Trump to order probe of crypto and political debanking claims: WSJ

2025-08-05 15:23:48 Primitive Reading

US President Donald Trump is reportedly planning to sign an executive order directing banking regulators to investigate claims of debanking made by the crypto sector and conservatives.

Bank regulators would be directed to probe whether any financial institutions violated antitrust, consumer financial protection or fair lending practice laws, according to a draft of the executive order seen and reported by The Wall Street Journal on Monday.

Those found violating the laws could face fines or other legal action. Trump may sign the order this week, reportedly, but the White House could delay or change the plan.

Crypto industry executives have long alleged that the Biden administration conspired to cut crypto off from the financial system by using regulators to pressure banks into shirking clients involved in digital assets.

Executive order to demand regulatory overhaul

The reported draft order directs bank regulators to scrap any of their policies that may have contributed to banks dropping some customers, such as crypto firms.

It also directs the US government’s Small Business Administration to review banking practices that guarantee the loans made by the agency to small businesses.

The order asks regulators to refer some of the potential violations to the attorney general for the Department of Justice to follow up.

The Journal reported in June that the White House was planning for Trump to sign a similar order aiming at stopping banks from cutting off services to industries such as crypto.

“Operation Choke Point 2.0” claims

Crypto executives have claimed that former President Joe Biden began to cut off their industry from banking in late 2022 after the collapse of FTX, with the crypto exchange being revealed as a massive fraud.

Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal testified at a Congressional hearing in February that the Biden-era Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) “bludgeoned the banks” with examinations and questions around crypto and stablecoins until they “relented under the pressure.”

A Coinbase-supported Freedom of Information Act lawsuit against the FDIC showed the agency asked certain financial institutions to pause crypto banking activities, which Grewal said showed the industry’s claim “wasn’t just some crypto conspiracy theory.”

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