Summary of this article
Trump may order probe into political or crypto-based debanking.
SEC’s Hester Peirce defends privacy rights in Tornado Cash trial remarks.
CrediX recovers $4.5M in stolen crypto after private deal with hacker.
US President Donald Trump is reportedly considering launching a formal investigation into whether banks and financial institutions have unfairly cut off services to cryptocurrency companies and people based on their political beliefs.
According to Cointelegraph, Trump is discussing the possibility of an executive order that would direct federal agencies to examine if certain individuals or businesses were "debanked" due to their political views or ties to the crypto sector. The idea is to assess whether there is bias in how banks decide whom to serve.
This move could become part of Trump's campaign promises if he returns to the White House. Sources familiar with the matter said the former president wants to focus on issues where he believes the government or financial system is being used to target political opponents or disrupt innovation, like in the case of digital currencies.
Some crypto advocates have also raised alarm over what they call "Operation Choke Point 2.0", a term used to describe alleged unofficial efforts to cut off crypto access to the traditional financial system.
Trump's team has not made any official announcement yet, but the report suggests that such an investigation could become a key talking point in the 2024 election campaign, especially as crypto becomes a bigger issue in US politics.
SEC Commissioner Defends Transaction Privacy During Tornado Cash Trial
US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) Commissioner Hester Peirce, known famously as "Crypto Mom" for her pro-industry stance, told the blockchain researchers and practitioners on Monday, August 04, 2025, that it the utmost duty and responsibility of the lawmakers and regulators to protect people's right to transact privately. She made these comments in the wake of the Roman Storm's Tornado Cash trials.
Peirce, in a speech at the Science of Blockchain Conference, stated that technologies to protect an individual's privacy, and the right to "self-custody crypto", should be upheld, and so are the rights of developers of open-source privacy software, and they should not be held accountable for how others are using their codes.
Cointelegraph quoted her saying, "We should take concrete steps to protect people's ability not only to communicate privately, but to transfer value privately, as they could have done with physical coins..." She also mentioned the importance of respecting and abiding by the Fourth Amendment, and emphasised why, in the first place, the Fourth Amendment was introduced.
She also urged that regulators should not be asking businesses to keep a record of who they or their customers transact with, which was nearly enforced by the so-called "decentralised finance (deFi) broker rule".
Roman Storm, the co-founder of Tornado Cash, a cryptocurrency mixer service, is currently facing trial in the Southern District of New York. He has been accused of facilitating the actions of some criminal elements who used this mixer service for money laundering. He might end up facing up to 40 years in prison if proved guilty.
CrediX Negotiates With Scammer, Recovers $4.5 Million In Stolen Crypto
CrediX, a sonic-based decentralised finance (DeFi) protocol, has been reported to have successfully negotiated regarding the recovery of the stolen assets worth $4.5 million, says Cointelegraph.
On August 04, 2025, CrediX faced a security breach which resulted in the attacker sweeping off digital assets worth over $4.5 million, bridged to the Ethereum network by a wallet funded by Tornado Cash. But, in a surprising turn of events, CrediX stated that they have reached a private settlement with the attacker, and ultimately, the attacker has agreed to return the stolen funds in exchange for a confidential payment from CrediX's treasury.
CrediX posted on their official X handle, saying, "Reached successful parley with the exploiter who agreed to return the funds within the next 24-48 hours in return for money fully paid by the credix treasury".
According to the X post, CrediX will airdrop the recovered funds to all of the affected users within the next 48 hours.
This settlement shortly followed the release of an analysis on the attacker's potential Hong Kong-based IP addresses by an on-chain security firm, SlowMist. According to Cointelegraph, the thief was concerned about the implications.
