On July 24, a coalition of ten prominent financial technology and cryptocurrency trade groups, including the Blockchain Association and the Crypto Innovation Committee, formally appealed to President Trump to intervene against large banks imposing fees that could stifle innovation and reduce market competition. The groups specifically highlighted JPMorgan’s proposed charges for consumer banking data access, warning this could disenfranchise millions of Americans from their bank accounts and impede the growth of stablecoins like USDC and USDT, as well as self-custodied wallets.
The controversy centers on the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) open banking regulations, which guarantee consumers unrestricted access to their banking information. However, this regulatory framework faces challenges as major banks have initiated lawsuits to block these rules, and the CFPB has sought to retract them. The dispute fundamentally concerns the mechanisms through which users fund digital wallets and cryptocurrency exchanges.
Data aggregators such as Plaid and MX facilitate the transfer of funds from bank accounts to platforms like Coinbase and Kraken by leveraging direct access to consumer-authorized banking data. Historically, banks have provided this access without charge. Nevertheless, JPMorgan’s recent notification to aggregators about imposing fees—reportedly up to $300 million annually for Plaid alone, exceeding 75% of its revenue—has raised significant concerns. The trade associations urge the White House to act decisively before the July 29 deadline, coinciding with the government’s submission of a legal brief in the ongoing court case over the CFPB’s open banking rules.