Lawsuit reveals crypto “Pause Letters” issued by FDIC | Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
On December 6, in a joint status report filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the FDIC made public 23 “Pause Letters” that the FDIC issued to regulated, unnamed institutions to pause cryptocurrency-related activities. A research consultancy firm with experience in Freedom of Information Act requests, sued the FDIC in June, claiming the regulator “stonewalled” information requests for the letters. The exchange claimed that the letters could shed light on a potential “deliberate and concerted effort by the FDIC and other financial regulators” to “box crypto out of the banking system.”
According to the letters, which the FDIC issued to institutions in 2022 and are heavily redacted, the FDIC…