Why would a bank suddenly shut down a customer’s adequately funded account? Some leading Republicans, echoing tech titans like Marc Andreessen, have warned of a conspiracy among regulators to “debank” conservatives and crypto enthusiasts.
The real story is almost certainly more mundane, but it shows that the government’s approach to suspicious financial activity — especially in the age of cryptocurrency — isn’t as well-focused or transparent as it should be.
The debanking dispute has its roots in an ill-advised Obama administration effort called Operation Choke Point. Starting in 2013, regulators identified certain industries, including payday lenders and gun dealers, that allegedly presented a high ...
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