President Donald Trump issued a debanking executive order this week aimed at stopping what his administration described as unfair banking discrimination toward the crypto sector.

Will the order be the definitive blow to the so-called Operation Choke Point 2.0? Will banks that debanked crypto companies unfairly be forced to reinstate them? Custodia Bank founder and CEO Caitlin Long dives into the finer points of the order:

Debanking executive order installs independent overseer

The first “hidden gem,” according to Long, is that Trump’s debanking executive order installs an independent overseer, highlighting the administration’s reservations with the existing three federal banking regulators, the FDIC, the Federal Reserve (Fed), and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

Instead, it places the Small Business Administration (SBA), a non-bank regulator, as an independent overseer above these agencies to monitor debanking issues. This looks an awful lot like a lack of faith in existing agencies’ willingness or ability to address political and unfair debanking practices.

The SBA’s leader is a long-time Bitcoiner, Kelly Loeffler

President Trump picked Kelly Loeffler, a former senator, business executive, and known supporter of Bitcoin and the broader crypto industry, to lead the SBA. This appointment speaks volumes in the crypto community, as Loeffler was the CEO of Bakkt, an institutional bitcoin futures platform, before her Senate career.

The decision to place her in charge of monitoring debanking is an indication that this administration is serious about reform and that its trust in the previous regulatory agencies is low.

Political leanings inside the banking agencies

Long highlights the political leanings of staff at agencies like the Fed and FDIC. According to contribution records, a large majority of donations from Fed and FDIC staff went to Democratic candidates in recent elections, with Long placing the figure as high as 92% for Democrats in 2024.

This raises concerns for some that regulatory actions may have been driven by partisan biases, especially given the history of crypto-related “debanking” during the Biden administration.

Definition and scope of ‘politicized or unlawful debanking’

Trump’s debanking executive order defines “politicized/unlawful debanking” broadly, focusing on “lawful business activities” rather than naming crypto or any specific sector. This language means banks can no longer refuse service simply because a business is a crypto firm if it is otherwise in compliance. The order targets not just crypto companies, but any lawful firms that may face political discrimination. As Long points out:

“Banks that refused to serve or debanked lawful crypto companies are on the hook.”

The litmus test: Custodia and other crypto banks

Custodia Bank previously faced debanking after regulators pressured multiple banks to cut ties due to their crypto business, even though the bank had a clean compliance record.

Long asserts that the true test of Trump’s debanking executive order will be whether banks that debanked Custodia (and similar crypto firms) are compelled to reinstate them. The order’s success, then, will be measured by real outcomes in banking access for crypto companies.

“If they reinstate us, then the EO succeeded”

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US President Donald Trump is preparing to sign an executive order this Thursday that could shake up how Americans invest for retirement. The move would allow 401(k) plans to include a wider range of assets — like private equity, real estate, and yes, even cryptocurrency.

The order, as reported by Bloomberg News, tells the Labor Department to take another look at the current rules under ERISA — that’s the Employee Retirement Income Security Act — and figure out how to give retirement plan administrators more room to include less traditional, higher-risk investments.

Trump: Rewriting The Playbook

Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer has been tasked with working alongside the Treasury, the Securities and Exchange Commission, and other federal agencies to make this happen. The main goal? Give plan sponsors a clearer roadmap to offer more diverse investment options, without falling foul of the law.

Donald Trump will sign an executive order that aims to allow private equity, real estate, cryptocurrency and other alternative assets in 401(k)s https://t.co/IXetIBnTzL

— Bloomberg (@business) August 7, 2025

Right now, most of the $12 trillion sitting in 401(k)s is invested in good old-fashioned stocks and bonds. But with this new push, savers might soon get the option to invest in assets that were once out of reach.

That said, it’s not as simple as just adding a few new buttons on a retirement dashboard. Offering private equity or crypto means plan administrators will have to show that they’ve done their homework — that the managers are qualified, the fees are fair, and that everything lines up with fiduciary standards.

BTCUSD trading at $116,349 on the 24-hour chart: TradingView

Winners And Warnings

Supporters of the move argue that expanding into private markets could lead to better long-term returns, especially in times when public markets are lagging. Critics, however, worry about the downsides — like high fees, limited access to funds, and the risks that come with less liquid investments.

Big players like Blackstone, Apollo, and KKR could benefit big-time from the change. In fact, BlackRock is already planning to roll out a new 401(k) fund with private investments in 2026. Empower Retirement is expected to launch similar offerings later this year.

