- JPMorgan reportedly closed the business and personal accounts of ShapeShift’s Houston Morgan, citing “concerning activity” and a need to “protect the financial institution,” without providing specific reasons.
- This closure follows the bank’s recent shutting down of accounts belonging to Strike CEO Jack Mallers, sparking renewed concerns about “crypto debanking” in the US.
- Both Morgan and Mallers reported a lack of specific reasoning or an appeal path, fueling community backlash against JPMorgan.
JPMorgan is garnering more hate from the crypto community as the investment bank has closed another account linked to the sector, according to reports.
Houston Morgan, head of marketing and protocol relations at ShapeShift, said the bank not only froze his business account, but also notified him that his personal account would be closed as well, as per The Block. This comes days after shutting down accounts belonging to Strike CEO Jack Mallers, adding to concerns over renewed “crypto debanking” in the US.
Morgan, who operates a workstream entity within ShapeShift’s DAO structure, said he received a text saying the bank “needed more information” and that his account was at risk due to “concerning activity”. And then he was locked out of online banking minutes later.
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JPMorgan’s Deliberate and Strange Actions
Morgan said he was passed between several support desks, only to be received by a representative identified only as “Andre”, which told him the bank was “discontinuing business” with him to “protect the financial institution of Chase,” without offering specific reasons or a path to appeal.
The business account, used for 30–50 transactions a month for marketing-related payments, held an estimated US$40,000 (AU$61,200) before being frozen, according to Morgan. He said he then moved funds from his still-active personal account after being warned it would be closed the following week.
The move follows Mallers’ claim that JPMorgan Chase closed his accounts and rejected some deposits to Strike, allegedly telling customers the company “participates in fraudulent activities”, according to a report by Yahoo Finance.
It was bizarre. My dad has been a private client there for 30+ years. Every time I asked them why, they said the same thing: ‘We aren’t allowed to tell you’.
Jack Mallers, CEO of Strike.Recently, JPMorgan caused an outrage in the crypto community by warning that Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) could be excluded from the bank’s major equity indices in 2026. Many crypto and Bitcoin supporters called for a boycott.
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