Following the financial crisis, Crypto-focused bank Silvergate is ceasing business and liquidating.
Silvergate Capital, a crypto sector lender, is winding down operations and liquidating its bank. Along with New York-based Signature Bank, the company has functioned as one of the two main banks for crypto startups.
Silvergate has slightly more than $11 billion in assets, while Signature has more than $114 billion. Silvergate’s biggest customer was the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
The company thinks that an orderly winding down of bank activities and voluntary liquidation of the bank is the wisest course of action. All deposits will be reimbursed in full, and Centerview Partners will serve as Silvergate’s financial advisor, with Cravath, Swaine & Moore providing legal counsel.
The liquidation comes less than a week after Silvergate ceased operations of its payments network, the Silvergate Exchange Network, which was regarded as one of its major businesses.
As the company goes down, all other deposit-related services remain active. Coinbase and Galaxy Digital were among the first to terminate connections with Silvergate after the bank warned that it was doubtful whether it could continue to operate.
Silvergate has been struggling for months, with an almost $1 billion net loss in the fourth quarter following the end-of-year rush. Silvergate had to sell $5.2 billion in debt instruments to cover the withdrawals.
The firm sought an additional $4.3 billion from the Federal Home Loan Bank, attracting the attention of lawmakers such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who stated that this “further introduced crypto market risk into the traditional banking system.”