Crypto Industry Urges Trump to Block JPMorgan’s Controversial Payment Data Tax Plan

Crypto advocates are sounding the alarm—JPMorgan's push to monetize payment data could kneecap decentralization's core promise.

The Backroom Battle Heating Up

Behind closed doors, Wall Street's biggest players are lobbying to turn blockchain transactions into taxable events. The move—dressed up as 'regulatory clarity'—reeks of old finance trying to put genies back in bottles.

Why This Threatens More Than Privacy

Mandatory reporting thresholds would create choke points where none exist today. Suddenly every microtransaction gets scrutinized like a SWIFT transfer—exactly what crypto was built to avoid.

The Irony Isn't Lost On Anyone

Same institutions that called crypto a 'fraud' now want to tax its infrastructure. Classic Wall Street: first ignore, then ridicule, then regulate, then own.

JPMorgan to charge for data access

Last month, JPMorgan Chase informed third-party data aggregators like Plaid and MX that it will begin charging fees when they access customer banking information. These aggregators provide the data infrastructure to many fintech and crypto services, including moving funds between JPMorgan accounts and platforms like Robinhood or self-custody wallets used for digital assets such as USDC or USDT.

Until now, access to this data has generally been free. But under the proposed changes, the bank could charge fees every time an aggregator pulls a customer’s data. These costs are expected to be passed downstream, first to fintech platforms and eventually to end users.

One founder told the press that the cost of accessing JPMorgan’s APIs WOULD exceed the company’s total revenue since its founding over a decade ago. Another industry executive said the new charges would effectively “put everyone out of business” unless they raise prices by up to 1,000%.

“The JPMorgan fees make it impossible to serve Chase customers if you are a small company,” the fintech executive warned.

Letter to the White House explains consumer risks

The coalition’s letter from the ten companies argues that JPMorgan’s plan could “de-bank” millions of Americans and deny them access to Core financial services in crypto, especially for stablecoins. It could nerf the use of self-custody wallets and real-time digital payments, the groups said.

“Let us be clear: financial data belongs to the American people, not the banks,” the letter read. “By challenging open banking, the largest banks stand in direct opposition to your vision of making America the financial innovation capital of the world.”

The trade groups are urging the Trump administration to take immediate action before July 29, when it is expected to submit a legal brief in an ongoing federal case over the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) new open banking rules, specifically Rule 1033. 

The regulation, finalized by the CFPB in late 2024, requires financial institutions to provide consumers with free access to their account data and allows them to share it with third-party providers.

Still, financial institutions banks like JPMorgan immediately filed lawsuits to block the rule on the same day it was finalized. The CFPB gave in to legal pressure from the banking industry and asked the courts to vacate the rule.

According to industry estimates, if JPMorgan’s plan proceeds, Plaid alone could be forced to pay up to $300 million annually in fees, more than 75% of its current revenue. 

Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi, in a July 12 article written on social platform X, called JPMorgan’s decision to charge fees for data part of a “calculated shift” where banks are monetizing user-generated data and erecting tolls around personal information.

“There is a version of the future where every financial interaction is intermediated by systems that monitor, price, and gate access to your own data,” Sethi wrote. “Crypto presents an alternative. But that alternative is not guaranteed.”

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