What is “Operation Choke Point 2.0”?

If FTX was a butterfly flapping its wings in the Amazon rainforest, “Operation Choke Point 2.0” is the torrential rain now pouring down over the US crypto industry.

How does crypto choke point 2 differ from the original?

In some key respects, Crypto Choke Point 2.0 differs from the original. It appears that the administration has learned from the efforts of its predecessors. In Choke Point 1.0, guidance was mainly informal and involved backdoor, off-the-record conversations.

What happened to choke point?

In 2017, Trump and Republican lawmakers like Rep. Luetkemeyer were able to put a stop to Choke Point for a time, but it didn’t last. One of the first moves from Biden’s OCC was to undo Brian Brook’s Fair Access rule that prohibited political discrimination in banking.

What's going on with Crypto in 2.0?

In 2.0, everything is happening in plain sight, in the form of rulemaking, written guidance, and blogs. The current crypto crackdown is being sold as a “safety and soundness” issue for banks, and not merely a reputational risk issue. Jake Chervinsky of the Blockchain Association calls it “regulation by blog post.”