The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) may be leaning on banks to prevent them from providing services to cryptocurrency companies, U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) said Tuesday, citing communications he had received.
In a letter directed to Acting FDIC Director Martin Gruenberg, Toomey wrote that he had heard from "affected parties" and whistleblower communications which claimed that the federal bank regulator had tried to "deter banks from doing business with lawful cryptocurrency-related companies," even though providing services to these companies is not illegal. Toomey asked the regulator to confirm whether any FDIC official had indeed asked banks to not do business with crypto firms, and if so, to explain why.
Toomey referenced "Operation Choke Point," a former FDIC and Department of Justice initiative whose stated purpose was to pressure banks not to provide services to payday lenders and financial fraud charges, but which appeared to also pressure banks not to provide services to companies engaging in legal activities like gun sellers.
"According to whistleblower communications that we have corroborated, personnel in the FDIC’s Washington, D.C. headquarters are urging FDIC regional offices to send letters to multiple banks requesting that they refrain from expanding relationships with crypto-related companies, without providing any legal basis for sending such letters," Toomey wrote. "... As I understand it, in one or more of these cases, a bank planned to...
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