Shayna Olesiuk, Better Markets, Director of Banking Policy will testify today at a House Financial Services Committee hearing on debanking. Below are several quotes from her prepared testimony and a link to her full testimony.

“Like all lawbreakers, the crypto industry put itself in the “crosshairs” of regulators and prosecutors when it chose to engage in widespread, flagrant illegal conduct, enable and facilitate criminal activity, and refuse to adhere to the most basic, fundamental customer, investor and financial stability protections.

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“if the crypto industry had followed the law like almost every other financial firm in the U.S., then it would not have been crosswise with regulators and prosecutors who are mandated to enforce the law and protect customer, investor and financial stability. This is also an issue of fairness to the other financial firms in the U.S. who are following the law. Crypto should not be given an unfair advantage over their competitors.”

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“The explosive growth of digital assets and cryptocurrency in recent years has massively endangered the banking system in ways we have never seen, or even conceived. Banks have become involved with crypto firms, and several—namely Signature Bank (“Signature” or “SBNY”), Silicon Valley Bank (“SVB”) and Silvergate Bank (“Silvergate”)— have experienced devastating failures that harmed the banking industry and bank customers, imposed significant costs on taxpayers and the public, and threatened financial stability. Clearly, crypto and the risks it brings have the potential to spark a full-scale banking crisis.”

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“In short, what’s really at stake here is the responsibility of regulators and banks to act in the best interest of the public and Main Street Americans. The facts and evidence show that standing with crypto means standing with those who engage in very high risk if not illegal and criminal activities with a highly volatile product that has no legitimate social use and that could endanger the entire financial system and, ultimately, the economy. These are very real risks that the law mandates regulators require banks to eliminate or mitigate to the greatest extent.”

Link to testimony: https://docs.house.gov/meetings/BA/BA09/20250206/117858/HHRG-119-BA09-Wstate-OlesiukS-20250206.pdf