JPMorgan has made another series of account shutdowns related to crypto, following recent ones at the bank, that terminated the business account of a ShapeShift executive.
The move heightened anxieties in the digital asset industry, which has already been hit by a series of such shocks over the past few weeks.
Sudden termination of business account
The victim is the executive, Houston Morgan, who is the Head of Marketing and Protocol Relations at ShapeShift. He indicated that on November 21, he was informed by JPMorgan that his business account would be closed down. No prior warning had ever been given to him, and he mentioned that no problems or missing reports had been identified before the alert.
Shortly following the text message, he was locked out of his business and personal accounts. He called the bank approximately thirty minutes and was transferred between the various departments. He claimed that nobody requested him to provide documentation or information on his operations.
He later contacted a representative called Andre, who informed him that the bank had made up its mind to sever the relationship. Morgan claimed that he did not have an avenue of appeal. His business check was frozen and had in it an estimated forty thousand dollars which he could not determine the exact balance of because of the lockout.
It affects the business of ShapeShift
Morgan said that ShapeShift existed as a decentralized autonomous entity. The payment of each workstream is different. His business account assisted in supporting contracts and routine expenses in his unit. He reported that it handled between thirty and fifty transactions every month.
He said that he had yet to be informed about other co-workers encountering the same problems, but he was to discuss the issue during a meeting with other staff members. The production follows the closure of accounts of Strike CEO Jack Mallers that had been reported. Those incidents contributed to the panic about the strain on crypto-related enterprises in the United States.
Threat of closing personal accounts
The personal account used by Morgan during the call with Andre will also be closed next week. This is what Morgan learned during the call. He was informed to transfer his money when they could still have access. He even made the transfer and awaits the final shutdown.
The new moves raised reactions from the people in the industry. According to Mallers, his accounts had been closed, and certain Strike deposits had been declined on grounds of suspected fraudulent conduct. The incident made Senator Cynthia Lummis raise her voice. According to her, the closures indicate that Operation Chokepoint 2.0 is in operation. She cautioned that this would undermine confidence in banks and drive the crypto firms abroad.
Such occurrences are after an executive order issued by President Donald Trump that told federal regulators not to penalize banks that deal with crypto firms. The recent accounts closure put a strain on an industry already debating its position on the US banking system.
