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SEBA Bank secures in-principle nod for crypto services in Hong Kong

SEBA Hong Kong’s approval joins a flurry of regulated crypto activity that’s taken place over the past month.

The Hong Kong arm of crypto-friendly Swiss bank SEBA Bank has received in-principle approval from the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission (SFC) allowing it to deal in virtual assets.

On Aug. 30, SEBA Hong Kong said its in-principle approved license would allow it to operate with crypto products such as over-the-counter derivatives, advise on virtual assets and conduct asset management for discretionary accounts in virtual assets.

Speaking to Cointelegraph the Asia-Pacific CEO of SEBA Hong Kong Amy Yu said Hong Kong provides enormous potential due to the SFC’s virtual asset regulatory framework and the city’s legal system.

Yu added while China has a crypto trading ban, Hong Kong is “well-positioned to tap into the Chinese market when it opens up” as its in a strategic location in being close to the mainland, while also being a Special Administrative Region of China.

“Hong Kong may once again serve as a gateway to China, delivering the significant potential of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology.”

On its decision to pursue a local license, Yu said SEBA received inquiries from crypto companies who had “difficulty in accessing and managing their digital assets holdings via traditional providers” along with interest from private wealth and family offices.

In Switzerland, SEBA Bank offers both traditional banking and crypto services such as trading, staking, lending and custody.

Related: ‘Breakthrough growth’ will be driven by Web3: Hong Kong financial secretary

SEBA’s approval in principle comes amid a flurry of regulated crypto activity in Hong Kong.

Crypto exchange HashKey — the first exchange in Hong Kong to get regulatory clearance — was reported to begin offering retail trading in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) on Aug. 28.

Its peer trading platform OSL also received the SFC’s approval to offer retail trading. HashKey and OSL are currently the only two fully licensed exchanges in Hong Kong.

That may soon change as on Aug. 11 the Hong Kong Virtual Asset Exchange (HKVAX) was given in-principle approval from the SFC to operate a crypto trading platform.

Magazine: Asia Express: China’s risky Bitcoin court decision, is Huobi in trouble or not?

Whales Abruptly Accumulate Over $346,000,000 Worth of Top-10 Altcoin in Just One Week, Says Analyst

Cameron Winklevoss claims regulatory double standards over banking crisis

The CEO of Gemini says things would’ve been handled differently if First Republic was a "crypto" bank.

Cameron Winklevoss, the co-founder, and CEO of New York-headquartered crypto exchange Gemini, has accused U.S. regulators of perpetrating double standards in handling the First Republic Bank crisis. 

According to Winkelvoss, if First Republic had been a “crypto bank” it would have been “assassinated weeks ago.”

It is important to note that First Republic initially began experiencing “structural challenges” with its balance sheet at the time that Silicon Valley Investment Bank and Silvergate Bank were being closed down by federal regulators or winding down operations. 

Winklevoss’s claims align with a series of recent letters penned by three Republican members of the United States House of Representatives Financial Services Committee in an attempt to seek further information on possible coordinated efforts taken against crypto companies operating on U.S. soil.

According to a report from CNBC on April 26, the advisors to First Republic will now seek to coax larger U.S. banking institutions — which have already sent the embattled firm more than $30 billion — into providing more financial aid due to the government refusing to take the bank into receivership. 

Both Silvergate and Silicon Valley Bank were taken into government receivership on March 8 and March 10 respectively.

Advisors at First Republic reportedly said that the current private market solution to the firm’s liquidity problems would see the bank remain in operation. However, government receivership is being referred to as the “closed-bank” scenario.

Charles Gasparino, Senior Correspondent at Fox News informed his 160,000 Twitter followers on April 26 that the “private bailout” is being pushed by the U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen who doesn’t want to bail out depositors with government funds as they did with Silvergate and Silicon Valley Bank.

