30s Summary

Mauricio di Bartolomeo, co-founder of Ledn, has advised crypto startups on how to avoid debanking and maintain good relations with regulators. Options include seeking cost-effective legal help, partnering with banks in various countries, and adhering strictly to regulations. This guidance follows several crypto founders experiencing debanking during Operation Chokepoint 2.0. Other issues include the FDIC reportedly urging banks to cease all crypto activities in 2022, with these details emerging from public court documents. The FDIC is also alleged to have purposefully crashed Silvergate Bank to dismiss its crypto clients.

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Debanking can seriously mess with crypto firms, especially smaller ones that don’t have much money or legal backing. But Mauricio di Bartolomeo, co-founder of Ledn, has shared some cool tips on how crypto startups can avoid debanking and stay friendly with regulators.

He suggested that startups can look for cost-effective lawyers who have special deals for startups. Alternatively, they could try to join forces with banks in different countries or run their business on crypto guardrails until they can connect with traditional banks.

Let’s be clear, though: you can’t try to bypass the rules. Mauricio emphasized that following regulations is absolutely crucial. If you’re not careful about anti-money laundering rules or know-your-customer processes, you’re essentially causing your own debanking.

Even Ledn faced debanking during a big crackdown called Operation Chokepoint 2.0. Thankfully, they had strong connections with many different banks and were able to weather this storm by focusing on following regulations to avoid any more unwanted attention from the authorities.

And by the way, Ledn is not alone. Crypto execs have been vocalizing their debanking experiences, especially after investor Marc Andreessen highlighted the situation on The Joe Rogan Podcast.

Andreessen said that over 30 tech company founders got debanked during Operation Chokepoint 2.0. He also claimed that the government is halting AI innovation by telling potential backers that it won’t approve new AI startups.

It seems the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) even asked some banks to stop all crypto activity in 2022. This news came out when court documents became public.

A lot of the details in these FDIC documents were hidden, which understandably annoyed Judge Ana Reyes. So, she told the FDIC to come up with clearer documents by January 2025.

Additionally, the FDIC has been pushing banks that serve crypto clients to stop those services. Nic Carter, a venture capitalist, even said that the FDIC purposefully crashed Silvergate Bank to get rid of its crypto clients at the order of the government.

Carter said that the bank was doing fine until government regulators started to interfere. He also claimed that the FDIC put a limit on how much money the bank could hold in crypto, which was just 15%.