Crypto Takes A Step In

What really stands out in this executive order is its nod to crypto. It’s the latest in a series of moves that show Trump warming up to digital assets. Just this past summer, the White House hosted “Crypto Week,” discussed new rules for stablecoins, and even floated the idea of a national Bitcoin reserve.

The new order reportedly asks the SEC to loosen restrictions that have kept crypto out of most retirement plans. If successful, this could open the door for Bitcoin, stablecoins, and other digital assets to become part of Americans’ retirement portfolios.

Featured image from The Traveller Mindset, chart from TradingView

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President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Aug. 7 to halt what his administration called discriminatory banking practices against the crypto industry.

The order bars federal regulators from using “reputational risk” as justification to influence banks’ decisions about working with legal businesses.

According to the administration, the digital asset sector has been disproportionately affected by behind-the-scenes pressure from regulatory agencies, leading to abrupt account closures, payroll disruptions, and loss of financial access for law-abiding firms.

The move directly targets what critics have dubbed “Operation Choke Point 2.0,” a term used by the crypto industry to describe a coordinated campaign of informal regulatory pressure.

While not an official program, the term refers to a pattern of supervisory actions that allegedly discourage banks from servicing digital asset companies, even when those firms comply with existing laws.

The modern-day chokepoint mirrors tactics once used in a 2010s-era Department of Justice initiative, which sought to cut off banking access for industries labeled high-risk for fraud, including firearms and payday lending.

However, unlike its predecessor, the newer iteration has focused largely on crypto. Since early 2023, multiple firms have reported unexplained debanking, often following vague concerns about risk rather than concrete compliance violations.

Industry advocates and pro-crypto lawmakers have stated that the unfriendly environment created uncertainty for startups and institutional players alike, limiting growth and undermining regulatory credibility in the US.

Trump’s order codifies recent moves by the Federal Reserve, FDIC, and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, all of which have pledged to stop evaluating banks based on reputational factors.

It also aligns with legislation under discussion in Congress, where lawmakers have pushed for stricter limits on how regulators supervise politically sensitive or emerging industries.

The order is part of a broader effort by the Trump administration to establish clearer protections for crypto companies operating within the US financial system.

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A Goldman Sachs executive is outlining potentially tactical stock trades as second-quarter earnings reports begin to roll out in mid-July.

John Marshall, Goldman’s head of derivatives research, says in a new interview with CNBC that the brokerages Interactive Brokers (IBKR) and Charles Schwab (SCHW) are benefiting from a surge in retail trading activity, which could boost their stock prices.

“The retail activity – while they may not have been buying intensely over the last couple of months, they’ve been very active, and that should be a tailwind for both of them.” 

Marshall also says Goldman believes the equipment and machinery giant John Deere (DE) could benefit from the agricultural cycle, which the firm believes is at a cyclical bottom.

Goldman Sachs’ other tactical trades related to Q2 earnings reports include the cloud-based data storage firm Snowflake (SNOW), the aircraft leasing company Air Lease Corporation (AL), the restaurant franchise giant YUM! (YUM) and the global branded food company Hormel Foods (HRL).

In terms of stocks that could slide in price due to earnings reports, Marshall mentions the furniture giant Restoration Hardware (RH).

“While they don’t report until September, that’s a name which has tough compares.”

Other stocks that Goldman thinks could have potential downside include the airline giant Southwest (LUV) and the Boston Beer Company (SAM).

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The sudden awakening of old Bitcoin (BTC) whale wallets may be linked to a hack, according to on-chain analysis by Coinbase director Conor Grogan. 

Posting on the social media platform X, Grogan makes several observations about last week’s sudden movement of whale wallets holding $8 billion in BTC after lying dormant for more than 14 years. 

Grogan notes that one of the wallets appears to have made a test transaction on the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) network just hours before the big move happened, suggesting that whoever was responsible for the transfer was trying to go unnoticed.

“There is a small possibility that the $8 billion in BTC that recently woke up were hacked or compromised private keys

I found a single BCH test transaction from one of the BTC whale clusters… followed by the full amount. An hour later, the BTC wallets began to move. 

There is a possibility that the owner was testing the private key in a way that wouldn’t get noticed, as BCH isn’t monitored heavily by whale-watching services

What makes me say this is the other BCH wallets have not been touched at all; why wouldn’t they also sweep these?

This is all extreme speculation, but the movements are extremely odd here. I do not think that this is an exchange wallet due to the BCH activity, and given the BTC transfers appear to be all manual.”

Bitcoin Cash is a hard fork of Bitcoin. Wallets that held BTC before the 2017 Bitcoin Cash fork may also hold the same amount of BCH.

