Regulatory Choke‑Points for Tech

Freedom‑of‑Information documents show the FDIC asked multiple banks in 2022 to 'pause' crypto activity, copied to the Fed and executed across regional offices. That reveals a playbook where prudential supervision functions as a de‑facto gatekeeping mechanism that can deny regulated intermediaries to nascent sectors without clear statutory action. — If regulators routinely use supervisory letters to exclude emerging industries, democratically accountable rulemaking is bypassed and political control over new technology markets becomes concentrated in administrative discretion.