The House Committee on Financial Services held a hearing today on Operation Choke Point 2.0. The FDIC’s newly-released tranche of incriminating documents was discussed at length.

Representative Alexander Green fervently denied all debanking allegations within the first five minutes, but overwhelming evidence came to light. Crypto still has vocal opponents in the US government, but their position is weakening.

Committee Hearing Begins With Hostility

The House Committee on Financial Services conducted a hearing on debanking and Operation Choke Point 2.0 today, and it serves as a reflection on US crypto policy. The fact that this hearing even exists and is broadly sympathetic is a triumph in itself.

However, old institutions die hard, and Representative Al Green began with a very critical opening statement:

“Yes, the title of this hearing is ‘Operation Choke Point 2.0: The Biden Administration’s Effort to Put Crypto in the Crosshairs.’ However, a better title for this hearing would is ‘How President Trump’s Self-Dealing Deregulation will Put Investors at Risk.’ Operation Choke Point 2.0 is a fake program never initiated by the Biden Administration,” Green said.

Green went on to tell the Committee about the failures of crypto-related banks and said these failures bore no evidence of Operation Choke Point 2.0’s existence.

Specifically, he alluded to Silvergate Bank, which collapsed in 2023 and sent cascading effects all over the industry. Green said that it had over 98% of its assets in crypto, proving that crypto is unstable.

Evidence of Operation Choke Point 2.0

However, as journalist Eleanor Terrett pointed out, Silvergate did not fall on its own. The bank came under repeated attack from industry opponents like Senator Elizabeth Warren, and regulators imposed a 15% cap on crypto-related bank deposits upon it.

After this, continued business became untenable, and the bank voluntarily liquidated.

“Is it kind of ironic that Congresswoman Rashida and Nikema Williams said they’re more concerned about their own constituents getting debanked or lacking access to basic financial services at a hearing about crypto, which was created to solve those very problems?,” wrote Eleanor Terrett.

Although Green’s comments began the hearing with a hostile tone, the facts quickly came to light. The Committee’s first witness was Austin Campbell, Acting CEO of WSPN, who showed proof of Operation Choke Point 2.0.

Specifically, he referred to the FDIC, which released a tranche of 175 relevant and incriminating documents yesterday.

Paul Grewal, Chief Legal Officer at Coinbase, was the next witness. He notified the community that he would testify. Grewal told the Committee about his own experience with Operation Choke Point 2.0, based on his years of advocating for Coinbase. He also talked about the exchange’s campaign to expose incriminating FDIC documents.

In other words, Grewal did not focus on direct attacks against Coinbase but rather on his fight to expose attacks on the entire industry.

This combination of a focused narrative with factual analysis of a wide problem seemed quite rhetorically effective. The Committee also heard other witnesses, including one who also denied the existence of Operation Choke Point 2.0.

Ultimately, this hearing won’t change much alone. After all, the House Oversight Committee recently launched its own investigation of Operation Choke Point 2.0, which is unrelated to this one.

What this hearing demonstrates, however, is a strong momentum in bringing justice to crypto. The tides are turning, and crypto oppositions are likely weakening in the US.

Dogecoin (DOGE) price has shown little movement in the last 24 hours, down about 3%. Its trading volume has dropped 36% to $1.65 billion despite Neptune Digital Assets buying $370,000 DOGE. The price has been stuck below $0.33 for nearly a week, struggling to gain bullish momentum.

Technical indicators continue to show a bearish setup, with the Ichimoku Cloud and EMA lines reinforcing downside risks. Unless DOGE can break key resistance levels, the trend remains weak, leaving room for further declines.

Ichimoku Cloud Shows a Bearish Outlook for DOGE

Dogecoin Ichimoku Cloud chart presents a bearish outlook, with the price trading below the cloud. The future cloud remains red, signaling continued downward pressure and indicating that resistance levels could remain strong in the near term.

The conversion line (blue) is currently moving sideways near the baseline (red), suggesting a period of consolidation rather than an immediate trend reversal.

However, with the price failing to gain momentum above these lines, bearish sentiment remains dominant, despite Canadian crypto company Neptune Digital Assets announcing that it had purchased $350,000 worth of DOGE in December.