Grogan appears to be suggesting that the BCH test transfer could have been the hacker’s way of checking whether they had access to the wallet before transferring the massive BTC stack.

The wallets in question first accumulated Bitcoin when BTC was trading at $0.78.

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A former crypto executive has been tapped to serve as the director of trading and markets at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Jamie Selway, a veteran financial services executive, will begin serving in the role on June 17th, per a new press release from the regulator.

SEC Chairman Paul Atkins says Selway will help “ensure the agency’s regulations balance costs and benefits.”

The SEC has adopted a more crypto-friendly stance under Atkins, who has sought to distance the regulatory agency from the high-profile enforcement actions overseen by Gary Gensler, the previous chair.

Gensler launched legal battles against numerous crypto firms, including industry giants Binance, Kraken, Coinbase, Ripple, Uniswap Labs and Consensys. Since Gensler stepped down in January, many of those cases have been closed.

Atkins said last month that the SEC’s “legacy rules and regulations” don’t contemplate the novel use cases of blockchain technology.

“In order for the United States to be the ‘crypto capital of the planet’ as envisioned by President Trump, the Commission must keep pace with innovation and consider whether regulatory changes are needed to accommodate on-chain securities and other crypto assets. Rules and regulations designed for off-chain securities may be incompatible with or unnecessary for on-chain assets and stifle the growth of blockchain technology.

A key priority of my Chairmanship will be to develop a rational regulatory framework for crypto asset markets that establishes clear rules of the road for the issuance, custody, and trading of crypto assets while continuing to discourage bad actors from violating the law.”

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An executive at the banking titan Citi says that the S&P 500 (SPX) is not done rallying after most financial institutions were caught off guard by the sudden stock market recovery.

In a new interview on CNBC Television, Stuart Kaiser, Citi’s head of US equity trading strategy, says that after the weekend’s productive trade talks between China and the US sent stocks soaring, the uptrend will likely continue.

“I think there’s still room to the upside. I think if you’re someone who’s less positive and doesn’t want to be long this market but prefer to be short, those folks are going to step out of the way, and they’re going to let the systematic buying from risk parity, from VolTarget and from CTAs (commodity trading advisors) play itself out. There’s no reason to fight that. Those are emotionless buyers, and they’re not fundamentally driven. So you let that play out. And how much is that worth? It’s hard to know.”

To support his bullish stance on the SPX, Kaiser reveals that a lot of institutional players missed out on the meat of the recovery, and they may aggressively open fresh positions in the event of a market pullback.

“I would not try to step in front of this rally. I think you have to let it play out. I think it can run from here, because the bottom line is most institutional investors captured very little, if any, of the rally we’ve had to date. We were half joking, but you only had to own the market for 60 trading minutes to capture the entire 17% rally off the low.

The flip side of that means, though, if you didn’t own it for those 60, you didn’t capture much of it. It’s not a FOMO (fear of missing out). It’s a fear of ‘I missed out.’

And the question I think now is, do we get engagement, another level of engagement to the upside, or do people hope they get a little pullback and are kind of aggressive dip buyers? So, you know, I think there’s more upside, but it’s not a clean trade.”

As of Tuesday’s close, the SPX is trading for 5,886.

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Former Goldman Sachs executive Raoul Pal says one Solana (SOL) competitor is his “favored child.”

Pal tells his 1.1 million followers on the social media platform X that if he had to “have a favorite,” the layer-1 chain Sui (SUI) would look preferable to Solana.

The Real Vision chief executive shares a chart comparing the SUI/USD price to the SOL/USD price, with SUI/USD looking like it’s on the cusp of breaking out of resistance.

SUI is trading at $2.97 at time of writing. The 13th-ranked crypto asset by market cap is up more than 21% in the past day and nearly 41% in the past week.

SOL is trading at $149.47 at time of writing. The sixth-ranked crypto asset by market cap is up more than 3.5% in the past 24 hours and more than 13% in the past week.

Pal isn’t the only analyst bullish on the Solana rival: Last week, crypto trader Michaël van de Poppe told his 783,900 followers on the social media platform X that Sui is gaining adoption as a decentralized finance (DeFi) network, including for Bitcoin (BTC) staking and lending, referred to as Bitcoin DeFi (BTCfi).

“Once the markets are turning back into an uptrend, the money will flow back into the ones that have shown strength. SUI is one of them. It’s a great spot to investigate SUI:

• BTCFi is quickly growing fast as 10% of TVL (Total Value Locked) going through SUI.
• DeFi on SUI is in the top six of all chains.
• Nearly $6 billion in trading volume on DeFi in the past month.

I think it can do really well in the upcoming cycle.”

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