Posted July 31, 2025

                                                                                                            <div id="operation-chokepoint-30" class="section">    <h4><span>Operation Chokepoint 3.0</span></h4>    <strong class="sub-title">Alex Rampell</strong>                                                    <p><a href="https://d1lamhf6l6yk6d.cloudfront.net/uploads/2025/07/250722-July-Newsletterr-Intro-Banner-Desktop-600x190-1.png"><img width="100%" height="auto" src="https://d1lamhf6l6yk6d.cloudfront.net/uploads/2025/07/250722-July-Newsletterr-Intro-Banner-Desktop-600x190-1.png" /></a></p><p><span>Under the Biden administration, Operation Chokepoint 2.0 tried to </span><a href="https://financialservices.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=409457"><span>debank and deplatform crypto</span></a><span>.</span></p><p><span>That era has ended, but now the banks are aiming to implement their own </span><a href="https://x.com/arampell/status/1945516918489981027"><span>Chokepoint 3.0</span></a><span> — charging insanely high fees to access data or move money to crypto and fintech apps — and, more concerningly, </span><a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jpmorgan-charge-fintechs-customer-data-191259106.html"><span>blocking crypto and fintech apps</span></a><span> they don’t like.</span></p><p><span>JPMorganChase is an $800 billion company. Make no mistake: this isn’t about a new revenue stream. It’s about strangling competition. And if they get away with this, every bank will follow.</span></p><p><span>Dodd-Frank Section 1033 guarantees that consumers have rights to their data. It’s the CFPB’s job to enforce this. While the CFPB under the Biden administration made some questionable moves, upholding 1033 preserved consumer choice and competition.</span></p><p><span>The crazy thing is that sometimes this “data” is just your account number and routing code. That’s right: information that’s printed on the bottom of every check. And yet, if delivered electronically, somehow banks are asserting that it should come with tremendous fees — paid to banks that were collectively bailed out by taxpayers a mere 17 years ago.</span></p><p><span>If it suddenly costs $10 to move $100 into a Coinbase or Robinhood account, maybe fewer people will do it. Or if it costs $10 to get a cheaper loan from a fintech, maybe you’ll be forced to take a crappier one from JPM. And if JPM and others can block consumers from connecting their own freely chosen crypto and fintech apps to their bank accounts, they effectively eliminate competition.</span></p><p><span>In a perfect world, consumers would vote with their wallets. But every bank will likely do this, and getting a new banking charter takes years. Many banks have hostages, not customers.</span></p><p><span>We don’t need a new law; we just need the administration to prevent this callous and manipulative attempt to kill competition and consumer choice.</span></p>                                      <div class="author-infos style-02">                                <div class="author-info">                <a href="https://a16z.com/author/alex-rampell/" class="avatar">                                        <img width="100%" height="auto" src="https://d1lamhf6l6yk6d.cloudfront.net/uploads/2023/04/Alex-Rampell-150x150.png" />                </a>                <div class="description">                    <p>                        <a href="https://a16z.com/author/alex-rampell/">Alex Rampell</a>                        is a General Partner at Andreessen Horowitz, where he leads the firm’s $1 billion Apps practice.                    </p>                </div>                                                                </div>            </div>    </div>                                                                                                                        <div id="more-from-a16z-fintech-" class="section">    <h4><span>More from a16z Fintech </span></h4>    <strong class="sub-title"></strong>                                                    <p><span>While traditional banks like Goldman Sachs and BNY have historically preferred building tech in-house — conscious of trust and privacy concerns — </span><a href="https://fortune.com/2025/06/26/ai-banking-bny-eliza-personal-information/"><span>that culture is shifting</span></a><span>, argues a16z general partner David Haber. In </span><a href="https://fortune.com/2025/06/26/ai-banking-bny-eliza-personal-information/"><span>Fortune</span></a><span>, he explains why institutions are demonstrating increased openness to adopt external AI tools. </span><a href="https://fortune.com/2025/06/26/ai-banking-bny-eliza-personal-information/"><span>Read more &gt;&gt;</span></a></p><p><span>As a former PM on the mobile Chrome team, a16z general partner Angela Strange has an insider’s perspective on why browsers are the ideal launchpad for agent-driven experiences powered by personal context. In a </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/angelastrange_i-was-lucky-to-spend-nearly-5-years-as-pm-activity-7349111864968060928-EFs5?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAAAtfg1IBYfxd10EdhxOkfqPkVLAxbRUrLDQ"><span>recent post</span></a><span>, she points to Perplexity’s Comet browser as an early glimpse of that future, evidence that users are willing to share more data with AI agents in exchange for meaningful productivity gains. With OpenAI preparing to release its own browser and Chrome poised for evolution, Strange predicts that the “</span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/angelastrange_i-was-lucky-to-spend-nearly-5-years-as-pm-activity-7349111864968060928-EFs5?