Daily Observation of Cryptocurrency Policy: OCC Director Criticizes Politicized "De-Banking" and Calls on Congress to Legislate Protection for Cryptocurrency Companies' Financial Access

Regulatory Spotlight: Review Exposes Abuse of "Reputational Risk" by the Top Nine Banks in the U.S.

Traditional commercial banks' practice of unilaterally cutting off fiat currency accounts for sensitive industries using vague "reputational risk" is facing strong countermeasures from federal regulators.

Jonathan Gould, the Director of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), revealed a significant review outcome at the latest press conference. The OCC conducted a special compliance inspection of the nine largest national banks in the U.S. and found that these top financial institutions universally adopted "reputational risk policies" that are subjectively biased. The review indicated that these banks, when assessing client access, not only examined basic financial and anti-money laundering compliance but also substantially allowed political considerations, public opinion, and social pressure to intervene in or even dominate the final financial service approval decisions.

Impacted Sectors: Coal, Firearms, and Cryptocurrency Businesses Become Victims

Under this politically charged internal risk control mechanism, some legitimate but socially controversial enterprises are the first to suffer.

Gould pointed out that the sectors most severely affected by this politicized "de-banking" are coal energy and firearms manufacturing, which are often collectively blacklisted by Wall Street due to climate and environmental issues or gun control controversies. Even more alarming for the digital asset industry is that the OCC report explicitly included "cryptocurrency businesses" on this victim list. For a long time, Web3 startups, compliant exchanges, and mining companies have repeatedly faced obstacles when applying to open corporate fiat accounts, with the core issue being traditional banks' rigid reputational biases and risk-averse sentiments towards the crypto industry.

Call for Legislation: Curb Political Motives and Defend Fair Financial Access Rights

In the face of the banking industry's de facto "financial scrutiny" practices, the OCC believes that relying solely on administrative regulatory guidance is insufficient to eradicate this persistent issue.

Jonathan Gould directly called on the U.S. Congress during the press conference, urging legislative bodies to intervene as soon as possible and enact binding federal laws to prevent any "de-banking" actions motivated by political reasons. The OCC's position is very clear: as a key infrastructure granted by the state, banks' provision of credit and payment clearing services should be based on objective financial credit and legitimate business models, and must not become financial weapons for specific political factions or social opinions to suppress dissent.

A Significant Turning Point for Cryptocurrency Compliance Institutions to Break the "Fiat Currency Island"

Considering the regulatory trends in Washington in mid-October, the OCC's public "attack" on the reputational risk control systems of major banks undoubtedly serves as a timely boost for the U.S. cryptocurrency industry, which is deeply trapped in the fiat currency channel dilemma. Over the past few years, many crypto institutions have been forced to turn to offshore banks for foreign exchange services under the shadow of the so-called "Operation Choke Point 2.0." The OCC's top-level stance as a federal banking regulator provides strong official endorsement for the cryptocurrency industry to fight for equal financial access rights. If Congress can subsequently make substantial progress in anti-"de-banking" legislation, the legal barriers between compliant digital asset companies and traditional Wall Street banks may be completely dismantled.

Source: https://bbx.com/ Cryptocurrency Stock Information Database, compiled based on global public company announcements and SEC/TSE disclosure documents from yesterday.