Rep. Dan Meuser (R-PA) opened the hearing by characterizing Choke Point 2.0 as a serious effort to debank the industry, and making a comparison to the Obama era Choke Point, which targeted disfavored industries such as guns. Choke Point 2.0 was a “serious overreach,” he said.
Rep. Al Green (D-TX), who spoke next, called Choke Point 2.0 “fake.” The concerns of banking regulators were “well-founded,” he said, and none of their actions in OCP 2.0 “amounted to debanking.” Green spent the rest of his opening statement characterizing Choke Point 2.0 as a Trump-led agenda to promote the crypto industry.