The senior officials of the U.S. SEC are paying attention to the phenomenon of banks refusing to provide services to cryptocurrency companies
ChainCatcher news, according to DL News, has reported that the phenomenon of cryptocurrency companies and their executives being shut out by banks has garnered significant attention from senior officials at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In comments made on Wednesday, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce expressed skepticism about a nearly $400 million budget request for 2025 proposed by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). Peirce pointed out that the PCAOB has decided to focus on companies that hold large amounts of cryptocurrency or facilitate cryptocurrency trading. She stated, "In recent weeks, the efforts by regulators to prevent regulated entities from entering the cryptocurrency space have become public."
In deciding not to approve PCAOB's budget request, Peirce further questioned how the board could choose its investigation targets while not discouraging auditors, issuers, and broker-dealers from engaging in the cryptocurrency space. However, Peirce's opinion was not adopted, as three other commissioners, including SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, voted against it.
Previously, the cryptocurrency industry had accused that it is being collectively pushed out of the traditional banking system for several weeks. Against this backdrop, Peirce made the aforementioned comments. Cryptocurrency venture capitalist Nic Carter referred to this alleged exclusion as "Operation Choke Point 2.0."