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAAAtfg1IBYfxd10EdhxOkfqPkVLAxbRUrLDQ"><span>browser wars</span></a><span>” of 2025 will spark a wave of transformative consumer and enterprise innovation. </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/posts/angelastrange_i-was-lucky-to-spend-nearly-5-years-as-pm-activity-7349111864968060928-EFs5?utm_source=share&amp;utm_medium=member_desktop&amp;rcm=ACoAAAtfg1IBYfxd10EdhxOkfqPkVLAxbRUrLDQ"><span>Read more &gt;&gt;</span></a></p><p><span>At the White House, the first piece of U.S. crypto legislation was signed into law this month: the </span><a href="https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/podcast/genius-law-stablecoins-house-vote/"><span>GENIUS Act</span></a><span> (Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act). This landmark legislation provides clear rules for stablecoins and passed both the Senate and House of Representatives with broad bipartisan support. This marks a historic moment — not just for crypto, but for the world at large, because stablecoins give us something we’ve never really had before: open money infrastructure. Next, the focus in D.C. will turn to broader crypto “market structure” legislation. So, what is the </span><a href="https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/genius-act-clarity-act-crypto-legislation-explained/"><span>CLARITY Act</span></a><span> and what do you need to know — whether you’re a builder, consumer, policymaker, or anyone interested in U.S. innovation? </span><a href="https://a16zcrypto.com/posts/article/genius-act-clarity-act-crypto-legislation-explained/"><span>Read more &gt;&gt;</span></a></p><p><span>Moment raised a $36 million Series B and partnered with LPL Financial to modernize the $150 trillion fixed income market through automation. By bridging Wall Street and Silicon Valley, they’re transforming mission-critical workflows with cutting-edge technology. </span><a href="https://x.com/dhaber/status/1943020244483670481"><span>Read more &gt;&gt;</span></a></p><p>Salient, an AI-first workflow automation platform for lenders, raised a $60 million Series A led by a16z. The company builds AI agents to handle borrower interactions across voice, text, email, and chat, allowing lenders to improve the customer experience while reducing servicing costs. <a id="" href="https://go2.a16z.com/MzgyLUpaQi03OTgAAAGb8wDt387apq7HtVAZ1rV1XWhL1rToaXXSAnnAhnrFhXMob3oNxmrzBsAg2YG2Ya-BnRJ0F3c=" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read more »</a></p>                                          </div>                                                                                                                        <div id="recent-ma-deals-and-market-intel" class="section">    <h4><span>Recent M&amp;A Deals and Market Intel</span></h4>    <strong class="sub-title"></strong>                                                    <p><span>Lloyds Banking Group </span><a href="https://ibsintelligence.com/ibsi-news/lloyds-to-acquire-curve-in-161-2m-digital-wallet-deal/"><span>announced</span></a><span> its acquisition of </span><b>Curve</b><span>, the digital wallet provider, for around $161 million, on July 21.</span></p><p><b>Figure</b> <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250715274148/en/Figure-Technology-Solutions-and-Figure-Markets-Merge-to-Transform-Capital-Markets-via-Blockchain"><span>recombined</span></a><span> its consumer credit marketplace and blockchain-native asset exchange businesses on July 17 in </span><a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/blockchain-lender-figure-technology-plans-ipo?rc=9rhopt"><span>preparation</span></a><span> for a potential IPO this fall. </span></p><p><b>Starling Bank</b><span> is reportedly </span><a href="https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/46217/starling-eyeing-us-bank-acquisition"><span>exploring</span></a><span> the acquisition of a nationally chartered U.S. bank and </span><a href="https://www.finextra.com/newsarticle/46293/starling-eyes-nyse-listing"><span>considering</span></a><span> a potential listing on the NYSE as part of its expansion plans.</span></p><p><b>Revolut </b><a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/revolut-acquire-bnp-paribas-owned-argentine-lender-market-expansion-2025-06-26/"><span>entered</span></a><span> the Argentine market with the</span> <span>acquisition of lender Cetelem Argentina from BNP Paribas Personal Finance on June 26.</span></p><p><b>Envestnet</b> <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/envestnet-inc-announces-definitive-agreement-to-sell-yodlee-inc-to-stg-302491094.html"><span>announced</span></a><span> that it had reached an agreement to sell </span><b>Yodlee</b><span>, its open finance and data analytics subsidiary, to private equity firm STG on June 25. The sale follows reports dating back to December 2023 that Envestnet was </span><a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-12-13/envestnet-is-said-to-explore-sale-of-data-aggregator-yodlee-env"><span>exploring</span></a><span> a sale of the unit. Envestnet originally acquired Yodlee in 2015 for approximately $590 million.</span></p><p><b>Xero</b> <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/xero-to-acquire-melio-a-leading-us-smb-bill-pay-solution-to-accelerate-global-growth-302490268.html"><span>announced</span></a><span> its acquisition of </span><b>Melio</b><span> for an upfront consideration of $2.5 billion in cash and equity, with an additional earnout of up to $500 million payable over three years. The deal addresses a critical customer need for U.S. customers by integrating accounting and payments into a unified platform. The purchase price implies a trailing twelve-month (TTM) sales multiple of approximately 16x.</span></p><p><b>Wealthfront <span>confidentially</span></b><span> </span><a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/wealthfront-announces-confidential-submission-of-draft-registration-statement-to-sec-for-proposed-initial-public-offering-302487472.html?tc=eml_cleartime"><span>filed</span></a><span> for IPO on June 23.</span></p>                                          </div>                                                            
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