Coinbase: FDIC Put Brakes on Crypto Banking at US Lenders

Coinbase is reportedly accusing an American financial regulator of hindering cryptocurrency banking activity.

That’s according to a Friday (Dec. 6) report by Coindesk, citing court documents unearthed by History Associates, a research firm working with Coinbase that sued the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in June.

During the course of that litigation, the report said, History Associates gained access to internal FDIC communications that showed the regulator halting efforts by lenders to offer — or consider — products and services in the digital assets space.

“We respectfully ask that you pause all crypto asset-related activity,” the regulator wrote in one of the 23 letters shared by Coinbase. “The FDIC will notify all FDIC-supervised banks at a later date when a determination has been made on the supervisory expectations for engaging in crypto asset-related activity.”

As Coindesk reported, the crypto sector has for years argued that it was being barred from U.S. banking services. Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal argued that the FDIC documents prove that crypto businesses were shut out of the banking industry by the regulator.

“The letters show that this was no conspiracy theory at all, that this was not just rank speculation or the musings of a paranoid industry,” Grewal told CoinDesk. “There was a concerted plan on the part of the FDIC that they carried out — without any reluctance — to deny banking services to a legal American industry. That should give everyone a great pause.”

PYMNTS has contacted the FDIC for comment but has not yet gotten a reply.

The news comes as the face of crypto regulation in the U.S. is poised to transform with the advent of President-elect Donald Trump’s new administration.

Trump said last week that he plans to nominate pro-crypto former SEC commissioner Paul Atkins to head the commission, leaving observers hopeful about the industry’s future. Assuming he is confirmed by the Senate, Atkins would replace current SEC chair Gary Gensler, long viewed by industry insiders to be the crypto space’s public enemy No. 1.

“If the SEC under his leadership adopts a more cooperative crypto tone, it could unlock new opportunities for Web3 innovation,” PYMNTS wrote last week. “The shift comes at a critical moment, with several high-profile lawsuits — like those involving Coinbase and Ripple — reshaping how crypto companies operate in the U.S.”