{"id":112824,"date":"2025-10-23T14:33:14","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T19:33:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=112824"},"modified":"2025-10-23T14:33:14","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T19:33:14","slug":"112824","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/?p=112824","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"

2A Rights Face a New Threat: Ideological Gatekeeping by Crypto Companies<\/a>
\nBy Larry Keane<\/p>\n

Congress recently passed the\u00a0GENIUS Act<\/a><\/strong>, a measure designed to bring stability and accountability to the digital asset market by providing a legal framework for U.S. dollar\u2013backed stablecoins. Lawmakers wanted to encourage innovation while protecting consumers and reinforcing America\u2019s leadership in financial technology. While Congress debated how to make stablecoins safer and more transparent, one of the industry\u2019s largest players was quietly writing its own rules, creating a system that treats lawful firearm purchases as a prohibited activity.<\/p>\n

Circle Internet Group<\/strong><\/a>, issuer of the\u00a0U.S. Dollar Coin (USDC),<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0hid a clause deep in its\u00a0published terms of service<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0that bans consumers from using USDC to purchase \u201cweapons of any kind, including but not limited to firearms, ammunition, knives, explosives, or related accessories.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This is not consumer protection; it\u2019s ideological enforcement. This is the same sort of\u00a0financial discrimination<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0that NSSF has fought against and is\u00a0finally seeing changes<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0with the Trump administration. For America\u2019s firearm owners and retailers, Circle\u2019s rules about how their cryptocurrency can be used should sound alarm bells.<\/p>\n

Firearm ownership is a constitutional right. By imposing this blanket prohibition, Circle is effectively inserting its own political views into the marketplace and restricting lawful consumers and businesses from exercising their rights guaranteed under the Second Amendment. This isn\u2019t a question of public safety or financial integrity; it\u2019s a matter of principle. And in this case, those decisions reflect clear political leanings. Circle\u2019s Chief Executive Officer, Jeremy Allaire, is a\u00a0major donor<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0to Democratic candidates and causes. Federal Election Commission\u00a0records<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0show that Allaire has contributed thousands of dollars to Democratic state parties and members of Congress, including U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.), a staunch supporter of\u00a0gun control legislation<\/a><\/strong>. While private citizens are entitled to their political opinions, those opinions should not dictate whether Americans can exercise their Second Amendment rights within the digital economy.<\/p>\n

Circle Responds<\/h4>\n

Circle provided NSSF with a statement attempting to clarify their position. It appears to [have] been a rushed statement given the grammatical error in the first sentence. Their statement came shortly after\u00a0NSSF posted on X<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0about Circle\u2019s policy.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

While it appears that Circle is willing to revisit its policies, as former President Ronald Reagan wisely said, \u201cTrust, but verify.\u201d The firearm industry has seen far too many examples of financial institutions and payment processors quietly introducing \u201crisk management\u201d policies that end up discriminating against lawful firearm businesses and owners. Circle\u2019s statement is encouraging, but words alone are not enough. The proof will be in the policy changes \u2013 and in whether those changes ensure that Second Amendment commerce is treated fairly within the digital economy.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

A Broader Concern<\/h4>\n

This episode underscores a broader trend of ideological enforcement creeping into financial services. Americans have long accepted that payment providers must comply with laws against fraud, money laundering and terrorism. But prohibiting the purchase of lawful products like firearms, ammunition or knives goes far beyond those legal requirements. It signals a growing willingness among powerful corporations to decide what Americans can buy and who is \u201cworthy\u201d of financial access.<\/p>\n

The Stakes for Digital Finance<\/h4>\n

Stablecoins like USDC are emerging as a significant component of modern financial infrastructure. As digital payments evolve, decisions made by a handful of private executives \u2013 often buried in the fine print \u2013 could soon determine which products or industries are allowed to exist in the digital economy. If this is what a private company can do today, imagine the reach of a government-issued Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). A digital dollar could enable future administrations to track and restrict transactions nationwide, embedding ideological filters into the monetary system itself.<\/p>\n

Every American should be free to spend their lawfully earned money on lawful products using the payment methods of their choice. Whether through bank regulators, payment processors or crypto platforms, Americans must remain vigilant against efforts to choke off lawful commerce under the guise of \u201crisk management\u201d or \u201creputational risk.\u201d \u00a0NSSF will continue to monitor Circle\u2019s actions closely. The company\u2019s willingness to revisit its policies is welcome\u2014but as with any issue touching on fundamental rights, trust must be earned and verified.<\/p>\n

Freedom cannot survive if your financial tools are turned against you and your Second Amendment rights.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

2A Rights Face a New Threat: Ideological Gatekeeping by Crypto Companies By Larry Keane Congress recently passed the\u00a0GENIUS Act, a measure designed to bring stability and accountability to the digital asset market by providing a legal framework for U.S. dollar\u2013backed stablecoins. Lawmakers wanted to encourage innovation while protecting consumers and reinforcing America\u2019s leadership in financial … Continue reading “”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112824","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112824","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=112824"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":112825,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112824\/revisions\/112825"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=112824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=112824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/milesfortis.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=112824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}