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 that cryptocurrency companies and their executives have been 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 questioned how the board could select the subjects of the investigation while not discouraging auditors, issuers and broker-dealers from getting involved in the cryptocurrency space. However, Peirce's opinion was not adopted, and the other three commissioners, including SEC Chairman Gary Gensler, voted against it.
Peirce’s comments come after weeks of accusations from the cryptocurrency industry that it is being squeezed out of the traditional banking system, which cryptocurrency venture capitalist Nic Carter has dubbed “Operation Choke Point 2.0.”
