For years, cryptocurrency companies have been shut out of the banking system in the United States. However, after the Trump administration took office, a number of fintech companies extended an olive branch to crypto businesses.

Written by: Joel Khalili, Wired Magazine reporter

Translated by: Saoirse, Foresight News

At the beginning of last year, New York-based crypto entrepreneur Azeem Khan had just raised $19 million in seed funding for his startup Morph and was looking for a place to store the money. Before applying for a U.S. bank account, he consulted a lawyer, who replied, "It is impossible to do this without obstacles."

It turned out that even this pessimistic prediction was overly optimistic. After being rejected by multiple U.S. banks within six months, Khan had to give up. He ultimately chose to deposit part of the funds interest-free in a bank in the Cayman Islands, while converting the rest into crypto assets managed by a third-party custodian.

For a long time, founders in the cryptocurrency industry have had similar experiences: U.S. banks either refuse to provide loans or checking accounts or suddenly freeze their accounts. Without banking partners, crypto companies struggle to operate. They cannot easily conduct service transactions in U.S. dollars, securely store investor funds and earn interest, or even pay employee salaries and vendor payments. "This is a dilemma that the entire industry is well aware of," Khan said.

Just over a year later, the situation has taken a turn for the better. Since Trump returned to the White House in January and promised to end the so-called "discrimination" against crypto companies, several fintech companies in the U.S., including Meow, Mercury, and Brex, have competed to offer banking account services to crypto businesses. Khan recently raised $25 million for his new crypto startup Miden and revealed that he has become a key target for these fintech companies.

This shift has made it much easier for crypto companies to register, hire, and conduct business in the U.S., aligning with Trump's plan to create a "global cryptocurrency capital." However, their fate is still subject to political winds. Although the Trump administration has brought a more relaxed policy atmosphere, there are no legal provisions to ensure that crypto companies can obtain banking services in the long term.

"Although the current government is relatively friendly, the relevant policies have not been written into law. There are no new regulations to ensure that the industry will not face a reversal due to changes in administration," Khan admitted.

During the Biden administration, the cryptocurrency industry felt frustrated due to repeated difficulties with banks, with industry insiders crying out, "This is a conspiracy." They claim that the federal government is deliberately excluding crypto companies from the banking system in an attempt to stifle the entire industry.

Crypto venture capitalist Nic Carter is a leading advocate of this claim, referring to the so-called "discrimination campaign" as "Operation Chokepoint 2.0." This name originates from an anti-fraud initiative during the Obama administration: reports indicated that under this initiative, U.S. officials had encouraged banks to avoid doing business with the adult industry, payday lenders, and other sectors that were not favored by policy.

After the Trump administration took office, several congressional subcommittees held multiple hearings on the so-called "Operation Chokepoint 2.0." Subsequently, in March of this year, Senate Republicans introduced the Financial Institutions Reform, Modernization, and Relief Act (FIRM Act), aimed at prohibiting banks from considering "reputational risk" when reviewing account applications to curb so-called discriminatory practices. However, the bill has not yet reached the voting stage.

For crypto companies, the current shift in policy atmosphere is undoubtedly a positive development. Although they face fewer obstacles in obtaining overseas bank accounts (many located in the Cayman Islands or Switzerland), overseas accounts have many drawbacks compared to U.S. domestic accounts: they cannot earn interest on deposits, the settlement process with U.S. domestic counterparties is cumbersome, account fees are high, and they cannot enjoy the deposit insurance provided by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) (which offers up to $250,000 protection per account holder).

Insiders say that while well-known banks like JPMorgan have begun internal testing of crypto technology, most are still unwilling to provide account services to crypto companies. "The big banks that ordinary people are familiar with have no connection to the cryptocurrency industry," said David McIntyre, COO of the startup DoubleZero, which focuses on developing infrastructure for crypto networks.

This situation, however, has created opportunities for small fintech companies, allowing them to expand their deposit base by attracting clients from the cryptocurrency industry. "Nowadays, entrepreneurs in the cryptocurrency field basically choose platforms like Mercury or Meow," Khan said, "Meow is particularly proactive; as soon as they see a crypto company announce funding, they immediately reach out to its founders."

These fintech companies often market themselves as "crypto-friendly," providing integrated services such as stablecoin transfers, and are far less rigid than traditional financial institutions. For example, Meow's CEO, Brandon Arvanaghi, in his 30s, manages his LinkedIn page like a TikTok account, complete with short videos.

"The technology of these American fintech companies is far more advanced than that of any unknown bank in the Cayman Islands or Switzerland. Whether it's platform functionality, customer service, or other aspects, they are superior," McIntyre commented.

Mercury declined to respond to interview requests for this article, while Meow and Brex did not reply.

In fact, these fintech companies play the role of a "software layer": they conduct business based on traditional banks holding U.S. licenses, responsible for user interface development and customer acquisition, while deposit management is handled by partner banks. Specifically, Meow collaborates with Grasshopper Bank, while Brex and Mercury have established partnerships with multiple banks. This model gained widespread adoption in the U.S. during the COVID-19 pandemic, which forced banks to accelerate their digital service transformation.

"Ideally, this model allows banks to access more advanced technology," said Craig Timm, senior director of anti-money laundering at the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS). ACAMS primarily conducts financial-related certification programs, and Timm has served as a financial crime expert at Bank of America and the U.S. Department of Justice. "For fintech companies, this means they can focus on their areas of expertise—product development, marketing, and acquiring new customers—without spending huge amounts of time and energy obtaining a banking license (a process that is both complex and expensive)."

However, such collaborations often require fintech companies to comply with the rules set by partner banks, including restrictions on the types of customers they can serve. For example, a spokesperson for Mercury stated that the company cannot provide account services to crypto companies (including exchanges) that hold customer funds.

"They're just putting a shell on someone else's banking foundation," McIntyre, who previously worked at Brex, explained, "They must comply with the underwriting requirements, regulatory standards, and specific criteria for customer access set by the partner bank."

Timm noted that in the past, expanding into new business areas (such as cryptocurrency-related services) has often been a source of friction between fintech companies and partner banks. Fintech companies are eager for rapid expansion, while partner banks bear the ultimate responsibility for maintaining compliance with licensing (including strict anti-money laundering controls).

"The failure of such collaborations is often due to a lack of consensus between the two parties," Timm added, sometimes leading to "inconsistent risk appetites."

This places crypto companies in an uncertain position: although fintech companies are currently eager to provide them with U.S. bank accounts, the partner banks behind them may withdraw their authorization in the future.

When asked whether partner banks have committed to providing long-term services to cryptocurrency clients, both Meow and Brex did not respond. A spokesperson for Mercury, Nic Corpora, stated that the company maintains close cooperation with partner banks "to ensure that both parties have aligned risk appetites, so that after accepting clients, we can provide them with long-term support in the best way."

During a presidential administration that appointed regulatory officials supportive of cryptocurrency development and promised to end the so-called "Operation Chokepoint 2.0," this risk seems distant. But what happens after Trump leaves office?

"From a risk management perspective, it is not wise for companies like ours to rely solely on accounts from U.S. fintech companies," McIntyre said, "When the government changes, the interpretation of the law also changes, but the legal text itself does not."

免责声明：本文章仅代表作者个人观点，不代表本平台的立场和观点。本文章仅供信息分享，不构成对任何人的任何投资建议。用户与作者之间的任何争议，与本平台无关。如网页中刊载的文章或图片涉及侵权，请提供相关的权利证明和身份证明发送邮件到support@aicoin.com，本平台相关工作人员将会进行核查。