The U.S. House Financial Services Committee held a hearing titled 'Operation Choke Point 2.0: The Biden Administration's Efforts to Put Crypto in the Crosshairs,' focusing on allegations that federal regulators under the Biden administration pressured banks to cut ties with the cryptocurrency industry. The hearing, led by Chairman Dan Meuser, featured testimony from industry experts including Coinbase Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal, who criticized regulators for using 'regulation by exhaustion' to erect barriers between banks and crypto firms. Witnesses detailed how the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), and the Federal Reserve used informal regulatory letters to threaten banks with negative examination scores and fines if they continued to serve digital asset companies. The hearing also highlighted a recent court case where a judge criticized the FDIC's handling of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit filed by Coinbase, calling the agency's interpretation of the court order 'almost laughable.' In response to the lawsuit, the FDIC, under Acting Chairman Travis Hill, released a large batch of documents related to its communications with banks about crypto, following Coinbase's legal pursuit.