Stuart Alderoty, Ripple's Chief Legal Officer, has voiced significant concerns regarding a perceived campaign by U.S. regulators to destabilize the cryptocurrency sector. In the last few years, the industry has encountered considerable challenges, embodying what has been termed 'Operation Chokepoint 2.0.' This expression denotes a series of coordinated maneuvers by regulatory authorities in the U.S.
aimed at restricting banking services for cryptocurrency-related businesses. Recently, Alderoty articulated his perspectives on this matter through the social media platform X, drawing parallels with a similar initiative from 2012. At that time, entities like the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), the Federal Reserve, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) allegedly exerted pressure on banks to withdraw services from specific industries.
Alderoty underscores that cryptocurrency has now become the focal point of analogous strategies. He highlighted that in the previous iteration of 'Operation Chokepoint,' regulators weaponized banking against sectors they found objectionable, including gun shops and payday loan providers. Looking ahead to 2021, cryptocurrency has risen as the updated target of these aggressive regulatory tactics..