JPMorgan Freezes Stablecoin Firms Tied to Venezuela Sanctions

JPMorgan Chase reportedly froze accounts of stablecoin startups BlindPay and Kontigo over sanctions concerns, with the bank saying the action relates to compliance and customer behavior rather than the firms’ stablecoin activities.

Rich by Coin

2025-12-26

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JPMorgan Chase reportedly froze accounts used by stablecoin startups BlindPay and Kontigo because they did business in Venezuela and other places subject to sanctions or other restrictions. A JPMorgan Chase spokesperson said in the report: “This has nothing to do with stablecoin companies. We bank both stablecoin issuers and stablecoin-related businesses, and we recently took a stablecoin issuer public.” Checkbook CEO PJ Gupta said in the report that BlindPay and Kontigo were among the firms responsible for a sharp rise in chargebacks that led JPMorgan Chase to close their accounts. Gupta added that the chargebacks were caused by new customers of the stablecoin companies.

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Kontigo Co-founder Jesus Castillo said in the report that his company was facing issues through Checkbook and that claims by a not-for-profit group that Kontigo was helping move money out of Venezuela without identification checks were false and that the company had launched legal action against the organization. BlindPay reportedly did not provide comment to The Information.

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JPMorgan Chase reportedly froze accounts used by stablecoin startups BlindPay and Kontigo after they did business in sanctioned countries such as Venezuela. The bank said the move related to sanctions enforcement and customer behavior, not the firms’ stablecoin activities. A JPMorgan spokesperson stated that the action has nothing to do with stablecoin companies, noting that the bank serves both stablecoin issuers and related businesses and recently took a stablecoin issuer public.

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Checkbook CEO PJ Gupta said BlindPay and Kontigo were among the firms responsible for a sharp rise in chargebacks that led JPMorgan to close their accounts, and that the chargebacks were caused by new customers of the stablecoin firms. Kontigo co-founder Jesus Castillo said his company faced issues through Checkbook and that claims by a not-for-profit group that Kontigo was helping move money out of Venezuela without proper identification checks were false, adding that the company had launched legal action against the organization. BlindPay reportedly did not provide comment.