Trump's May 19 Financial Integrity Order Could Drive Undocumented Immigrants Toward Crypto

A May 19 executive order signed by President Donald Trump directing federal regulators to tighten oversight of financial services for undocumented immigrants could accelerate crypto adoption among people cut off from the traditional banking system, according to policy experts and industry figures. The directive, issued "to restore integrity to America's financial system," tasked agencies including the Treasury Department with considering rules that would expand fraud screening and risk mitigation tied to extending services to immigrants who are undocumented.

The order has drawn comparisons to "Operation Chokepoint 2.0," an alleged Biden-era effort in which regulators were accused of pressuring banks to cut ties with crypto firms by labeling the sector a "reputational risk." The term was popularized by Nic Carter, founding partner of investment firm Castle Island Ventures, who criticized the new policy in remarks to Decrypt. "It's pretty cruel to deprive someone of access to financial infrastructure entirely, or force them to utilize cash, shadow banks, or fringe infrastructure, which might not be safe or credible," Carter said. "And that extends to folks that are here in the country illegally."

The Trump family has cited debanking as a driving force behind its own crypto venture. World Liberty Financial, established in 2024 by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., emerged in part from friction between the family and traditional banks. At a conference last year, Donald Trump Jr. said, "We got into crypto because—out of necessity—we were debanked." The administration's stated rationale for the new order echoes the language of past debanking controversies. "Gaps in customer identification practices have allowed terrorists, drug traffickers, money launderers, and other criminal networks to exploit U.S. financial institutions to move illicit funds and evade law enforcement," the White House said in an accompanying fact sheet.

Nicholas Anthony, a research fellow at the libertarian Cato Institute, told Decrypt that the order effectively "deputizes banks as immigration enforcers" and warned that any resulting crypto adoption would be driven by duress rather than consumer preference. The order leaves the specifics of new rules to individual agencies, and the Treasury Department has not yet announced a timeline for proposed regulations.