Avichal Garg, co-founder of Electric Capital, has accused the Biden administration and agencies such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Federal Communications Commission (FCC), and Federal Trade Commission (FTC) of misusing their authority to unfairly target cryptocurrency founders. Garg made these remarks on his X account on January 10.
"Operation Chokepoint 2.0," said Garg. "SEC, FCC, FTC abusing power. Founders will not forget any of this. Biden and Warren caused immeasurable and perhaps irreparable damage to the Democratic Party."
According to Garg, he responded to a clip featuring Mark Zuckerberg discussing alleged pressure from the Biden administration to censor COVID-related content. He linked this issue to broader challenges within the crypto industry, describing it as "Operation Chokepoint 2.0." Garg claimed that agencies like the SEC, FCC, and FTC are abusing their power to target crypto founders and businesses, highlighting these incidents as examples of government actions impacting both the tech and crypto sectors.
Operation Choke Point was initiated by the Obama administration in 2013 with the aim of marginalizing certain legally operating industries by pressuring banks to deny them access to financial services. This program targeted sectors such as payday lenders, firearms manufacturers, and adult entertainment by labeling them high-risk and politically disfavored. It often involved coordination between the Department of Justice, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Although formally concluded in 2017, similar practices have reportedly persisted.
Decrypt reported that Marc Andreessen, co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz, also accused the Biden administration of executing "Operation Chokepoint 2.0," using financial exclusion against specific industries and political opponents. Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience, Andreessen said that "over 30 founders have been debanked in the last four years," including those in the crypto sector. He argued that this strategy continues past practices aimed at limiting access to financial services for disfavored businesses while now extending to tech startups and cryptocurrency companies.
Electric Capital is a venture capital firm investing in blockchain technology, cryptocurrencies, and Web3 startups. Founded by Avichal Garg and Curtis Spencer, it supports early-stage projects in decentralized finance (DeFi), decentralized applications, and developer tools. The firm also publishes detailed annual reports analyzing blockchain ecosystems and developer activity.
Garg is a co-founder and general partner at Electric Capital with a background as an entrepreneur who held executive roles at Google and Facebook. At Facebook, he served as Director of Product Management for the Local product group overseeing a team of 400 engineers. Before founding Electric Capital, he was an early investor in crypto projects like OpenSea and dYdX as well as unicorn companies like Notion and Figma.