Senator Lummis urged US regulators to implement open banking rules as soon as possible to prevent large banks from hindering people's use of crypto platforms.

U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyoming) sent a letter to Russ Vought, Acting Director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), strongly supporting the implementation of the Open Banking rules and urging regulators to "swiftly finalize the rules" to prevent large banks from blocking public access to digital asset platforms and other financial services for politically motivated reasons. In the letter, Lummis pointed out that large banks have abused their position as financial gateways to restrict access to financial services for industries and individuals they disagree with, including digital asset companies, gun manufacturers, religious institutions, and even the president himself. She emphasized, "We cannot allow opponents of crypto assets to rewrite the rules, stifle innovation, and drive up costs. This will only force entrepreneurs to go overseas and undermine America's leadership in fintech." The Open Banking framework, first proposed by the Biden administration in 2022 and finalized on October 22, 2024, aims to allow users to securely share financial data with third-party applications via APIs, thereby connecting bank accounts with digital asset platforms. The rules are considered critical infrastructure for promoting crypto adoption. Lummis stated, "Without open banking rules, it's impossible to securely connect bank accounts to crypto exchanges. Especially when some bank executives, such as JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon, publicly oppose digital assets, users need to be protected." Several crypto industry organizations, including the Blockchain Association and the Crypto Council for Innovation, also sent a letter to the CFPB on the same day, calling on regulators to clarify that "Americans own their own financial data, not big banks." (DECRYPT)