Austin Campbell, an adjunct professor at New York University's Stern School of Business, said that the widespread debanking of crypto-affiliated firms and individuals has damaged the United States' reputation as a hub for innovation. He shared this perspective during a Congressional hearing on February 6.
"One of the biggest losers here is America itself," said Campbell. "This sort of embargo against an entire legal industry, either through active malice or incompetence, is the sort of thing that sticks in the mind of entrepreneurs. I will point out that vast amounts of venture capital funding, many very well-compensated jobs in the tech sector, and significant amounts of dollar flow in invest products are all outside of the United States because of this action. As of the time of the writing of this testimony, the total market capitalization of the crypto space is over $3.6T as per Coin Gecko (yes that's the real name), untold billions in crypto funding have been employing people all over the globe except here, and the reputation of American regulators and financial markets as fair and impartial have been damaged."
According to Campbell, under "Operation Choke Point 2.0," regulators pressured banks to sever ties with crypto-affiliated individuals and companies from basic financial services. He explained that these actions were not limited to entities violating anti-money laundering standards or engaging in criminal activities. Instead, industries even tangentially related to cryptocurrency, such as software engineering, were also targeted.
Campbell further argued that reforms to banking supervisory practices are necessary to increase transparency and clarity; otherwise, the U.S. will continue to lose out on investments and business opportunities. He cited stablecoins as an example, which are digital currencies typically backed by fiat currencies held in banks. Campbell mentioned Tether, the largest stablecoin project globally, is planning to open its first headquarters in El Salvador. "Again, this is a $139B dollar investment pool, representing one of the largest buyers of treasuries in the world, and they want absolutely nothing to do with the United States, which also deprives us of all their customer data," he said.
Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino reportedly ruled out establishing the company's first physical headquarters in the U.S., according to Reuters. The firm obtained a license in El Salvador, which has been making efforts to become a crypto hub and plans to hire approximately 100 Salvadorans over the next several years. Tether's dollar-pegged stablecoin accounts for about two-thirds of the $212 billion worth of stablecoins currently in circulation.
Campbell is also noted as serving as CEO of the payments network WSPN and is a managing partner at Zero Knowledge Consulting.