Government Wants to Cut Off Crypto Access: United States authorities are allegedly discouraging banks from offering services to the crypto industry. The crypto industry may have more and more trouble having access to banking services in the United States. Crypto companies may soon find themselves deprived of banking services in the United States, just like online poker was during the Obama era, says Nic Carter.
The U.S. Government Wants to Cut Off Crypto Access to Banks
Highlights:
- Bitcoin advocate Nic Carter believes the U.S. government is trying to cut off crypto from the banking sector.
- Carter claimed the Biden administration was reviving the Obama-era Operation Choke Point.
- Carter pointed to 14 different events in the last 10 weeks which hinted at a coordinated strategy to deprive the crypto industry of its off-ramps in the United States.
Operation Choke Point 2.0
Government Wants to Cut Off Crypto Access: Castle Island general partner Nic Carter believes the crypto industry is under attack by the U.S. government. In a Substack post published yesterday, Carter claimed that the Biden administration was currently “using the banking sector to organize a sophisticated, widespread crackdown against the crypto industry” by discouraging banks from doing business with crypto companies.
Government Wants to Cut Off Crypto Access: According to Carter, the government’s approach replicates a strategy employed by the Obama administration, named Operation Choke Point, which sought to marginalize specific industries by restricting their access to banking. Impacted industries included the online poker industry, firearms manufacturers, adult entertainers, lotteries, and money transfer networks.
Government Wants to Cut Off Crypto’s Access
Government Wants to Cut Off Crypto Access: With regards to the crypto space, Carter listed 14 instances in the last 10 weeks in which crypto-friendly banks had faced pressure from the government—or had otherwise elected to stop providing services to crypto companies. He claimed that influential members of Congress, the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Department of Justice were implicated in what he called Operation Choke Point 2.0.
Government Wants to Cut Off Crypto Access: “Time and again, using the expression ‘safety and soundness,’ [the government has] made it clear that for a bank, touching public blockchains in any way is considered unacceptably risky,” stated Carter, adding that while banks are not explicitly banned from servicing crypto clients, “the writing is on the wall.”
Banks under pressure from U.S. authorities: United States authorities appear to be resurrecting past techniques to crack down on crypto firms and banks offering services to the industry, several sources told Cointelegraph.
Government Wants to Cut Off Crypto Access: The alleged strategy consists of isolating the traditional financial system from the crypto market by relying on “multiple agencies to discourage banks from dealing with crypto firms,” with the goal of leading crypto businesses to become “completely unbanked,” according to Nic Carter co-founder of venture firm Castle Island and crypto intelligence firm Coin Metrics.
Government Wants to Cut Off Crypto Access: Banks under pressure from U.S. authorities: The claims rely on conversations Carter had with bank executives, including crypto-native and traditional banks, he told Cointelegraph. “They tell me they are facing immense pressure from the Fed and FDIC. Founders are telling me that they can’t get bank accounts anywhere for new startups.” According to Carter:
“Regulators threaten and bully bank leadership behind the scenes, then publish public ‘guidance’ stressing that banks are still free to custody crypto or service crypto clients. In reality, they’re not free to do this, by any means.”
Impacts on crypto firms
Banks under pressure from U.S. authorities: The consequences for the crypto industry could range from reducing retail holders’ ability to exchange coins for the dollar in addition to crypto exchanges closing operations in the U.S. market and a lack of access to financial innovation, said Carter. He believes the move would lead the crypto industry to return to earlier days:
Government Wants to Cut Off Crypto Access: “It’s a return to the ‘bad old days’ of 2014 – 16 when getting funds on exchanges was insanely difficult. There are no positives from this.” Kaplan believes that the “crypto financial services ecosystem is evolving to come in line with established regulatory frameworks,” meaning that companies in the space will need to “embrace regulation or perish.”
In contrast, Carter predicts that the initiatives will be unproductive for the industry and retail investors, empowering “shadow banks” and further delaying their development in the country. “They seem to believe that they can cut off crypto users’ access to ‘the next FTX’ by harassing banks. That’s not true because blockchains and stablecoins already exist. They are naive. The real objective is to stem the growth of crypto any way they know how.”
Bitcoin Undermines the Cycle of Trust
Government Wants to Cut Off Crypto Access: Bitcoin’s decentralized system has the potential to dismantle the system described above. Its network does away with intermediaries and, by extension, the elements of a government’s system. A central bank is no longer required because Bitcoin, the currency, can be produced by anyone running a full node. Peer-to-peer transfers between two parties on Bitcoin’s network mean that intermediaries are no longer required to manage and distribute currency.
