Custodia Bank CEO slams Washington’s ‘misguided crackdown’ on crypto

cointelegraph.com:

The CEO of Custodia Bank Caitlin Long has slammed regulators and lawmakers in Washington D.C. for their “misguided crackdown” on the crypto sector, and also for ignoring her warnings of major “fraud” allegedly conducted by now-bankrupted entities.

In a Feb. 17 blog post titled “Shame On Washington, DC For Shooting A Messenger Who Warned of Crypto Debacle,” Long tore into the government for its approach to crypto regulation, failing to protect investors and alienating good actors in the space:

Long stressed that with her digital asset custody firm, she’s “been calling out the worst of crypto while trying to build a lawful, compliant alternative that relegates scams to the trash heap. But [...] most of today’s policymakers seem intent on killing the high-integrity innovators.”

The Custodia Bank CEO claimed that her efforts to work with government agencies were ultimately thrown back in her face, as she recounted the spate of negative run-ins her firm has had of late. 

“Custodia was simultaneously attacked by the White House, the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, the Kansas City Fed and Senator Dick Durbin (who conflated our non-leveraged, 100-percent liquid and solvent bank with FTX in a Senate floor speech),” she said, adding that:

Her sentiments echo that of figures such as Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong, who has suggested on multiple occasions that the agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) have reacted frostily to his firm’s efforts to maintain a dialogue in good faith.

Earlier this month, Armstrong also criticized the lack of regulatory clarity in the U.S. and what appears to be a “regulation by enforcement” approach following the SEC’s move to shut down Kraken’s staking services on Feb. 9.

“Today