Trump Bans Debanking, Citing 'Digital Asset Industry' Targeting

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday prohibiting federal regulators from enabling financial institutions to deny services based on political beliefs, religious beliefs, or lawful business activities such as crypto services.

White House: ‘The Trump Administration Has Already Ended Operation Chokepoint 2.0’

According to the Fact Sheet release, the order directs federal banking regulators to eliminate concepts like “reputational risk” that facilitate politicized or unlawful debanking from guidance and examination materials. It requires the Small Business Administration (SBA) to compel institutions to reinstate clients previously denied services unlawfully.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent must develop a comprehensive strategy against such debanking, including potential legislation. Federal regulators must now review financial institutions for past or present policies encouraging debanking and take remedial actions, including fines. They must also review complaints for religious-based debanking and refer cases to Attorney General Pam Bondi.

The White House asserts the order addresses systemic abuses undermining free expression and economic opportunity. It cites incidents where a major bank denied payment processing for a Republican event and where regulators allegedly encouraged flagging transactions involving terms like “Trump” or “MAGA” or businesses like Cabela’s or Bass Pro Shops without evidence of crimes. Trump stated that two major banks denied services to his own business.

The order explicitly ends “Operation Chokepoint 2.0,” referring to past federal efforts denying banking to lawful industries, including digital assets, for political reasons. A Senate Banking Committee hearing earlier this year featured witnesses detailing personal debanking experiences. The White House fact sheet states:

“The digital assets industry has also been the target of unfair debanking initiatives—The Trump Administration has already ended Operation Chokepoint 2.0 once and for all by working to end regulatory efforts that deny banking services to the digital assets industry.”

President Trump contends banks “discriminate against conservatives” and religion, vowing to end practices he claims erode trust, harm livelihoods, and burden law-abiding Americans. The administration positions the order as upholding economic freedom and constitutional rights against regulatory overreach.