During a lively episode of the Joe Rogan Show, Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, revealed that 30 tech founders had their banking access revoked simply for being linked to digital currencies.
Once snippets of Andreessen’s comments hit the internet—amplified by influencers on X, including Elon Musk—the story took on a life of its own, prompting countless others to share their own tales of being shut out by financial institutions.
Jeremy Kauffman, the founder of LBRY, took to social media to share a letter he had received from TD Bank, sparking curiosity and discussion among his followers.
“In March of 2020, my company’s bank accounts and my personal bank accounts were all closed simultaneously, without warning, and without any accusation of policy violations,” Kauffman shared. When someone asked about more information about Andreessen’s claims, Casa co-founder Jameson Lopp said:
My company was debanked.
The crypto influencer Cobie also chimed in saying, “I have been debanked several times, and it’s virtually impossible for crypto companies to get bank accounts that sustain >1yr.” Tyler Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, shared his perspective, stating:
I was debanked because I’m in crypto, as was Gemini. The number is probably much larger than 30, thats just in the a16z portfolio alone. They also assassinated several banks because they banked crypto companies. Totally unlawful, evil behavior.
Caitlin Long of Custodia also shared her own banking ordeal, contributing to the discussion after Elon Musk asked if people knew about these claims.
“Yes—debanked repeatedly, in my company’s case (Custodia Bank). Keep an eye on our pending lawsuit against the Fed. Oral argument is scheduled for Jan 21 (the day after Inauguration Day),” she added.
Barry Silbert’s brother, Alan Silbert gave his perspective. “If you have been in the crypto space and haven’t lost a bank account, it just means you haven’t been in the space long enough,” Silbert said. “The impact has been pervasive and I’m hoping we are soon seeing an end to it.”
Founders Fund partner Joey Krug claimed he was debanked “multiple times” and that a bank harassed him in the past because he purchased BTC on Coinbase.
Several other crypto company founders continued to share their debanking ordeals.
“I had a spreadsheet of banks that denied me after I founded Tradehill and I’m still banned at HSBC, BofA, Chase, Citi, [Wells Fargo], and others. I’d try to talk to 5-10 a day at points,” Tradehill founder Jered Kenna wrote. “[Kraken’s Jesse Powell] somehow made it through this and I’ve got a ton of respect for what he also endured. Wells closed an account and everyone that was a signer on that account had every other account they were a signer on closed.”
Kenna added:
This led to personal accounts and in the case of a guy that advised a few startups something like 12 accounts closed of companies he worked with.
Kraken’s Powell responded to Kenna’s statement. “We had no U.S. banking for several years while one US company enjoyed a monopoly secured by its heavyweight investors. That singular bank was recently assassinated. We barely made it by focusing on Europe. [Kraken] has too many stories of clients and employees losing U.S. banking,” Powell remarked.
The pervasive nature of these banking shutdowns suggests a deliberate strategy by the Biden administration targeting those involved in digital currencies, raising questions about governmental overreach and collusion with financial institutions. Such actions erode the principles of a free market, casting a shadow over foundational rights like equal access to financial services. This pattern of discrimination demands urgent scrutiny and accountability to restore trust in the system.
“When Justin Trudeau and Chrystia Freeland unbanked the Canadian truckers to silence them, the world saw the oppression but those poor proletarians couldn’t really fight back,” the prominent tech entrepreneur Balaji Srinivasan posted to X. “However, once Elizabeth Warren and her goons tried to attack tech founders in the same way, they finally met their match.”
Srinivasan continued:
These ruthless wokes ran headlong into a determined counter-elite with enough resources to — just barely — fight back and win. This is a general rule. Progressives love to beat up on isolated conservatives, but they start losing once tech libertarians enter the fight.
If these claims of debanking crypto entrepreneurs and companies are proven true, they signal a grave abuse of power that undermines fair competition and stifles innovation. The Biden administration, people like Senator Elizabeth Warren, and many others responsible for enabling or enforcing such policies should answer for their transgressions in a court of law, as unchecked actions of this scale could set a dangerous precedent for suppressing emerging industries and dissenting voices in the future.