Banks are backing away from crypto companies, spooked by a regulatory crackdown that threatens to sever digital currencies from the real-world financial system.

Banking regulators are raising concerns about banks’ involvement with crypto clients following last year’s blowup of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX. The Securities and Exchange Commission is aggressively pursuing the industry’s bigger players in a crackdown that threatens to narrow their reach. That move has alarmed bankers who don’t want to do business with customers in the SEC’s crosshairs, people familiar with the matter said.

Now bankers are re-evaluating any exposure to the crypto sector, no matter how small, according to people familiar with their thinking. The few smaller banks that got deep into crypto are reducing their exposure to the market or cutting ties altogether. Banks that kept their distance from crypto are trying even harder to stay away, closing accounts and shunning customers with potential connections to the industry.

(By Rachel Louise Ensign and David Benoit)

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