Jack Mallers, CEO of Bitcoin payments company Strike, has a story that should sound familiar to anyone in the crypto industry. Last month, JPMorgan Chase (JPM) closed his accounts, and when he asked why, the bank gave him the runaround.

"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.'"

That's not exactly the transparent banking experience you'd hope for, especially when your family has been a client for three decades. Mallers clearly thinks this has something to do with his Bitcoin work, and he's not keeping that opinion to himself. In a follow-up post, he urged his followers to protect the digital asset at all costs, which pretty much tells you where he thinks this is coming from.

Operation Chokepoint 2.0 Strikes Again?

The account closure has reignited concerns about what the crypto community calls "Operation Chokepoint 2.0." This refers to an alleged campaign by U.S. federal banking regulators under the Biden administration to systematically cut off the cryptocurrency industry from the traditional banking system. President Donald Trump promised to end the alleged effort during his campaign, and in August, he signed an executive order promising to penalize banks that deny banking services to cryptocurrency businesses.

So is it over? Not according to the people responding to Mallers' post.

"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 himself seems almost proud of the whole thing. He called it "a proud moment" in another post and even revealed that he framed the bank's closure letter. Nothing says vindication like wall art, apparently.

What Did the Bank Actually Say?

In the letter purportedly from JPMorgan Chase, the bank cited "concerning activity" as the basis for its decision without providing details. That vague language is exactly what frustrates people in situations like this. What activity? Concerning to whom? The lack of specifics makes it impossible for Mallers or anyone else to know what actually triggered the closure.

JPMorgan Chase declined to comment on the specific case but said it was looking into the facts of Mallers' account closure. The bank maintains that it is open for business to cryptocurrency users, which makes this situation all the more confusing if you take that statement at face value.

A History of Bad Blood

This isn't the first time Mallers has had words for JPMorgan. He's been critical of the bank before, and not in subtle ways. In a January 2024 interview with Yahoo Finance, he called JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon "Jeffrey Epstein's banker," referring to the convicted sex offender. The comment came after being asked about Dimon's view that Bitcoin was a "pet rock."

The post about his account closure wasn't random timing either. It 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.

So there's context here beyond just crypto. Mallers has made his feelings about the bank clear for a while now, and this account closure seems to have only reinforced his position. Whether this is part of a broader pattern of banks shutting out crypto businesses or just one complicated situation remains to be seen, but it's certainly gotten people talking about whether Operation Chokepoint 2.0 is really dead or just taking a different form.