Biden’s Operation Chokepoint 2.0: A Lawyer’s Expose on the Bitcoin and Crypto Sector’s Challenges

• Lawyer Scott Johnson has alleged that despite the recent Ethereum spot ETF approvals, the Biden government remains anti-crypto.
• He says that Biden is working on Operation Chokepoint 2.0, under which he will use enforcement agencies like the OCC and SEC to crack down on crypto exchanges and traders.

As the US election draws closer, the crypto industry is closely scrutinizing the two main candidates—Donald Trump and Joe Biden—regarding their digital asset stands. While he has been against crypto since he took over, Biden has been warming up in a bid to woo the young voters who tend to be pro-Bitcoin. However, according to some market observers, it’s all a sham, and he will wipe out the industry if he gets reelected.

In a lengthy post on X, lawyer Scott Johnson broke down the Biden government’s actions against crypto over the past four years, with most occurring over the past year. The lawyer, who previously served at the global white-shoe law firm Davis Polk and the Barclays Investment Bank, summarised that Biden is ready to destroy any business or developers who get in the way of his anti-Bitcoin plan.

What the Dems/Biden admin are STILL doing:

– OCC refuses to enact Brian Brooks' "fair access" banking rule to prohibit federally chartered banks from denying financial services such as lending to would-be clients on political or ideological grounds.
– Enforcement actions against…

— Scott Johnsson (@SGJohnsson) May 30, 2024

One of Biden’s biggest threats against crypto has been through Gary Gensler and the SEC. As Johnson noted, the agency has launched enforcement actions against dozens of crypto firms, from Coinbase to Binance and Kraken, “based on an unimaginably expansive definition of security and without clear guidance.”

Additionally, the SEC has issued Wells Notices against Consensys, Paxos, Uniswap Labs and others, as Crypto News Flash has reported. The agency has also incorporated DeFi into its dealer rules without “faithfully applying the requirements of the Administrative Procedures Act (APA).”

FDIC, the Federal Reserve, the Treasury, the IRS and the Justice Department have also become part of Biden’s anti-crypto state machinery. As Johnson noted, the Treasury inserted provisions in must-pass legislation that even Congress didn’t get to debate expanding the definition of ‘broker.’ DoJ, on its part, has been cracking down on mixers and arrested Tornado Cash developers.

Biden has also proposed punishing taxes for crypto miners, despite the US having the world’s largest mining industry which provides thousands of jobs that previously went to China.

And then there’s the OCC; while, under Brian Brooks, the agency was crypto-friendly, it has pivoted significantly. To date, the OCC has refused to enact the ‘fair access’ banking rule that Brooks proposed while at the helm, which would prohibit any chartered bank from refusing service to customers based on political or ideological differences.

Despite the blatant anti-crypto moves, those closest to Biden’s camp say he is becoming friendlier to the industry. Sources told one news outlet that the president is reaching out to industry players for advice and guidance on “crypto community and crypto policy moving forward.”

With the elections now just five months away, Biden is wooing the crypto community to counter Trump’s rising popularity, but it might be too little, too late.