Uniswap Founder: JPMorgan Closed My Bank Account Without Notice

Uniswap founder Hayden Adams announced that his banker, JPMorgan Chase, closed his accounts without giving notice or a reason for the closure. He made this known in a tweet and added that he wasn’t the only one suffering the same fate.

JPMorgan Closes Adams Account

According to him, many companies and individuals with affiliations to the crypto industry have suffered the same.

🤡 This week @jpmorgan @Chase closed my bank accounts with no notice or explanation

🧑‍💻 I know many individuals and companies who have been similarly targeted simply for working in the crypto industry

🚀 Thanks for making it a personal

— hayden.eth 🦄 (@haydenzadams) January 23, 2022

The move comes months after a report revealed that the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had opened investigations on Uniswap Labs. Uniswap Labs is the major developer behind the Uniswap protocol, the largest decentralized exchange in the world.

The investigation became public in November when Wall Street Journal reported that SEC officials were looking at how investors use the DEX. Uniswap Labs spokesperson at the time reiterated the company’s commitment to working with regulators and complying with relevant laws.

Why the Bank Probably Closed his Account

There have been several hypotheses as to what could have led to this move by the banks. According to the former chairman of US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Brian Quintenz, this might be a “shadow de-banking of crypto” by the authorities. 

Likely a shadow de-banking of crypto by @federalreserve or @USOCC bank examiners, with direction from the top. If the examiner told a bank that a certain customer is too risky and the bank ended that relationship, the bank is contractually prevented from telling that customer why

— Brian Quintenz (@BrianQuintenz) January 23, 2022

The ex-government official who’s now an advisory partner at Andreessen Horowitz tweeted that the directive could be from bank examiners such as the Federal Reserve or The Office of Comptroller of the Currency. 

These agencies can direct a bank to close an account because the customer is too risky. In such cases, the bank can’t disclose its reason for closing the account.

JPMorgan’s History of Account Closure

As Adams stated, this isn’t the first time the bank will do something like this. For example, the bank closed the payroll account of crypto exchange Kraken with only a five days’ notice.

In 2018, it also shut down Erik Voorhees’s account. Erik Voorhees is the founder of the crypto exchange ShapeShift. The bank also shut down accounts belonging to Bitcoin mining firm Compass Mining in 2019.

These moves from the bank make it difficult to understand its stance towards crypto. While it’s closing down crypto affiliated accounts, it has also been taking on a crypto exchange such as Coinbase and Gemini as customers. Beyond that, the bank also offers its wealthy clients access to crypto investment funds.