America’s most powerful bank executives arrived in Washington for a high stakes roundtable with Senator Capitol Hill. There, extensive closures of accounts related to crypto, firearms and other industries are the only topic on the table.
The meetings scheduled for today include Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase, Brian Moynihan of Bank of America, Richard Fairbank of Capital, Charles Scharf of Wells Fargo, Andrew Secor of US Bank, Bildemchuk of PNC and truists. Collect Bill Rogers.
The urgency comes after last week’s explosive Senate Banking Committee hearing. There, MPs on both parties grilled regulators on an increasing number of businesses that lost access to financial services without warning. Crypto companies in particular have been hit hard, with banks suddenly cutting ties and enveloping the entire operation. Now Wall Street’s biggest name is forced to answer the reason.
Trump’s pressure and Wall Street denial clash on the hill
President Donald Trump last month threw gasoline in a fire at the World Economic Forum, publicly denounced the US Bank of closure of politically motivated accounts. Speaking to the crowd while Moynihan was relaxed, Trump was not modest, claiming that conservative businesses and individuals were targeted. Today, when he arrived for a roundtable, Moynihan dismissed those claims. “We’re taking everyone away, thank you,” he told Fox Business.
Bank of America, along with JPMorgan and others, consistently deny that political bias plays a role in account closures. However, the data says that is not the case. Crypto companies, gun manufacturers, and even legal cannabis companies in the state have repeatedly reported that they have fallen out without a clear explanation.
Jamie Dimon is one of the few Wall Street executives who acknowledge the bleakness of the situation. Talk about jpmorgan No earthquake On a podcast last month, he sought greater transparency. “I think we should be allowed to tell you… When we report things, the federal government should probably know about it, and what we have to do and There should be a much cleaner line about what we have to do.” “We’ve been complaining about this for years. We need to fix it.”
Senate Banking Committee Chairman Tim Scott and Senator Elizabeth Warren are two lawmakers who rarely agree with them, and both admit that they have to do something. However, the solution remains in the air. Republican Sen. Kevin Cramer took the most aggressive stance with him. Fair access to banking lawshas already won 41 co-sponsors in the Senate. “I don’t want to ask them to do anything specific,” Cramer told Fox Business.
The Federal Reserve and FDIC in the midst of the Cryptobanking War
Regulators now find themselves at the heart of the crisis. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, who testified before the House Financial Services Committee this week, confirmed to lawmakers that he is deeply concerned about the wave of the cipher break-up incident. “I’m also troubled by the amount of these reports,” Powell said in response to lawmakers demanding answers.
Powell did not object to the bank’s withdrawal from the code, but he floated one theory: Fear. “One theory is that banks are very risk averse,” he said. But then he added greater approval: the Fed is now considering its own policy internally. “We are determined to see it anew,” Powell confirmed.
But the biggest bombs don’t come from the Fed. It comes from FDIC. On February 5, the agency released 175 internal documents revealing whether banks attempting to enter the code were systematically delayed, ignored or told to halt altogether. These documents (internal emails, letters, and communications over several months) confirm that Crypto business has long doubts.
FDIC Chairman Travis Hill, who inherited the confusion, did not write his words. He confirmed that previous FDIC leadership created an environment in which banks felt that crypto was not welcome. “The majority of banks just stopped trying,” Hill admitted. He announced that FDIC will be scrapping now Financial Institution Letter (FIL) 16-2022a policy that effectively enforces banks to consider effectively before interacting with crypto companies.
The FDIC has already released 25 letters, calling 24 banks last year a “suspension” and instructing them to stop crypto-related expansions. However, these newly revealed documents go further, indicating that many banks have been filled with months of silence after making crypto-related requests. Others were directly instructed to “suspend, suspend, or refrain from expanding to blockchain-based finance.”
Powell also acknowledged that the Federal Reserve had previously issued policies that promoted banks to more aggressively scrutinize “controversial sectors.” However, he confirmed that these policies are currently being dismantled.
Meanwhile, FDIC is rushing to build a new regulatory framework that will allow banks to engage with digital assets while maintaining stability. Hill said the agency is working closely with the president’s working group on digital assets markets, a task force established under Trump’s January 2025 executive order to rewrite the rulebook. I’ve checked. The goal is to create a way for banks to join the digital asset space without getting caught up in regulatory crossfires.
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