The chain of trust underpinning the current financial infrastructure becomes an algorithmic construct in Bitcoin’s network. A transaction is not included in the central ledger unless it is approved by all full nodes. Even a single disagreement or error in a transaction entry can result in its rejection.
Theoretically, at least, the streamlining of operations between individuals and between various actors on Bitcoin’s blockchain can rearrange the current system. The financial infrastructure is decentralized and the power to increase or decrease currency supply is not appointed by a single group of authorities. Thus, in the new setup, the role of governments in managing and regulating economic policy through intermediaries may become superfluous.
Why Are Governments Wary of Bitcoin?
Government Wants to Cut Off Crypto Access: Whether the state- and regulation-less future envisaged by Bitcoin evangelists comes to pass is still an open question. Meanwhile, governments around the world are trying to understand the effect that cryptocurrency might have on their economies in the near term. Specifically, they are grappling with the following three problems presented by Bitcoin in its current form.
Nic Carter Bitcoin Entrepreneur Net Worth
Nic Carter Bitcoin Entrepreneur Net Worth: Nic Carter is an internet entrepreneur, investor, Bitcoin proponent, and journalist. As a journalist, Carter has written for Coindesk, The Block, Harvard Business Review, New York Magazine, and Bankless, among others. As of June 2021, Carter was a columnist at CoinDesk.
Carter has served as a co-author of a number of papers covering topics like Proof of Reserves, DeFi risks, and the emergence of stablecoins or crypto dollars. Carter is also a co-founder at Coin Metrics and Castle Island Ventures.
Early Life
Nic Carter Bitcoin Entrepreneur Net Worth: Carter was born in Swaziland to British parents as his father was advising the Swaziland government on agricultural policy. His father worked for the IFC World Bank and this led to him living in various countries.
Washington DC was their main base and he earned some impressive financial bona fides early on. He graduated from St. Andrews University in 2014 with an MA degree in Philosophy and International Relations. Later he did a master’s in Finance and Investment from the University of Edinburgh Business School in 2017.
Carter’s interest in cryptocurrency began in 2012 during his undergraduate days. He stumbled upon Bitcoin on a forum but he didn’t have much money to invest. Despite this, he still followed its progress and invested later.
Personal Life
Nic Carter Bitcoin Entrepreneur Net Worth: With regard to his personal life, Nic Carter is very private and is believed to be single. Hopefully, the next bull market will change his relationship status.
| COLLEGE | University of St Andrews Bachelor’s degree The University of Edinburgh Business School Master’s degree |
| GENDER | Male |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | England |
| OCCUPATION | Partner, Analyst, Entrepreneur |
| EMPLOYER | Castle Island Ventures |
| FOUNDER | Coin Metrics |
| Nationality | United States |
| Founder of | Coin Metrics Inc |
Nic Carter Bitcoin Entrepreneur Net Worth
Nic Carter Bitcoin Entrepreneur Net Worth: Dodgy grammar aside, estimating Nic Carter’s net worth right now is a serious guessing game. As of 2023, Nic Carter has an estimated net worth of $5 million. Nic revealed in an interview with Natalie Brunell that 100% of their wealth is in Bitcoin and Bitcoin-related startups. Nic Carter’s exact net worth is unknown. However, on a tangential note, in February 2021 CoinDesk reported that Castle Island Ventures raised $50 million for its second fund. The first fund raised $30 million in June 2018.
Jobs
Nic Carter has 2 current jobs as Co-founder at Coin Metrics and Founding Partner at Castle Island Ventures.
Nic Carter’s Coin Metrics
In January 2017, Nic Carter co-founded the digital asset analytics platform Coin Metrics. Since the company’s foundation, Carter has served as its Board Chairman.
Nic Carter’s Castle Island Ventures
In June 2018, Carter became a founding partner at Castle Island Ventures.
Nic Carter Bitcoin Entrepreneur Net Worth: As part of Castle Island Ventures’ activity, Nick Carter co-hosts the On The Brink podcast with his Castle Island founding partner Matthew Walsh. The podcast features weekly news roundups, as well as interviews with prominent investors and crypto/blockchain entrepreneurs, such as Balaji Srinivasan and Lyn Alden.
Online Presence And Publicity
Nic Carter Bitcoin Entrepreneur Net Worth: Nic Carter is present on Medium and Twitter. Carter also has a YouTube channel, but he isn’t very active there. Carter has a personal website as well where he lists his past and ongoing projects. Carter has appeared on the Lex Fridman Podcast, The Times Podcast, The Verge Podcast, and Bloomberg TV.
