Cynthia Lummis, a Wyoming Senator and pro-crypto lawmaker, has supported a proposal from Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller, which is aimed at bringing an end to a crypto government policy popularly known as “Operation Chokepoint 2.0.”
Operation Chokepoint 2.0 was introduced to restrict crypto companies and their founders from receiving services from banking institutions. Crypto companies and their founders are at the forefront of the digital economy, creating products that make it easier for consumers to make transactions using cryptocurrency.
These products have helped make crypto part of everyday use, including buying and selling and services such as crypto casinos. Many gamers who value privacy use such services to see the latest updates on online gaming platforms. With this plan of putting limits on bank access for crypto companies and their founders, crypto casinos and other similar services will feel the strain. It will affect the crypto economy nationwide.
In July 2025, President Donald Trump signed an executive order ending Operation Chokepoint 2.0. The order instructed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and other banking regulators in the U.S to fish out and stop banks that were carrying out debanking without lawful cause and potentially punish them with fines.
However, more crypto companies have reported cases of debanking issues. According to venture capitalist Marc Andreessen, Operation Chokepoint 2.0 has caused more than 30 tech founders to be debanked. In November, Jack Mallers, CEO of Strike, a Bitcoin payments company, complained that he was chased out of JPMorgan without any explanation, while BlindPay and Kontigo, two stablecoin startups, were debanked in December.
In response to this, Governor Waller made a proposal to address the issue at the Payments Innovation Conference in October. Waller proposed that to curb debanking, crypto firms and their founders should be given access to “skinny” master accounts.
These accounts would be similar to the “master accounts” used by many traditional banking institutions, but they would be controlled by the Federal Reserve and would have a few restrictions, but would not totally prevent those in the digital asset industry from enjoying banking services.
Senator Lummis, who is a big crypto ambassador, supported this proposal, saying that Governor Waller’s idea of creating skinny master accounts would not only end Operation Chokepoint 2.0 but also open a new opportunity for real payments innovation.
She also explained that this idea could help the U.S create payment systems that are faster, more secure, and less expensive. These features would help the U.S finance sector build a responsible future.
Waller’s proposal shows that there is a change in the approach towards cryptocurrency in the U.S. Apart from President Trump pushing a crypto agenda and working assiduously to make America the number one crypto country in the world, more government officials and lawmakers are embracing the crypto economy. They are creating friendly policies that create an enabling environment for tech and crypto startups.
With Waller’s proposal, members of the U.S crypto community, including Sen. Lummis, believe that Operation Chokepoint 2.0 could come to an end and the country could usher in a new era for its finance sector.