• Brian Brooks, former acting head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), said federal regulators are working together to keep crypto assets out of the U.S. banking system.
• Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank, and Signature Bank – all firms with crypto clients – have been closed by various bank regulators in recent weeks.
• This is part of a larger initiative by the Biden administration called Operation Choke Point 2.0 which aims to close down crypto access in US banks.

U.S Government Using Crisis to Choke Off Crypto Access to Banks

Brian Brooks’ Comments On Situation

Former acting head of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), Brian Brooks said federal regulators are working together to keep crypto assets out of the U.S banking system. He believes this is part of a larger initiative by the Biden administration called Operation Choke Point 2.0 which aims to close down crypto access in US banks and that this will be ‘the biggest story for the next six months’.

Closures Of Banks With Crypto Clients

In recent weeks Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank – all firms with crypto clients – have been closed by various bank regulators in California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation and New York State banking regulators respectively due to inadequate liquidity or insolvency issues as reported by CoinDesk TV’s “First Mover”. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) then took receivership over SVB and Signature bank respectively due their closure .

Operation Choke Point 2.0

According to Brian Brooks “it’s pretty clear there has been a decision across the bank regulatory agencies in this [Biden] administration that crypto is inherently risky and needs to be extricated from the banking system” as part of Operation Chokepoint 2.0 which aims to limit access points for cryptocurrency services including deposit taking, trading platforms, money transmitters etc..

Conclusion

In conclusion it appears that through Operation choke point 2.0, federal regulations are targeting financial institutions with direct ties to cryptocurrencies in order restrict access within US banks