There’s a $100 billion tax on the American economy that no one voted for. It’s levied every time someone swipes a credit card — and this week, Andreessen Horowitz put it on blast.
In a new salvo against Wall Street’s gatekeepers, the venture capital giant is framing the fight over interchange fees as a systemic threat to innovation. But this isn’t just a policy critique. It’s a warning shot — a direct challenge to the foundations of the current financial order. They’ve even given it a name: Operation Chokepoint 3.0.
Unlike Chokepoint 2.0, which tried to deplatform crypto outright, Operation Chokepoint 3.0, this new phase is subtler and potentially more destructive. It’s not about denying access. It’s about making it so expensive to participate in the digital economy that new entrants can’t survive.
A Tax on the Future
Essentially, the issue with Operation Chokepoint 3.0 is interchange — the 1–3% fee on every credit card transaction, paid by merchants to banks and card networks like Visa and Mastercard. In its latest policy memo, a16z calls this “a hidden tax on every American,” one that “stifles competition and innovation by draining capital that could otherwise be spent on growth.”
For startups with razor-thin margins, that 2% fee isn’t a rounding error — it’s runway. It’s a developer hire. It’s the difference between scaling and stalling.
“If it suddenly costs $10 to move $100 into a Coinbase or Robinhood account, maybe fewer people will do it,” wrote a16z general partner Alex Rampell. “This isn’t about a new revenue stream. It’s about strangling competition.”
The Quiet Chokepoint
Anyone in crypto will remember Operation Chokepoint 2.0 — the 2023 campaign of regulatory pressure that forced banks to cut ties with digital asset firms. But the tactics have evolved.
Chokepoint 3.0 doesn’t arrive with subpoenas or Senate hearings. It arrives as non-negotiable fees, subtle delays, and silent blocks on data access. It doesn’t ban innovation. It just makes it economically unviable.
“Many banks have hostages, not customers,” Rampell added — referring to how difficult it is for consumers to switch banks or access newer platforms when connectivity is deliberately throttled.
Web3 as the Escape Hatch
If the rails are rigged, the only response is to build new ones. That’s where the fintech frustration becomes a Web3 thesis.
For years, crypto has struggled to land a killer use case. But challenging the interchange regime? That’s a real, measurable target — and a reason to exist.
Stablecoins like USDC, especially on chains like Solana, enable near-instant payments with settlement costs that are effectively zero. No gatekeepers. No markup. Just pure peer-to-peer digital cash.
Decentralized networks, by design, remove the tollbooth. There’s no central validator charging 2.5% to move money from A to B. That’s not just cheaper — it’s structurally more competitive.
ChainStreet’s Take
a16z isn’t just picking a fight with banks. It’s trying to redraw the map. By reframing interchange as a chokepoint — not a service — the firm is inviting founders, developers, and policymakers to challenge the very rails that global commerce runs on.
This isn’t just about crypto or fintech. It’s about who gets to build the next economy — and at what cost.
The battle for innovation won’t be won in Washington memos. It’ll be fought in fee structures, protocols, and payment rails. The old world charged rent. The new one builds roads.