Additionally, the lagging span (green) is positioned below the price action, confirming that DOGE price is still in a downtrend. The cloud ahead is sloping downward, reinforcing the possibility that bearish momentum could persist.

If the baseline flattens while the conversion line moves upward, it could indicate a potential trend shift, but for now, DOGE remains in a weak position with no clear signs of recovery.

Dogecoin BBTrend Is Still Negative, But Going Up

Dogecoin BBTrend is currently at -21.7, having remained negative for the past two days. It peaked at -26.1 yesterday before beginning to lose strength, signaling that the bearish momentum is still present but slightly weakening.

BBTrend is an indicator that measures trend strength based on Bollinger Bands. Positive values indicate bullish momentum and negative values suggest a bearish trend. The further the value is from zero, the stronger the trend in either direction.

With DOGE’s BBTrend now at -21.7, down from -26.1 yesterday, it suggests that while the downtrend remains intact, selling pressure is starting to ease. A continued move upward in BBTrend could indicate that bearish momentum is fading, potentially leading to consolidation or a relief bounce.

However, as long as the BBTrend remains negative, the overall trend is still bearish, meaning DOGE price could struggle to gain significant upside traction unless a stronger shift in momentum occurs.

DOGE Price Prediction: Will DOGE Surge and Break the $0.36 Resistance This Time?

Dogecoin EMA lines indicate a bearish outlook, with short-term EMAs positioned below long-term ones. This alignment suggests that the current downtrend remains strong, and if the negative momentum continues, DOGE could test the $0.20 level.

A breakdown below this support could push Dogecoin price further down to $0.14, marking its lowest point since December 10, 2024.

On the other hand, if the trend reverses, DOGE could attempt to reclaim $0.30 as resistance. A successful breakout above this level could lead to a retest of $0.36, a key level that DOGE failed to surpass at the end of January.

If bullish momentum strengthens further, DOGE price could climb as high as $0.40, representing a potential 54% upside. However, until the EMAs shift to a more bullish formation, the overall trend remains bearish.

Binance released its latest monthly market insights report, detailing growth in meme coins and ETF filings. The total number of tokens in circulation has reached over 37 million, the majority launching on Solana. Also, there are 47 active ETF filings in the US.

January 2025 was a positive month for the crypto industry, with a peaking market and gains in several key areas. The biggest loser was in AI-related crypto projects, which took a hard beating from DeepSeek.

Binance Research: Meme Coins, ETFs, AI Tokens

Binance Research, a subsidiary of the largest crypto exchange, just released its newest Monthly Market Insights report. In it, Binance painted a positive picture, with the crypto market peaking at $3.76 trillion in January and growth areas like meme coins having a dramatic impact.

“The advent of token launchpads and the meme coin mania has led to the creation of over 37 million tokens, with projections exceeding 100 million by year-end. This growth has fragmented capital, making it harder for tokens to sustain prices and achieve high valuations,” the report claimed.

Binance Research has been studying the meme coin craze for several months, so it makes sense that it has a wealth of data on the subject.

Although meme coins are a growth area in the industry, the report raised a few concerns. Specifically, it concurred with the research suggesting that this tidal wave of projects is sapping energy from traditional altcoins.

Binance claimed that this meme coin influx “fuels speculation, reduces attention spans and discourages long-term holding,” asserting that most tokens have a negligible market cap.

Still, it did have positive downstream impacts, like rapid growth in Solana DEX volumes. Meme coins and AI agents helped the Solana-to-Ethereum DEX volume ratio surpass 300% in January.

Additionally, Binance’s report discussed political changes after Trump’s Inauguration. Since Gary Gensler resigned as SEC Chairman, the Commission immediately saw a rush of ETF applications.

Binance Research claimed that there are currently 47 active ETF applications in the US, covering 16 asset categories, including meme coins.

All in all, Binance reported that January was a positive month for the broader crypto industry. The only significant loser was in AI, as DeepSeek severely punished this niche market.

Regardless, the DeFAI sector did recover somewhat, ending the month with only a -10% return. Compared to initial losses, it could have been a lot worse.