The House Committee on Financial Services held a hearing today on Operation Choke Point 2.0. The FDIC’s newly-released tranche of incriminating documents was discussed at length.
Representative Alexander Green fervently denied all debanking allegations within the first five minutes, but overwhelming evidence came to light. Crypto still has vocal opponents in the US government, but their position is weakening.
Committee Hearing Begins With Hostility
The House Committee on Financial Services conducted a hearing on debanking and Operation Choke Point 2.0 today, and it serves as a reflection on US crypto policy. The fact that this hearing even exists and is broadly sympathetic is a triumph in itself.
However, old institutions die hard, and Representative Al Green began with a very critical opening statement:
“Yes, the title of this hearing is ‘Operation Choke Point 2.0: The Biden Administration’s Effort to Put Crypto in the Crosshairs.’ However, a better title for this hearing would is ‘How President Trump’s Self-Dealing Deregulation will Put Investors at Risk.’ Operation Choke Point 2.0 is a fake program never initiated by the Biden Administration,” Green said.
Green went on to tell the Committee about the failures of crypto-related banks and said these failures bore no evidence of Operation Choke Point 2.0’s existence.
Specifically, he alluded to Silvergate Bank, which collapsed in 2023 and sent cascading effects all over the industry. Green said that it had over 98% of its assets in crypto, proving that crypto is unstable.
Evidence of Operation Choke Point 2.0
However, as journalist Eleanor Terrett pointed out, Silvergate did not fall on its own. The bank came under repeated attack from industry opponents like Senator Elizabeth Warren, and regulators imposed a 15% cap on crypto-related bank deposits upon it.
After this, continued business became untenable, and the bank voluntarily liquidated.
“Is it kind of ironic that Congresswoman Rashida and Nikema Williams said they’re more concerned about their own constituents getting debanked or lacking access to basic financial services at a hearing about crypto, which was created to solve those very problems?,” wrote Eleanor Terrett.
Although Green’s comments began the hearing with a hostile tone, the facts quickly came to light. The Committee’s first witness was Austin Campbell, Acting CEO of WSPN, who showed proof of Operation Choke Point 2.0.
Specifically, he referred to the FDIC, which released a tranche of 175 relevant and incriminating documents yesterday.
Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase, was the next witness. He notified the community that he would testify. Grewal told the Committee about his own experience with Operation Choke Point 2.0, based on his years of advocating for Coinbase. He also talked about the exchange’s campaign to expose incriminating FDIC documents.
In other words, Grewal did not focus on direct attacks against Coinbase but rather on his fight to expose attacks on the entire industry.
This combination of a focused narrative with factual analysis of a wide problem seemed quite rhetorically effective. The Committee also heard other witnesses, including one who also denied the existence of Operation Choke Point 2.0.
Ultimately, this hearing won’t change much alone. After all, the House Oversight Committee recently launched its own investigation of Operation Choke Point 2.0, which is unrelated to this one.
What this hearing demonstrates, however, is a strong momentum in bringing justice to crypto. The tides are turning, and crypto oppositions are likely weakening in the US.
Read the full article here
