A recent enforcement action by the US Federal Reserve against Customers Bank, a bank known for supporting cryptocurrency, has made people wonder if Vice President Kamala Harris really wants to get along better with the crypto business. Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss brought attention to the move, which has been criticized by well-known crypto experts who question Harris’s truthfulness.
On August 9, Winklevoss posted about his worries on the social media site X. He said, “Today, the Fed confirmed that Operation Choke Point 2.0 remains in full swing, provided valuable insight into how it works, and confirmed that the Harris crypto “reset” is a scam.” His words are about the 13-page enforcement action from the Federal Reserve that says Customers Bank has to give 30 days’ notice before starting to do business with a cryptocurrency company.
Winklevoss Criticizes Fed Centralization
In their speech, Winklevoss said that Customers Bank is one of the few US banks that still accepts cryptocurrency. He said that the Federal Reserve’s actions are limiting crypto companies’ ability to use banking services by controlling who can start a bank account and who can’t. He said that this makes it harder for crypto companies to work openly.
The enforcement action has more significant effects on the crypto business, and Winklevoss criticizes the Federal Reserve for concentrating power in one place. Basically, he said that these kinds of choices should not be made by one bank but by each bank individually.
Charles Hoskinson, the founder of the cryptocurrency Cardano, agreed with Winklevoss that the current U.S. administration’s stand on cryptocurrency is troubling. Hoskinson thinks that the Biden administration is actively working against the crypto business and that if Harris wins the election, this will continue. He said that voting for Harris could hurt the U.S. crypto business even more, which he took to mean that she would keep up what he calls a “war on crypto.”
Winklevoss and Hoskinson’s worries come at a time when the U.S. banking sector is generally in a lot of trouble. Several banks that did business with crypto companies went out of business between March and August 2023. These banks included Silvergate Bank, Signature Bank, and Silicon Valley Bank. This made things worse between the banking and crypto industries.
In July, several U.S. politicians and congressional candidates from different districts wrote to Jaime Harrison, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, to ask her to change the party’s position on digital assets and blockchain technology to be more open to new ideas. The letter talks about how the Democratic Party is under more and more pressure to listen to the crypto industry’s wants and concerns.
People who are worried about the future of digital assets in the US are likely to pay a lot of attention to Harris’s position on cryptocurrency and the recent actions of the Federal Reserve as the 2024 presidential campaign heats up.