Nic Carter
Bio And Background
Nic Carter Bitcoin Entrepreneur Net Worth: Nic Carter’s LinkedIn page states that he graduated from the University of St. Andrews in 2014 with a Master of Arts (M.A.) in Philosophy and International Relations. In 2017, he graduated from the University of Edinburgh Business School with a Master’s Degree in Finance and Investment. From November 2017 to July 2018, Carter served as an Investment Research Analyst for crypto assets at Fidelity Investments. In August 2018, Carter criticized online media for their lack of understanding of cryptocurrencies and their unwillingness to learn more about them.
Education
Nic Carter Bitcoin Entrepreneur Net Worth: Carter was born in England and grew up in Washington, D.C. Both of his parents are British. He attended the University of St Andrews where he earned an MA (equivalent to a BA in the United States) in Philosophy and International Relations in 2014. Carter would attain a Master’s degree in Finance and Investment from the University of Edinburgh Business School in 2017.
Career
Nic Carter Bitcoin Entrepreneur Net Worth: Carter first became interested in Bitcoin in 2012-2014 from reading it on various tech forums. He became involved in late 2013 and started to take it seriously after the industry survived the Mt. Gox crash. After earning his master’s in finance, he started to write about the cryptocurrency space. Some of his articles included an analysis of the ICO space in early 2017 and the terrible job the media does at covering Bitcoin. Carter is a part of Crypto Twitter and has a substantial following in the community.
As of March 2019, he had over 31k followers on the platform. Carter’s first job out of graduate school was a position as an Investment Research Analyst in alternative assets from Fidelity Investments, a position he held for nine months. In January 2017, he co-founded Coinmetrics.io an open-source crypto asset analytics platform for investors and is Chairman of the Board. Carter became a Partner at Castle Island Ventures.
Bitten By the Bitcoin Bug
Nic Carter Bitcoin Entrepreneur Net Worth: Unlike those other members of the financial masses who dabbled in crypto, though, Nic Carter walked the walk. He worked as an investment research analyst for crypto assets at Fidelity, then he co-founded a crypto financial analytics firm, Coin Metrics. He’s also a founding partner of Castle Island Ventures, which raised $50 million in its seed round of funding after raising $30 million during its first go-round in 2018.
The usual array of media and social media add-ons quickly followed. These included Bloomberg TV, The Times Podcast, The Verge Podcast, and so on, although Carter hasn’t been quite as active on mainstream social media platforms as many of his crypto advocate colleagues.
Nic Carter Bitcoin Entrepreneur Net Worth: Carter’s not shy about his Bitcoin support, though, and he did get himself in the limelight when he featured the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele after Bukele made the decision to switch to crypto as his country’s primary form of currency, although that particular venture is now viewed as a very dubious decision.
Not surprisingly, Carter’s relationship with the mainstream media is a bit testy, to say the least. Back in 2018, he criticized the media for their lack of true understanding of how Bitcoin worked. He also shifted gears recently with a “they’re dancing on our graves” post on Twitter in which he came back at his legion of critics, stating that “it’s not like whatever financial assets they own has done well.”
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why are banks not allowing crypto purchases?
Money laundering is an ever-present issue with digital assets, and because of that banks also choose not to allow cryptocurrency purchases.
What are the disadvantages of regulating cryptocurrency?
Regulatory risks: The regulatory status of some cryptocurrencies is still unclear, with many governments seeking to regulate them as securities, currencies, or both. A sudden regulatory crackdown could make it difficult to sell cryptocurrencies or cause a market-wide price drop.
Is cryptocurrency a threat to banks?
U.S. banking regulators warned financial institutions on Tuesday that dealing with cryptocurrency exposes them to an array of risks, including scams and fraud.
Who is Nic Carter bitcoin?
Nic Carter is a partner at Castle Island Ventures and the cofounder of blockchain data aggregator Coinmetrics.io. Previously, he served as Fidelity Investments’ first crypto asset analyst.
Who is the youngest Bitcoin owner?
Erik Finman is a 23-year-old who became the Youngest Bitcoin Millionaire in The World at age 18, from Bitcoin investments beginning at age 12 in 2011. Erik used the return to launch an EdTech startup that was later acquired.
Who originally created Bitcoin?
Satoshi Nakamoto is a pseudonym for the person or people who helped develop the first bitcoin software and introduced the concept of cryptocurrency to the world in a 2008 paper.
Who started bitcoin and why?
Satoshi Nakamoto is the pseudonym used by the creator or creators of Bitcoin. The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto is not publicly known. One of the first major public investigations ended with Dorian Nakamoto being identified as Bitcoin’s creator, but he continues to decline the claim.
