FOIA documents reveal the FDIC sent at least 23 letters in 2022 asking banks to pause all crypto‑asset activity until further notice, with many copied to the Federal Reserve. The coordinated language suggests a system‑wide supervisory freeze rather than case‑by‑case risk guidance, echoing the logic of Operation Choke Point.
— It shows financial regulators can effectively bar lawful sectors from banking access without public rulemaking, raising oversight and separation‑of‑powers concerns beyond crypto.
Tyler Cowen
2026.01.15
84% relevant
The roundup notes 'Legal framework for crypto is hitting some snags (NYT),' which mirrors the existing reporting that regulators (FDIC, Fed) used supervisory letters to throttle banking access for crypto firms—this is an immediate public‑policy issue about administrative leverage and financial exclusion in the crypto sector.
msmash
2026.01.13
62% relevant
Both items show how sudden regulatory or supervisory actions and proposals (FDIC pause letters in crypto; a proposed 10% statutory card‑rate cap) can immediately alter market behavior, restrict business models, and produce sectoral political responses; JPMorgan’s CFO quote and the observed banking‑stock reaction mirror the earlier example of supervisory leverage altering an industry.
2025.10.07
86% relevant
Operation Choke Point shows the same supervisory playbook—informal pressure on banks to exit whole merchant categories—that later reappears in 2022 FDIC 'pause' letters about crypto. The page lists the FDIC’s 'high‑risk' merchant categories, banks’ account terminations, and the FDIC’s promise to stop 'informal' guidance after lawsuits.
2024.12.11
100% relevant
Quote from an FDIC letter: 'We respectfully ask that you pause all crypto asset-related activity,' sent to multiple FDIC‑supervised banks and unearthed by Coinbase’s FOIA suit.