Cardano’s Charles Hoskinson says Operation Chokepoint 2.0 is worse than we think, and global

Charles Hoskinson, the co-founder of Cardano and Ethereum, is calling out what he describes as a coordinated global campaign against the crypto industry, one that’s worse than anyone anticipated.

Charles took to X (formerly Twitter) to sound the alarm on the aftermath of Operation Chokepoint 2.0, which he claims has devastated businesses, hurt economies, and crushed innovation worldwide.

“So many people put their head in the sand for political reasons, saying it’s not as bad as the industry made it out to be,” Charles wrote. “It is worse and global. So many businesses were harassed, fined, audited, and de-platformed.”

He warned that the fallout from this crackdown will take years to heal and urged the crypto community to unite, adding, “We have a small window of time to get a law passed.”

Charles’s comments were prompted by Binance chairman Gabriel Abed, who revealed his own experience of being debanked outside the United States. Abed recounted how First Citizens Caribbean Bank shut down his accounts—accounts he’d held for over a decade—because he received a bitcoin-related deposit. 

The bank’s CEO explained that working with crypto companies posed too high a risk to their American correspondent banking relationships. Abed’s experience, he said, is not unique.

International banks were severing ties with crypto clients to comply with “standards” set by their U.S. counterparts. “This isn’t just an American issue,” Abed said. “It’s global.”

Crypto industry blames Biden administration for financial suppression

The crypto community believes it knows who’s behind this assault: the Biden administration. Industry leaders accuse the government of reviving the controversial Obama-era Operation Chokepoint under a new guise.

The original program, launched in 2013, pressured banks to cut ties with industries considered “high risk,” such as payday lenders and firearms dealers. Critics argued that legitimate businesses were being unfairly targeted. Operation Chokepoint officially ended in 2017, but crypto insiders say it made a comeback in 2021, this time with blockchain firms in its crosshairs.

Elon Musk reignited the discussion with a single question: “Did you know that 30 tech founders were secretly debanked?” Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, jumped in immediately. “Yes,” he responded.

“I was debanked because I’m in crypto, as was Gemini. The number is probably much larger than 30. That’s just in the a16z portfolio alone.” Tyler accused the Biden administration of “assassinating” banks that dared to serve the crypto industry.

Brian Armstrong, Coinbase’s CEO, backed Tyler with his own allegations. “Can confirm this is true,” Brian said, calling the debanking of crypto companies one of the most unethical moves in American history.

He pointed fingers at Senator Elizabeth Warren and SEC Chair Gary Gensler, claiming they orchestrated a deliberate attempt to “kill” the industry. “My guess? We’ll find Warren’s fingerprints all over it.

Biden himself was probably unaware,” Brian speculated. He revealed that Coinbase is using Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to uncover who exactly was involved.

https://twitter.com/brian_Brian/status/1861890800268775923

“This was a major factor in the Democrats losing the election,” Brian continued. “The party should realize Warren is a liability and distance themselves if they want any hope of rebuilding.”

Marc Andreessen, the highly-respected venture capitalist, appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast to call out what he sees as blatant financial censorship. “This is about control, not compliance,” Marc said, describing how at least 30 tech founders, himself included, were targeted and debanked for political reasons. He pointed to the broader implications: “This goes beyond crypto. This is about freedom.”

The global fallout of Operation Chokepoint 2.0

Andrew Torba, founder of Gab, shared his story of relentless account closures. “Without a bank account, you can’t store cash, run payroll, or pay bills,” he said. “That’s the point—choke businesses until they die.”

Andrew said he opened accounts with major banks, credit unions, and even Christian financial institutions, only to be repeatedly shut out. “The reason was always the same: ‘Our terms say we can do this anytime, for any reason, or no reason at all.’”

According to him, banks have admitted off the record that they were being pressured by the government with threats of audits and regulatory scrutiny.

Caitlin Long, CEO of Custodia Bank, has also been vocal about her experience. Long confirmed that her company has been debanked multiple times and is now suing the Federal Reserve. Her case is scheduled for oral arguments on January 21, just one day after Inauguration

Day. John Deaton, a well-known crypto lawyer and former US Senate candidate, called Caitlin’s lawsuit “arguably the most important fight against unelected bureaucrats and the deep state protecting the banking system’s status quo.”

Payment processing veteran Brian Roemmele shares these concerns. He described how Operation Chokepoint 2.0 has destroyed trust in the financial system. Roemmele has worked in merchant processing since the 1980s and said the Biden-era version of the program is even more destructive than the original.

“This time, it’s vengeful,” Roemmele said, adding that thousands of businesses have been wiped out overnight. He claimed the crackdown has made doing business ten times more expensive and accused the government of using banks as tools of state corruption.

Gabriel Abed’s story offers a glimpse into how this suppression plays out on the ground. After receiving a bitcoin-related deposit flagged as high risk, his decade-old accounts were shut down.

He called the debanking crisis a “clear example of how far-reaching the consequences of U.S. banking policies are,” adding that local banks are often caught in the crossfire. “Barbadian banks face immense pressure to comply with U.S. standards or risk losing their correspondent relationships.”

Charles, for his part, is urging the crypto industry to unite. He believes the community has a small window of time to push for legislative reforms to ensure such a campaign is never repeated. “We have to come together to prevent this horror from ever happening again,” he said.

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