The Real Battle Behind Debanking and Operation Chokepoint

The Breakdown

Blockworks

Investing, Business

4.8 • 786 Ratings

🗓️ 7 August 2025

⏱️ 13 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

President Trump is preparing an executive order targeting financial institutions over politically motivated debanking, but critics argue it's missing the real culprits—federal regulators. NLW dives into the legacy of Operation Chokepoint, what this new order aims to change, and whether it will prevent future abuses. Then, in a big move for crypto, the SEC clarifies that most liquid staking protocols don’t constitute securities offerings—unlocking DeFi potential. We also look at new stablecoin accounting guidance and the growing calls for serious banking reform from leaders across the political spectrum. Brought to you by: Grayscale offers more than 20 different crypto investment products. Explore the full suite at grayscale.com. Invest in your share of the future. Investing involves risk and possible loss of principal. To learn more, visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Grayscale.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ -- ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.grayscale.com//?utm_source=blockworks&utm_medium=paid-other&utm_campaign=brand&utm_id=&utm_term=&utm_content=audio-thebreakdown)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Enjoying this content? SUBSCRIBE to the Podcast: https://pod.link/1438693620 Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheBreakdownBW Subscribe to the newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://blockworks.co/newsletter/thebreakdown⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Join the discussion: https://discord.gg/VrKRrfKCz8 Follow on Twitter: NLW: https://twitter.com/nlw Breakdown: https://twitter.com/BreakdownBW

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome back to The Breakdown with me, NLW.
0:09.0	It's a daily podcast on Macro, Bitcoin, and the Big Picture Power Shifts remaking our world.
0:19.0	What's going on, guys? It is Wednesday, August 6th, and today we are talking about the latest in the battle against debanking.
0:24.9	Before we get into that, however, if you are enjoying the breakdown, please go subscribe to it, give it a rating, give it a review, or if you want to dive deeper into the conversation, come join us on the Breakers Discord.
0:33.6	You can find a link in the show notes or go to bit.ly slash breakdown pod.
0:37.4	All right, friends, we have another very Washington DC-ish day here on the breakdown, kicking
0:43.0	off with the battle against debanking.
0:45.5	The Wall Street Journal reports that President Trump is preparing to sign an executive order
0:49.3	targeting financial institutions over the debanking of businesses and individuals.
0:54.1	Notably, the White House
0:55.1	policy focus is broader than just the crypto industry. The order also deals with politically
0:59.8	targeted debanking, which the Trump family claims they were directly affected by. A copy of the draft
1:04.6	order obtained by the journal laid out a series of threats and punishments for banks that
1:08.1	participated in the wave of debanking. It directs regulators
1:11.1	to levy fines against institutions that removed customers for political reasons, alongside other
1:15.5	enforcement action. Further, it orders an investigation of financial institutions to see if they violated
1:20.8	the Equal Opportunity Act, antitrust laws, or consumer protection laws as a result of their
1:25.3	debanking. The order also directs regulators to remove
1:28.2	policies that may have contributed to debanking. Among those is the Small Business Administration
1:32.9	being instructed to review their loan partner policies, effectively pulling the guaranteed loans
1:37.4	from banks viewed as participating in debanking. Finally, the order calls for some violations to be
1:42.2	escalated to the Attorney General for more serious
	...

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