Consensys, the Ethereum software developer best known for his wallet MetamSk, has been affected twice by the attempts of US authorities to exclude him from the financial system, despite the best efforts of his bank for the second time, said Joe Lubin, Founder and CEO, Joe Lubin. interview.
The company survived what is known as Operation Chokepoint 2.0 by maintaining redundant support accounts to avoid having operational difficulties. Lubin also said he was hit personally during the purge.
Chokepoint 2.0 specifically refers to the debate of cryptographic companies and executives as a result of the pressure exerted during the administration of President Joe Biden by regulatory authorities as Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC). Connsys’ Bank, which Lubin refused to identify, resisted a lot of pressure to close his account, he said.
“The bank told us that they were having a lot of pressure to close our account: a company of $ 7 billion has always been an excellent client for them,” Lubin said. “They basically said: ‘We like you. We don’t want to do this. We will try to delay the process as long as possible, and we will inform you if we have to do something. “
The initial strangulation point, launched by the Department of Justice during the Obama Administration, aimed to cut access to banking services for legal but politically disadvantaged, as payment lenders and firearms concessionaires.
Crypto Debanking has become a conversation issue in recent months, with leaders such as Andreessen Horowitz, Marc Andreessen, and Ripple’s CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, discussing it in public. This week, it has been under the scrutiny of Congress in a series of hearings, marking an additional advance in the reversal of the resistance of policies of the digital asset industry in Washington under the administration of President Donald Trump.
Lubin’s comment shows that some banks deserve credit for trying to resist the pressure exerted by US authorities. Finally, however, the pressure turned too much and the bank gave up.
“The bank finally said: ‘We cannot do anything else. We will have to close your account. We feel it very much, ‘”said Lubin.
A person familiar with the matter said that the American bank in question was well Fargo. Wells Fargo declined to comment.
However, this was not the end of the story. After Trump’s electoral victory in November, Banco Relationship Manager contacted Consensys financial director.
“Day after the elections, the bank contacted one of our people in finance and said: ‘Hey, can we take you to a basketball game?'” Lubin said.
An previous Chokepoint experience was shorter and more clinical.
“That was a previous banking partner,” Lubin said without appointing the bank. “They closed my personal account and closed the company’s account. They just written a very vanilla sound letter. That was all. “
