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.

Crypto AI Agents have seen a sharp decline, with their total market cap dropping 13% in the last 24 hours to $6.42 billion. The sector’s biggest coins are struggling, with VIRTUAL, AI16Z, and FARTCOIN all posting significant losses over the past week.

Meanwhile, growth in new crypto AI agents has slowed dramatically, and engagement within the ecosystem has plummeted by 60% in just a few weeks. With both investor interest and market activity fading, the sector faces an uphill battle to regain momentum unless a strong catalyst reignites demand.

Crypto AI Agents Coins Market Cap Is Down

The crypto AI agents market has taken a significant hit, with its total market cap dropping 13% in the last 24 hours to $6.65 billion.

All of the top 10 crypto AI agents cryptos have posted losses over the past seven days, with FARTCOIN plummeting 61%, AI16Z down 59%, and the largest one, VIRTUAL, losing 40% of its value.

This broad sell-off highlights the ongoing weakness in the AI crypto sector, as investors continue to exit positions amid the correction, a movement that has been happening and intensifying since DeepSeek’s launch.

VIRTUAL, once the dominant artificial intelligence protocol, briefly surpassed major players like TAO, FET, and RENDER when its market cap peaked at $4.6 billion on January 1.

However, since then, it has faced a steep decline, with its valuation now sitting at just $811 million. With this downturn, only five crypto AI agents cryptos still hold a market cap above $300 million, and just 15 remain above the $100 million mark, showing how deep the correction has been across the sector.

Solana Is Still the Leader in Crypto AI Agents

Solana remains the most dominant chain in the crypto AI agents sector, with its AI-related coins holding a combined market cap of $3.2 billion.

However, this dominance has taken a hit, with the total value dropping 18.6% in the last 24 hours as the sector experiences a broad correction.

Base chain follows as the second-largest player, with its crypto AI agents coins collectively valued at $2.74 billion. Coins like VIRTUAL, TOSHI, FAI, and AIXBT have been key drivers of its growth in the sector.

Interestingly, Ethereum is notably absent from the top ranks, while other chains collectively account for just $1.19 billion in market cap.

Only two of the top 15 coins are outside of Solana and Base: ChainGPT (CGPT), which operates on BNB and currently holds a market cap of $118 million, and TURBO, which operates on Ethereum and has a market cap of $265 million.

Can Crypto AI Agents Regain Their Strong Momentum?

The growth of crypto AI agents has significantly slowed down after a surge in January. Between January 7 and January 24, their number increased from 1,250 to 1,387, marking an 11% rise.

However, since then, growth has nearly stalled, with only 13 new AI agents added, representing less than a 1% increase. This slowdown suggests that interest in launching new crypto AI agents are fading, potentially signaling a cooling phase in the sector.

At the same time, engagement within the ecosystem has dropped sharply, with the number of smart accounts interacting with these projects falling from 19,069 on January 17 to just 7,541 now – a staggering 60% decline.

This drop in activity highlights weakening enthusiasm, as fewer users appear to be trading or utilizing these agents.

With both new project creation and user participation declining, regaining strong momentum in the near term appears challenging unless renewed interest or market catalysts emerge.