prevent this callous and manipulative attempt to kill competition and consumer choice,” he added.

Billionaire venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya says staying bullish on the markets will pay off, pointing to two key financial factors driving his conviction.

In a new episode of the All-In Podcast, Palihapitiya takes a close look at the M2 money supply chart, which has been on the up and up.

The billionaire notes that M2 growth is one of the key reasons why the S&P 500 is in the midst of a strong uptrend.

“If I was a betting man… I think the free money trade here is to be levered long. I think you can make a lot of money right now. Why is that? The first chart I want to show you is the velocity of money… This is the M2 money supply. It’s a measure of how much money is circulating in the economy. 

What this shows is the impact of rates, where we were able to start to slow down and contract the money supply. But then as the economy stabilized and people started to project what was possible in 18 to 24 months, you started to see money coming back into the system. That’s what has given a bid to the equity markets.”

The billionaire is also keeping a close watch on the amount of money invested in money market funds, which are financial instruments that provide yields that are largely influenced by the prevailing interest rates set by the Federal Reserve.

Palihapitiya says that once the Fed starts cutting rates, trillions of dollars in capital stashed in money market funds will likely be invested in the stock market.

“Look at how much money is sitting in money market funds, and what this starts to show you is you have trillions of trillions of dollars of dry powder in the sidelines that will need to find a home. 

I think that [Fed chair] Jerome Powell is in an increasingly [untenable] situation because he will be looked at as politicizing the office of the Federal Reserve. There is enough data that can justify cutting rates. If you cut rates, two things will happen. 

Number one is people will take some amount of money out of the money market funds because they will want to go and seek superior returns somewhere else. It will increase the velocity of money at the same time. You put those two things together that is a bid to the equity markets.

And so if we’re at an all-time high today with rates at 4.5% and Powell’s back is against the wall to cut, the only road from here is probably up…

I think if Powell starts an aggressive cutting program… you could see the S&P 500 at 7,000.” 

As of Monday’s close, the S&P 500 is trading at record-high levels of 6,204.

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Best-selling author Robert Kiyosaki says that the US is about to experience out-of-control inflation that will have devastating impacts on personal wealth.

In a post on the social media platform X, the Rich Dad Poor Dad author tells his 2.7 million followers that a sudden lack of demand for US bonds is resulting in money printing, which debases the dollar.

“The end is here: what if you threw a party and no one showed up? That is what happened [May 20th]. The Fed held an auction for US Bonds and no one showed up. So the Fed quietly bought $50 billion of its own fake money with fake money. The party is over. Hyperinflation is here. Millions, young and old to be wiped out financially.”

Kiyosaki also says that silver, gold and Bitcoin (BTC) are a hedge against rising inflation, and he predicts massive price targets for the assets as a result.

“Good news. Gold will go to $25,000. Silver to $70. Bitcoin to $500,000 to $1 million… The end I have been warning the world about is here. May God have mercy on our souls.”

Lastly, he says that the dwindling supply of available BTC for sale will drive the flagship crypto asset’s price higher.

“I cannot believe how easy Bitcoin has made getting rich, so easy. Why everyone is not buying and holding Bitcoin is beyond me. Even .01 of a Bitcoin is going to be priceless in two years – and maybe make you very rich. Sure, Bitcoin goes up and down, but so does real life. There are only one or two million Bitcoin left to be mined, and the price will go as [macro guru and Real Vision CEO] Raoul Pal describes as into the ‘Banana Zone.’”

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April 7th Bitfinex alpha | Macros have arrived, but remain positive in the second quarter

After a relatively resilient performance last week, BTC is almost flat, dropping just 0.65% (better than traditional risk assets) by just 0.65%.

The market is currently selling, despite the BTC/S&P 500 ratio surges to a record high of 5%. We believe that stocks are in a very overloaded state, and that short-term relief gatherings could potentially squeeze this spread in the mid-term. However, the trends in short-term funding and open interest also suggest that BTC invasion collapses. Structurally, though, the foundation appears to be formed later in the second quarter for outperformance. As macro volatility cools, ETF influx resumes and the sovereign story reappears, Bitcoin is further detached from stocks and can regain leadership across global risk assets.

The US economy provided short-term optimism with stronger work and construction figures than expected in early 2025. However, the newly implemented tariffs weigh heavily on manufacturing, pricing and labor markets, bringing deeper structural challenges to emerge. Job growth in March, led by the private services sector, has shown signs of tension in the sector that maintains potential instability and manufacture and commodity-generating sectors.

At the same time, tariffs now average over 22% have increased input costs across the industry, fostering inflationary pressures and fostering retaliation from key trading partners. With mortgage rates eased construction spending increased in February, but costs inflation from materials such as steel, aluminum and wood have already tightened the affordable prices. Manufacturing activities are back to contraction, showing a tendency to soften labour market indicators, particularly job openings. The Federal Reserve continues to be cautious amidst uncertain inflation dynamics, but the big picture suggests that trade policy rather than monetary policy could be a greater risk to economic momentum for the coming quarter.

From a newsflow perspective, the industry continues to evolve proactively. Japan is leading regulatory modernization by classifying cryptocurrencies as financial instruments and suggesting that cryptocurrencies be reduced to 20%. Meanwhile, Grayscale has applied for Spot Solana ETFs, showing increased confidence in alternative layer 1 assets, potentially paving the way for wider ETF adoption beyond Bitcoin and Ethereum. Complementing these developments, BlackRock’s on-chain Buidl funds continue to dominate the tokenized financial market, paying $4.17 million in March dividends and gaining nearly 40% market share. These parallel marches highlight the convergence of traditional financial acceleration and blockchain technology, pointing to an increasingly accessible, compliant and investor-friendly mature market infrastructure.

