Senator Lummis destroys FDIC Operation Chokepoint 2.0 documents.
Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lammis has sent a letter to the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) after whistleblowers told her it destroyed documents related to Operation Chocpon 2.0.
Lummis ordered the government agency to stop destroying documents and preserve all records related to “digital asset activities,” including the monitoring of Signature Bank and the investigation of Silvergate Bank. The senator warned the FDIC:
“I will make an immediate criminal referral to the US Department of Justice if it is discovered that you or your staff knowingly destroyed materials or sought to obstruct the Senate's oversight functions.”
Operation Chokepoint 2.0 – a concerted effort to cut off crypto-related firms from banking services – has impacted the industry widely in many countries and was a major pain point for industry advocacy groups during the 2024 US election.
Letter to the FDIC by Senator Lummis. Source: Senator Lummis
RELATED: Pro-Crypto Advocate John Deaton Offers to Investigate Operation Chokepoint 2.0
Crypto founders oppose financial targets
After Andreessen Horowitz co-founder Marc Andreessen appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience, more than 30 crypto founders have taken to social media to share their debanking experiences.
The list of executives who spoke included Sam Kazemian, founder of Frex Finance, and Brian Armstrong, CEO of Coinbase.
Armstrong filed a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain letters sent by the FDIC in 2022 asking banks to freeze crypto-related activities.
The FDIC sent Coinbase executives heavily redacted versions of the letters — with Judge Anna Reyes ordering the agency to release more transparent documents.
In her Dec. 12 order, Reyes said, “The defendant cannot simply discount anything that is not an article or a condition” of the withheld documents as a “lack of good faith effort” to produce meaningful records.
Despite significant regulatory pressure on the crypto industry, companies have been able to adapt and survive.
Many crypto companies have turned to stablecoins to fund their operations after losing their business accounts at traditional banking institutions during the banking crisis.
Magazine: Crypto has 4 years to grow so big ‘no one can shut it down': Cain Warwick, Infinex
