Regulators are paying attention to selective banking practices towards the cryptocurrency sector

The US administration is intensifying its hopes for the banking system. A report published by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) in mid-December reveals that the major financial institutions in the United States have implemented internal mechanisms that effectively restricted access to services for industries deemed problematic. Central to the issue is the question of fair access to the banking system — a matter that the Trump-era regulatory team now wants to bring to the forefront of the political agenda.

How banks built barriers for the crypto industry

An analysis conducted by the OCC under the leadership of Comptroller Jonathan Gould covered the nine largest banking institutions in the country. The findings show that banks such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citigroup applied significantly more stringent procedures to clients from certain sectors of the economy.

These mechanisms took several forms:

• Enhanced customer verification — crypto, defense, or fossil fuel companies had to undergo advanced approval processes before they could access basic banking services
• Arbitrary decision criteria — the scope of access to the account center depended on the bank’s subjective assessments of the compliance of the business activities with its declared “values”
• Unpublished policies — these restrictions were contained in internal documents inaccessible to clients, making it harder for them to identify potential issues in advance
• Duration of restrictions — the problem grew over the years 2020–2023, significantly deepening during this period

Vague legal basis poses challenges for enforcement

The OCC report indicates an intention to “hold banks accountable for discriminatory practices,” but the source material shows a clear structural weakness. According to the analysis, the agency does not cite a specific federal law provision that could justify bringing charges. Instead, the documentation relies on an executive order signed by Donald Trump in the summer of the previous year, which essentially instructs regulators to act but does not itself have legal force over financial institutions.

The order mandates penalties for “unfairly severing relationships with legitimate business partners,” but this phrasing remains at the level of political declaration. Experts, including analysts from research institutes, point out the irony of the situation: regulators accuse banks of discriminatory approaches while they themselves are effectively evaluating banks based on their reputational profile and compliance with supervisory guidelines.

Cryptocurrencies in light of new regulatory priorities

The revelation of de-banking practices coincided with growing interest in Bitcoin among political and business circles. Cryptocurrencies, long marginalized as speculative assets, are beginning to be viewed by supporters as a mechanism for financial independence from restrictions of the traditional banking sector.

The dynamics of this conflict could accelerate the natural evolution — strengthening alternative financial platforms, especially decentralized services (DeFi). For companies operating within the digital account ecosystem of cryptocurrencies, this regulatory shift could be a breakthrough moment. As traditional finance faces increased scrutiny due to alleged discriminatory practices, decentralized systems are gaining attractiveness as autonomous solutions.

Although this perspective remains uncertain due to the lack of a clear legal foundation for potential sanctions, it shows that the banking landscape is undergoing a significant transformation.