Crypto founders are accusing the Biden administration of using America’s banking system as a weapon to crush the crypto industry. The allegations, detailed in a heated discussion on X, center on accusations that banks were pressured to sever ties with blockchain firms.
The firestorm began when Elon Musk asked his X followers, “Did you know that 30 tech founders were secretly debanked?”
Operation Chokepoint 2.0: Crypto’s fight against financial censorship
Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, jumped in with a blunt answer: “Yes. I was debanked because I’m in crypto, as was Gemini. The number is probably much larger than 30. That’s just in the a16z portfolio alone. They also assassinated several banks because they banked crypto companies. Totally unlawful, evil behavior.”
Did you know that 30 tech founders were secretly debanked? https://t.co/gmnCir43XD
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 27, 2024
Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase, backed Tyler. “Can confirm this is true,” he said. “It was one of the most unethical and un-American things that happened in the Biden administration. My guess? We’ll find Elizabeth Warren’s fingerprints all over it. Biden himself was probably unaware.”
Brian added that Coinbase is gathering documents through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests.
“Hopefully, the full story emerges of who was involved and whether they broke any laws. [Senator Elizabeth] Warren and [SEC Chair Gary] Gensler tried to unlawfully kill our entire industry. This was a major factor in the Democrats losing the election.”
– Brian Armstrong
Crypto leaders say these actions mirror the tactics of Operation Chokepoint, an Obama-era initiative designed to cut off financial services to industries deemed “high risk.”
Launched in 2013, the original program targeted payday lenders, firearms dealers, and certain telemarketers. While its stated goal was to combat fraud, critics argued that it unlawfully targeted legitimate businesses.
Operation Chokepoint officially ended in 2017 under the Trump administration. However, crypto insiders claim that it returned in 2021, mere weeks after Biden took office. This time, the focus wasn’t on payday loans or guns, it was on crypto.
Marc Andreessen, the venture capitalist, appeared on Joe Rogan’s show to shed light on what he calls “Operation Chokepoint 2.0.” According to Marc, at least 30 tech founders were targeted and debanked for political reasons. “I was one of them,” he said. “This is about control, not compliance.”
Gab, a social media platform, became a high-profile target. Its founder Andrew Torba described a relentless cycle of account closures, saying, “Without a bank account, you can’t store cash, run payroll, or pay bills. That’s the point—choke businesses until they die.”
He opened accounts at big banks, credit unions, and even explicitly Christian institutions, but all of them shut him out within weeks. “The reason was always the same: ‘Our terms say we can do this anytime, for any reason, or no reason at all.’ Behind the scenes, the federal government was pressuring them. I was told off the record that banks were being intimidated with threats of audits and regulatory scrutiny.”
More names speak out
The crypto community’s outrage doesn’t stop there. Caitlin Long, CEO of Custodia Bank, confirmed her own struggles with debanking. “Yes—debanked repeatedly, in my company’s case,” she wrote. Long is fighting back with a pending lawsuit against the Federal Reserve.
Oral arguments are scheduled for January 21, the day after Inauguration Day. Prominent crypto lawyer John Deaton called Long’s case “arguably the most important fight against unelected bureaucrats and the deep state protecting the banking system’s status quo,” and told Elon to look into it.
The accusations don’t stop with individual firms. Brian Roemmele, a payment processing veteran, described systemic attacks on the industry. Roemmele has worked in merchant processing since the 1980s and said that during the original Operation Chokepoint, thousands of legal businesses were wiped out overnight.
“It wasn’t just high-risk industries. It impacted all businesses and raised the cost of doing business by 10x.”
– Brian Roemmele
Roemmele claims the Biden-era reboot is even worse. “This time, it’s more vengeful. Operation Chokepoint 2.0 destroyed trust in the financial system and dismantled dreams. The government is using banks as tools of state corruption.”
Political fallout and industry backlash
Tyler accused the administration of “assassinating” banks that worked with blockchain companies. “They destroyed the financial institutions that dared to support us.”
Brian pointed to the political consequences, saying:
“This was a major factor in the Democrats losing the election. The party should realize Warren is a liability and distance themselves if they want any hope of rebuilding.”
Marc Andreessen went further, accusing the government of using financial levers for political control. “This is about crushing innovation and keeping people in line. The consequences go beyond crypto. This is about freedom.”
Brian and others are demanding transparency. Coinbase’s FOIA requests aim to reveal who was involved in targeting crypto firms. “We need accountability,” Brian said. “If laws were broken, we need to know.”
Crypto leaders are calling for reform, demanding an end to what they see as financial censorship. Marc summed up the sentiment on Joe Rogan’s show: “This type of behavior must stop. The government shouldn’t be using the banking system as a political weapon.”
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