Trump Signs Executive Order Prohibiting Debanking of Crypto Industry

In brief

The order will stop banks from denying services to crypto companies.
The order said “the digital assets industry has been unfairly targeted.”
Decrypt first reported in March on plans for the order.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday signed an executive order that would prohibit debanking of crypto-related initiatives, continuing his administration’s onslaught against the Biden era’s more restrictive policies toward the industry.

“Fair Banking for All Americans” directs federal banking regulators and agencies to adopt policies that prevent “politicized or unlawful debanking,” noting that “the digital assets industry has…been the target of unfair debanking initiatives.”

The order is among the latest efforts to deliver on promises that Trump made to the crypto industry during the 2024 campaign. On Thursday, the White House signed an order that would permit crypto investments in 401K retirement plans and nominated Stephen Miran, a pro-crypto economist who favors digital asset-favoring interest rate cuts, for a coming board vacancy on the U.S. central bank.

The order is looking to abolish the rules and regulatory initiatives associated with “Operation Chokepoint 2.0,” an alleged Biden administration plot to deny banking services to crypto companies and executives, sources said.

“The Trump Administration has already ended Operation Chokepoint 2.0 once and for all by working to end regulatory efforts that deny banking services to the digital assets industry,” the White House said in a statement.

Decrypt first reported President Trump’s plans for the new order back in March.

Crypto industry leaders complained that banks had unfairly targeted companies in the digital assets space by denying them banking in a coordinated effort dubbed “Operation Choke Point 2.0.”

The original Operation Choke Point was a controversial Obama-era initiative which discouraged banks from doing business with a number of companies.

But the Trump administration has staked out a more favorable approach to the industry, delivering on promises he delivered in the 2024 presidential campaign. He has named pro-crypto officials to key regulatory and law enforcement roles. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has, meanwhile, backed off a number of Biden-era lawsuits against crypto companies.

Ahead of his inauguration, the President even debuted his own meme coin—albeit controversially.

The prices of major digital coins and tokens rose on the news, with Bitcoin and Ethereum trading 2% and nearly 6% higher, respectively.