PANews reported on December 19 that according to DL News, the top officials of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have paid close attention to the phenomenon of cryptocurrency companies and their executives being turned away by banks. In comments on Wednesday, SEC Commissioner Hester Peirce questioned a nearly $400 million 2025 budget proposed by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB). Peirce pointed out that the PCAOB decided to focus on companies that hold large amounts of cryptocurrencies or facilitate cryptocurrency transactions. She said: "In recent weeks, regulators' efforts to prevent regulated entities from getting involved in the cryptocurrency field have become public."
In deciding not to approve the PCAOB's budget request, Peirce further inquired how the board could choose subjects for investigation while not discouraging auditors, issuers, and broker-dealers from venturing into the cryptocurrency space. However, Peirce's opinion was not adopted, as the other three commissioners, including SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, voted against it.
Previously, the cryptocurrency industry had accused that it was being collectively pushed out of the traditional banking system for several weeks. Against this backdrop, Peirce made the above comments. Cryptocurrency venture capitalist Nic Carter referred to this alleged exclusion as 'Operation Choke Point 2.0'.