Banks Double Down with ’Operation Chokepoint 3.0’—Crypto and Fintech in the Crosshairs

Traditional banks are escalating their war on crypto—launching a coordinated squeeze dubbed 'Operation Chokepoint 3.0' to starve digital asset firms and fintech disruptors of banking access.

The playbook: Shadowy pressure tactics, sudden account closures, and 'risk management' excuses straight from the 2014 regulatory playbook. Because nothing says 'healthy competition' like using legacy rails to freeze out innovators.

Why now? With Bitcoin eating into payment revenues and DeFi luring away high-net-worth clients, old-school finance is pulling the ultimate moat-building move—when you can't compete, just cut off the oxygen supply.

Bonus jab: Watch banks suddenly 'discover blockchain potential' once they finish strangling everyone else's implementations.

Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) partner, Alex Rampell, has warned that banks are about to adopt a new approach of “Operation Chokepoint 3.0.” It is an initiative allegedly targeting crypto and fintech companies that strives to implement excessive fees and access restrictions in these industries. 

Chokepoint 3.0 Strategy to Destroy Crypto Fintech Firms?

Rampell asserted that Operation Chokepoint 2.0, which started under the Biden administration, tried to debank and deplatform crypto, has ended, but the relief for the fintech and crypto industry is not for long. 

He indicates that the introduction of new charges under Chokepoint 3.0 could drastically impact fintech companies that rely on access to customer bank accounts for operations.

Rampell stated, “Now the banks are aiming to implement their own Chokepoint 3.0 — charging insanely high fees to access data or MOVE money to crypto and fintech apps — and, more concerningly, blocking crypto and fintech apps they don’t like.” 

JPMorgan Adopts Operation Chokepoint 3.0

The global financial holding company, JPMorgan Chase, is also adopting the new approach. It has announced plans to implement fees for access to customer bank account data, potentially amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars. The fees will vary according to the usage, with higher costs for payment-centric firms. 

A spokesperson from Chase stated, “We’ve had productive conversations and are working with the entire ecosystem to ensure we’re all making the necessary investments in the infrastructure that keeps our customers safe.”

Rampell argues that charging extra fees for data protection is “crazy” because sometimes the data is just the bank account number and routing code, which is printed on every check. Yet somehow, the banks are starting to charge for that as well, signaling indirect corruption.  

Exchanges May Face Depletion in Crypto Involvement 

Platforms like PayPal’s Venmo, crypto wallets such as Coinbase, and retail trading brokerages such as Robinhood depend on this data for transactions. The new initiative could result in a cut in the platforms’  participation rate if the cost to move assets increases.

Rampell says, “If it suddenly costs $10 to move $100 into a Coinbase or Robinhood account, maybe fewer people will do it.” 

Additionally, he states that crypto and fintech companies do not need new law, but an administration to prevent these manipulative approaches that desire to end the competitive industries.