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Fintech (financial technology)
Fintech stepping in where traditional banks have stepped out
In early 2023, the CEO of a thriving CBD company in Colorado opened their laptop to a gut punch: their bank had shut down the company’s account. No warning. No appeals. Just a dead end—and a scramble to meet payroll, pay vendors, and stay afloat.
This isn’t some fringe example. Across the U.S., thousands of legal businesses wear the “high-risk” label and are quietly excluded from basic financial services—not because of any wrongdoing, but simply the industries they operate in: cannabis, firearms, crypto, adult content. And few face steeper barriers than cannabis businesses. Even with state-level legalization and proper licensing, most are relegated to bare-bones banking. The full financial stack—lending, investing, credit cards—remains out of reach due to federal prohibition and institutional risk aversion.
The result? A $100 billion bottleneck—anchored in cannabis but rippling across crypto, firearms, and adult content. It’s a structural failure rooted in unresolved legal contradictions—perpetuating stigma, entrenching guilt by association, undermining public safety, and blocking financial inclusion. The current administration can right the system—limiting illicit behavior, bringing more activity into the open, and unlocking the economic potential trapped in regulatory purgatory.
Legal but Locked Out
These businesses aren't operating in the shadows. They're licensed, regulated, taxed, and often major employers. But legal status doesn’t guarantee financial access. In fact, for many of them, it comes with a penalty.
Cannabis is the clearest example. Legal in 38 states but still federally prohibited, the industry operates in a legal no man’s land. “We don’t bank marijuana companies because there’s no federal law around it. If there’s a federal law, we probably would,” said JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon in early 2025—a rare moment of candor that makes the hesitation clear: it’s not moral; it’s legal. Credit card networks like Visa and Mastercard still won’t touch cannabis, forcing dispensaries into cash-heavy operations or “cashless ATM” workarounds—coded transactions that mimic ATM withdrawals, a tactic now drawing increased regulatory scrutiny.
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