A lawyer’s exposition on the challenges of the Bitcoin and cryptocurrency sector

• Attorney Scott Johnson said that despite recent Ethereum spot ETF approvals, the Biden government remains anti-crypto.
• He says Biden is working on Operation Chokepoint 2.0, under which he will use enforcement agencies like the OCC and SEC to crack down on cryptocurrency exchanges and traders.

As the US election approaches, the cryptocurrency industry is closely scrutinizing the two leading candidates, Donald Trump and Joe Biden, regarding their positions on digital assets. Although he has been against cryptocurrencies since taking office, Biden has warmed up to trying to woo young voters who tend to be pro-Bitcoin. However, according to some market observers, it is all a farce and if he is re-elected he will wipe out the industry.

In a lengthy post on The lawyer, who previously served at global law firm Davis Polk and Barclays Investment Bank, summed up that Biden is ready to destroy any company or developer that stands in the way of his anti-Bitcoin plan.

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One of Biden’s biggest threats against cryptocurrencies came through Gary Gensler and the SEC. As Johnson noted, the agency has taken enforcement actions against dozens of cryptocurrency companies, from Coinbase to Binance and Kraken, “based on an unimaginably broad definition of security and without clear guidance.”

Additionally, the SEC issued Wells warnings against Consensys, Paxos, Uniswap Labs and others, as Crypto News Flash stated reported. The agency also incorporated DeFi into its rules for dealers without “faithfully enforcing the requirements of the Administrative Procedures Act (APA).”

The FDIC, Federal Reserve, Treasury, IRS, and Department of Justice have also become part of Biden’s anti-crypto state machine. As Johnson noted, Treasury inserted provisions into mandatory legislation that even Congress couldn’t debate about expanding the definition of “broker.” The DoJ, for its part, has cracked down on mixers and arrested the developers of Tornado Cash.

Biden has also proposed punishing taxes for cryptocurrency miners, despite the United States having the world’s largest mining industry providing thousands of jobs that previously went to China.

And then there’s the OCC; although, under Brian Brooks, the agency was pro-cryptocurrency, it has changed direction significantly. To date, the OCC has refused to implement the “fair access” banking rule Brooks proposed while he was at the helm, which would prohibit any chartered bank from refusing service to customers based on political or ideological differences.

Despite the blatant anti-crypto moves, those closest to Biden’s camp say he is becoming friendlier towards the industry. Sources said according to a news report, the president is reaching out to industry players for advice and guidance on the “crypto community and crypto policy moving forward.”

With just five months until the election, Biden is courting the crypto community to counter Trump’s growing popularity, but it may be too little too late.

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