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/bitfinex-alpha-macros-have-arrived-but-remain-positive-in-the-second-quarter/feed/ 0 29628 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/cryptos-next-test-just-arrived/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/cryptos-next-test-just-arrived/#respond Wed, 12 Feb 2025 20:15:53 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/cryptos-next-test-just-arrived/

Plus: Hester Peirce threw a curveball on memecoins

GM. We’re the juicer of crypto – squeezing out the insights so you don’t have to do the heavy lifting.

Hester Peirce says that memecoins don’t fall under the jurisdiction of the SEC.

News drops: OpenSea’s NFT airdrop rumors, Jerome Powell’s statement on CBDCs + more

Market flavor today

Ay, red is also a cute color, right?… Right?…

… … .

Everyone’s panicking over the latest US inflation data:

Basically, although inflation ain’t a torch, it surely is on fire. Matter of fact, this is the hottest inflation report since 2023.

In case you’ve no clue what any of that means:

• CPI is essentially a way to measure how much everyday costs – groceries, rent, gas, healthcare, etc etc – are rising. If CPI goes up by 3.0%, it means that, on average, the total cost of all those items has increased by 3.0% compared to a year ago;

• Core CPI is the same thing minus food and energy (because those prices tend to bounce around due to random factors like bad weather or political events). By excluding them, Core CPI provides a clearer picture of inflation trends without the short-term noise.

Now, here’s the problem: core CPI is higher than overall CPI. This suggests that inflation is more deeply embedded in the economy, rather than being driven by temporary spikes in things like gas prices.

And the Fed doesn’t like that. Soo, if you were hoping for interest rate cuts anytime soon… Imma hold your hand when I say this – it’s super unlikely.

Quick sidenote just in case: rate cuts generally pump more money into the system, which can make riskier investments – like crypto – more attractive.

And don’t you worry, it gets worse There’s also uncertainty surrounding Trump’s proposed tariffs, which could push prices higher – this would make it even harder for the Fed to justify cutting interest rates.

If you’re wiping your tears rn – I’m sorry. Here’s a little something to lighten the mood: Chief Investment Officer at Bitwise, Matt Hougan, noted that professional investors and everyday traders seem to be living in completely different realities when it comes to crypto.

Retail sentiment is at rock bottom, but institutions? They’re ridiculously bullish.

Exhibit A: Goldman Sachs increased their spot Ether ETF holdings by 2,000% and Bitcoin ETF holdings by 114% in Q4 of 2024.

Exhibit B: Trump’s blockchain platform, World Liberty Financial, launched a strategic reserve fund, Macro Strategy, focused on Bitcoin, Ether, and other cryptos “at the forefront of reshaping global finance.”

So, while the mere mortals are panicking, institutions are loading up – and they tend to seize opportunities the average investor might overlook.

Maybe there’s something to that

Memecoin harvest

Imagine explaining to your future grandkids that you got rich off whatever these are:

Data as of 06:15 AM EST.

Check out these memecoins and plenty more here.

Yesterday, we talked about why the CFTC and the SEC might start acting a bit friendlier towards crypto under the Trump administration.

If you didn’t read that edition, what the hell Let’s fix that – here’s the link to catch up.

Done? Perfect – now, onto the fresh tea.

Hester Peirce, aka Crypto Mom, is now in charge of the SEC’s new Crypto Task Force, which was created to figure out how the US government should regulate crypto (so we can stop playing the “Is it a security, a commodity, or… idk, something?” guessing game).

She dropped by Bloomberg for a little chat about how that’s been goin’ on… and dropped one interesting take.

Memecoins aren’t really the SEC’s problem.

Her reasoning? It depends on the details, but if a memecoin isn’t tied to an investment contract, the SEC has no reason to regulate it. Peirce said that if anyone’s gonna step in, it’ll be the CFTC or even Congress if they ever decide to get involved.

Why does this matter? Well, under Biden, the SEC (led by Gary Gensler) treated crypto like a giant lawsuit waiting to happen – suing companies left and right for selling “unregistered securities.”

Peirce has never been a fan of that approach. So now, she’s working to decide which cryptos really should be considered securities.

And that’s the real W here: crypto doesn’t need a free-for-all – it needs the right kind of regulation.

News drops

Rumors about an OpenSea NFT airdrop started going around – but the OpenSea Foundation confirmed they were all fake.

The US and UK refused to sign a global AI agreement. US VP JD Vance warned that restrictions would stall progress, while the UK decided to stick to its own rules.

Jerome Powell made it clear that there’ll be no CBDC on his watch. And since he’s sticking around until May 2026, it’s not happening for at least one more year.

An AI engineer resigned from xAI after refusing to delete a post ranking AI models, including the upcoming Grok 3. xAI allegedly told him to take it down or get fired, to which he responded, “After reviewing everything and thinking a lot, I’ve decided that I’m not going to delete the post — which is very clearly a harmless personal opinion.”

Trying to figure out what Binance charges for trading, deposits, and withdrawals? We’ve broken it all down so you don’t get hit with surprise fees – check it out in our guide.

Juicy memes