The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s board of directors is set to discuss proposed rules that could impact crypto firms amid allegations of debanking.
In a Thursday notice, the FDIC said its board would consider a notice of proposed rulemaking “regarding prohibition on use of reputation risk by regulators.” Though the agenda did not explicitly mention debanking concerns tied to digital assets, acting FDIC chair Travis Hill has previously criticized regulators for using “reputation risk” as justification to prevent some banks from engaging in crypto activities, such as allowing clients to send funds to exchanges.
US President Donald Trump used the term in an August executive order “guaranteeing free banking,” claiming that having regulators access reputation risk could result in “politicized or unlawful debanking.” The order did not specifically mention digital assets.
Before Trump took office and signed the executive order, many in the crypto industry alleged they were denied access to US banking services as part of an orchestrated push by authorities due to their ties to digital assets.
Court documents made public in December as part of a Freedom of Information Act request with the FDIC showed the regulator asked some institutions to “pause all crypto asset-related activity” in 2022.
Related: Crypto debanking is ‘still occurring’ as banks stick to Chokepoint policies
The alleged actions, dubbed “Operation Chokepoint 2.0” by some, became a campaign issue for Trump and many Republicans during the 2024 election. After Trump won the presidential election and appointed Hill, the acting FDIC chair said the regulator would be “reevaluating [its] supervisory approach to crypto-related activities.”
Cointelegraph reached out to the FDIC for comment but had not received a response at the time of publication.
Ongoing US government shutdown under Trump
On Tuesday at midnight, the US government shut down after lawmakers failed to pass a bill extending funding beyond Oct. 1.
While the shutdown has significantly reduced operations at US financial regulators like the Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the FDIC said it would remain “open and operational” regardless of how long the political fight lasts.
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