The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has released 790 pages of documents detailing its interactions with banks and financial institutions seeking to offer cryptocurrency services.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) has released 790 pages of documents detailing its interactions with banks and financial institutions seeking to offer cryptocurrency services. The records reveal that bank requests were often met with delays, increased scrutiny, and pause letters that prevented them from proceeding. The release follows ongoing scrutiny of the FDIC’s handling of crypto firms and its regulatory stance on digital assets.
The documents were made public after Coinbase filed two Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests in October 2024, seeking records related to the FDIC’s role in debanking crypto firms under what has been called “Operation Choke Point 2.0.” One request focused specifically on whether the FDIC had imposed a 15% cap on bank deposits from crypto-related companies. In December 2024, a U.S. court released an initial set of documents, but much of the information was redacted. U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes criticized the FDIC for excessive censorship, stating in a Dec.r 12 ruling that the agency “cannot simply blanket redact everything that is not an article or preposition” and accused it of failing to provide a “good-faith effort” in disclosing the requested information.
Amid the fallout, FDIC Acting Chairman Travis Hill signaled a shift in the agency’s approach. “Looking forward, we are actively reevaluating our supervisory approach to crypto-related activities,” he stated, adding that the FDIC would work with the President’s Working Group on Digital Asset Markets.
The release of the documents has also involved political pressure. In January 2025, Senator Cynthia Lummis of Wyoming accused the FDIC of destroying records related to Operation Choke Point 2.0 and instructed the agency to preserve all documents related to digital asset activities from 2022 onward. She warned that if any evidence of document destruction were found, criminal referrals would be made to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The newly disclosed documents reveal that banks seeking approval for crypto-related services encountered repeated requests for additional information and were often denied or subjected to long review periods. The records show internal resistance to digital asset services, raising concerns about whether federal regulators deliberately discouraged banks from working with crypto firms.
The FDIC’s regulatory stance has been a point of contention between the government and the cryptocurrency industry. The latest disclosures highlight tensions over the role of federal agencies in determining the future of digital assets in traditional banking. With lawmakers and courts now involved, the FDIC’s approach to crypto-related activities is expected to remain under intense scrutiny.
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