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Home > Law of Code > #183 - Transaction Denied: Rainey Reitman on Financial Censorship
Podcast: Law of Code
Episode:

#183 - Transaction Denied: Rainey Reitman on Financial Censorship
Category: Technology
Duration: 00:27:59
Publish Date: 2026-04-07 09:00:00
Description:

What are the risks of allowing financial institutions to cut off access to the economy for lawful but controversial activity?

Rainey Reitman is a civil liberties advocate and the author of Transaction Denied, a comprehensive investigation into debanking, financial censorship, and the growing role of financial institutions in regulating speech. She previously worked at the Electronic Frontier Foundation and co-founded the Freedom of the Press Foundation.


Timestamps:

➡️ 1:20 — Why cash functions as a civil liberty (privacy + censorship resistance)
➡️ 3:21 — What inspired Transaction Denied and early experiences with debanking
➡️ 5:20 — The Chelsea Manning Support Network PayPal freeze
➡️ 8:27 — Operation Chokepoint and the rise of financial censorship
➡️ 11:25 — “Banking while Muslim” and over-compliance with sanctions
➡️ 15:08 — The Patriot Act and incentives for financial surveillance
➡️ 17:12 — Financial intermediaries and the power to block transactions
➡️ 17:48 — Bitcoin, custodians, and whether crypto solves debanking
➡️ 19:33 — Why financial censorship affects everyone—not just targeted groups
➡️ 21:58 — NRA v. Vullo and the limits of government pressure on banks


Sponsor: Day One Law, a boutique corporate law firm founded by Nick Pullman. Nick and his team at Day One provide strategic legal counsel to startups, crypto projects, and Web3 innovators. ⁠You can get in contact with them via this link⁠: ⁠⁠https://www.dayonelaw.xyz/#contact


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