Crypto Exchange Gemini co-founder Tyler Winklevoss called the “reset” of Vice President Kamala Harris’ crypto stance a “scam” in an X-post on Friday amid the Federal Reserve crackdown. Winklevoss’ post comes a day after he criticized Harris for not attending the August 8 roundtable with crypto leaders.
In the post, Winklevoss highlighted and criticized the U.S. Federal Reserve’s enforcement actions against Customers Bank, a crypto-friendly bank. The Federal Reserve issued a 13-page enforcement action against Customers Bank on Friday.
Under the enforcement action, Customers Bank must give the Federal Reserve 30 days’ written notice before entering into a new banking relationship with crypto companies.
Winklevoss wrote:
“Today, the Fed confirmed that Operation Choke Point 2.0 is still in full swing, providing valuable insight into how it works and verifying that the Harris crypto ‘reset’ is a scam.”
Because Customers Bank is one of the few crypto-friendly banks in the US, Winklevoss believes the enforcement action would essentially create a bottleneck. This is because the enforcement action makes the Federal Reserve a “direct gatekeeper standing between crypto companies and their ability to get a new bank account.”
Winklevoss argued: “This is not how principles-based regulation should work.” According to him, banks should have the autonomy to decide who they serve. The decision should be “decentralized across the entire banking sector,” he wrote.
He added:
“Now this decision has been centralized by the Fed and will be made at the Fed’s sole discretion. The choke point has been created.”
Accusations without evidence, says Winklevoss
According to the enforcement action, the Federal Reserve has “identified significant deficiencies with respect to the Bank’s risk management practices and compliance with applicable anti-money laundering (AML) laws, rules and regulations.”
However, Winklevoss called the allegations “non-incriminating allegations” that are “hand-wavy and vague.” He said it is “completely unclear” why the Federal Reserve brought the enforcement action against Customers Bank.
Winklevoss further claimed that the Federal Reserve’s allegations were not supported by evidence. He wrote:
“However, no fact or tangible finding is presented to support this claim. The public must believe the Fed’s words. Believe us, they say. How convenient.”
Furthermore, Winklevoss believes that the Federal Reserve has a sinister motive behind taking enforcement action. According to him, the Federal Reserve’s “real concern and purpose” is to build public good and ultimately gain control over Customers Bank’s decision-making process.
He wrote:
“[The ultimate goal is] the illegitimate control over which businesses and industries a bank can bank, and which businesses and industries it cannot.”
Winklevoss further warned that the enforcement action amounts to the Federal Reserve “playing nice.” If Harris wins the November election, “the gloves will come off,” he wrote.