Bitcoin payments company Strike CEO Jack Mallers has accused JPMorgan Chase (NYSE: JPM) of closing his account without providing a clear reason.
“Last month, J.P. Morgan Chase threw me out of the bank,” Mallers said on Nov. 23 on X. “It was bizarre. My dad has been a private client there for 30+ years. Every time I asked them why, they said the same thing: ‘We aren’t allowed to tell you.'”
Mallers appeared to insinuate that the account closure was linked to his involvement with Bitcoin, urging followers to protect the digital asset at all costs in a second post, reigniting concerns about the so-called “Operation Chokepoint 2.0.”
Operation Chokepoint 2.0 was an alleged campaign by U.S. federal banking regulators under the Biden administration to cut off the cryptocurrency industry from the banking system. President Donald Trump promised to end the alleged effort on the campaign trail and, in August, signed an executive order promising to penalize banks that deny banking services to cryptocurrency businesses.
In response to Mallers’ post, many pro-cryptocurrency voices have questioned whether the alleged campaign is truly over.
“Operation Chokepoint 2.0 regrettably lives on,” Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) said. “Policies like JP Morgan’s undermine confidence in traditional banks and send the digital asset industry overseas. It’s past time we put Operation Chokepoint 2.0 to rest to make America the digital asset capital of the world.”
Mallers has worn the purported account closure as a badge of honor, calling it “a proud moment” in another post and revealing that he had framed the bank’s letter.
In the letter purportedly from JPMorgan Chase, the bank cited “concerning activity” as the basis for its decision without providing details.
JPMorgan Chase declined to comment but said it was looking into the facts of Mallers’ account closure while maintaining that it is open for business to cryptocurrency users.
Meanwhile, Mallers has been a JPMorgan Chase detractor before his recent revelation that the bank has closed his account. He called JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon “ Jeffrey Epstein‘s banker,” referring to the convicted sex offender in a January 2024 interview with Yahoo Finance, after being asked about Dimon’s view that Bitcoin was a “pet rock.”
Even the post detailing his account closure came in response to claims by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) that the disgraced financier Epstein was linked to JPMorgan Chase executives.
JPMorgan Chase, which provided banking services for Epstein, has denied any wrongdoing and liability for his actions.