Chokepoint – Earlybirds Invest https://earlybirdsinvest.com Latest Crypto News Sat, 02 Aug 2025 18:56:36 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.7 https://i0.wp.com/earlybirdsinvest.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/cropped-New-Project-2024-12-17T235703.455.png?fit=32%2C32&ssl=1 Chokepoint – Earlybirds Invest https://earlybirdsinvest.com 32 32 240146708 ‘Chokepoint 3.0’ Has Arrived? a16z Warns of Anti-Crypto Bank Tactics https://earlybirdsinvest.com/chokepoint-3-0-has-arrived-a16z-warns-of-anti-crypto-bank-tactics/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/chokepoint-3-0-has-arrived-a16z-warns-of-anti-crypto-bank-tactics/#respond Sat, 02 Aug 2025 18:56:36 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/chokepoint-3-0-has-arrived-a16z-warns-of-anti-crypto-bank-tactics/

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.

jwp-player-placeholder

“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.

]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/chokepoint-3-0-has-arrived-a16z-warns-of-anti-crypto-bank-tactics/feed/ 0 51097 JD Vance declares ‘Operation Chokepoint 2.0’ dead, pledges crypto market clarity https://earlybirdsinvest.com/jd-vance-declares-operation-chokepoint-2-0-dead-pledges-crypto-market-clarity/ https://earlybirdsinvest.com/jd-vance-declares-operation-chokepoint-2-0-dead-pledges-crypto-market-clarity/#respond Wed, 28 May 2025 21:56:03 +0000 https://earlybirdsinvest.com/jd-vance-declares-operation-chokepoint-2-0-dead-pledges-crypto-market-clarity/

US Vice President JD Vance on May 28 said Operation Chokepoint 2.0 is “dead,” using his address at the 2025 Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas to declare the end of federal regulatory actions that targeted the crypto sector and the beginning of legislative support for this industry.

Vance said the President Donald Trump administration has ended what he described as the “weaponization of federal regulations” against digital assets and stated that such policies would not return. He added:

“Let my words today serve as [Operation Chokepoint 2.0’s] obituary. We reject the Biden administration’s legacy of death by a thousand enforcement actions.”

Operation Chokepoint 2.0 is a term used by crypto advocates to describe a pattern of actions by banking regulators allegedly aimed at limiting access between the crypto industry and the US banking system. 

Vance highlighted that the Trump administration had removed Gary Gensler from the chair of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and pledged to continue removing officials with similar enforcement strategies.

He said:

“We reject regulators, and we fired Gary Gensler. We’re going to fire everybody like him.”

‘Operation Chokepoint 2.0’ is dead

In the same speech, Vance called for a legislative approach to crypto policy, stating that the administration aims to secure the role of digital assets, particularly Bitcoin, within the US financial system. 

He said:

“We want our fellow Americans to know that digital assets, and particularly Bitcoin, are part of the mainstream economy and are here to stay.”

Furthermore, Vance endorsed efforts in Congress to pass a comprehensive market structure bill for crypto and warned that failure to enact regulatory clarity would risk pushing the $3 trillion industry offshore. 

He added that the best way to ensure that crypto is part of the mainstream economy is through legislation that propels the value represented by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

The Vice President also referenced the GENIUS Act, saying the legislation aims to expand the use of dollar-pegged stablecoins and mandate transparency requirements. 

He also argued that stablecoins do not threaten the US dollar’s status but instead serve as a “force multiplier” to extend its global reach.

Bitcoin adoption and economic framing

Vance estimated that 50 million Americans already own Bitcoin and said that number could double in the near future. Additionally, he placed Bitcoin within the context of broader economic and political themes, framing its adoption as a hedge against different scenarios. 

He stated: 

“Crypto is a hedge against bad policymaking from Washington, no matter what party is in control. It is a hedge against skyrocketing inflation, which has eroded the real savings rate of Americans over the last four years.”

He also criticized what he described as ideological discrimination in the private financial sector, suggesting that decentralized networks protect Americans from viewpoint-based restrictions on access to finance.

The speech further solidified the Trump administration’s shift toward pro-crypto policymaking, aligning federal executive priorities with a legislative agenda focused on stablecoin regulation, market structure clarity, and the integration of digital assets into the traditional financial system.

Mentioned in this article
Latest Alpha Market Report
]]> https://earlybirdsinvest.com/jd-vance-declares-operation-chokepoint-2-0-dead-pledges-crypto-market-clarity/feed/ 0 38849