Related: First Republic Bank dives another 20% with Bitcoin ‘ready for $40K’

Things came to a head for First Republic on Monday, April 23, when the beleaguered firm reported in its Q1 earnings call that total deposits had plummeted by more than $100 billion. The firm stated that it would be “pursuing strategic options” to strengthen its financial standing as quickly as possible.

Since Monday, shares in First Republic Bank have collapsed more than 64%, falling from $16.14 to just $5.68 at the time of writing.

First Republic Bank share price since Feb. 2, 2023. Source: TradingView.

The downfall of First Republic Bank is believed to be providing a tailwind for investment into Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, as investors grow increasingly distrustful of centralized banking institutions.

At the time of writing Bitcoin (BTC) was trading for $29,279 up 7% over the last seven days according to data from the Cointelegraph Price Index.

Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom

Whales Abruptly Accumulate Over $346,000,000 Worth of Top-10 Altcoin in Just One Week, Says Analyst

Fantom (FTM) Founder Andre Cronje Drops Hint About New Crypto Bank

Fantom (FTM) Founder Andre Cronje Drops Hint About New Crypto Bank

Fantom (FTM) co-founder Andre Cronje is teasing the launch of a new cryptocurrency-friendly bank later this year. Cronje tells his 384,500 Twitter followers that a bank providing crypto-related financial services may launch later this year. “Need a card, or just payments infrastructure? If the latter, I can add you to our closed beta. If card, […]

The post Fantom (FTM) Founder Andre Cronje Drops Hint About New Crypto Bank appeared first on The Daily Hodl.

Whales Abruptly Accumulate Over $346,000,000 Worth of Top-10 Altcoin in Just One Week, Says Analyst

Multiple Silvergate lawsuits over alleged FTX ties combined by judge

Plaintiffs seeking damages from Silvergate’s collapse have joined forces with their respective lawsuits.

A California judge has combined three investor lawsuits against defunct crypto bank Silvergate Bank involving the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.

On April 19, United States District Judge Jacqueline Scott Corley of the Northern District of California ruled that the three lawsuits would be consolidated. Each accuses Silvergate of helping to facilitate investor fraud by the collapsed crypto exchange FTX.

The three cases were brought against Silvergate by four former investors. They will remain separate from other federal cases against FTX and its founder Sam Bankman-Fried but will be combined by mutual agreement of the litigants, according to an April 19 report from Law360.

The order stated:

“The Silvergate cases involve common questions of law and fact, as they name common defendants, arise from the same alleged course of conduct, and assert overlapping causes of action, such that the Silvergate cases are appropriate for consolidation.”

Matson Magleby, Golam Sakline, Nicole Keane, and Sonam Bhatia filed the trio of suits in February.

The plaintiffs allege that Silvergate aided and abetted FTX’s alleged misconduct. Actions included processing illegitimate transfers of FTX customer funds to its sister trading firm Alameda Research.

Silvergate disclosed its plans to “voluntarily liquidate” assets and shut down operations in early March following a bank run. Additionally, the bank was hit with a class-action suit in January for securities law violations.

FTX filed for bankruptcy in November last year and its collapse and the resultant crypto market crash created liquidity problems for Silvergate.

Related: What does the Silvergate collapse mean for crypto?

In a related development, New York state’s financial regulator has said that the collapse of Signature Bank was caused by a run from a broad base of depositors across business sectors, not crypto.

Crypto-friendly Signature Bank was seized by federal regulators in March.

In a House Financial Services Committee hearing on stablecoins on April 18, New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) Superintendent Adrienne Harris said “it is a misnomer that the failure of Signature Bank was related to crypto.”

According to an April 19 Bloomberg report, she said that depositors including wholesale food vendors, fiduciaries, trust accounts and law firms left the bank and caused the run.

Magazine: Unstablecoins: Depegging, bank runs and other risks loom

Whales Abruptly Accumulate Over $346,000,000 Worth of Top-10 Altcoin in Just One Week, Says Analyst

Swiss State-Owned Banking Giant Postfinance to Offer Crypto Services

Swiss State-Owned Banking Giant Postfinance to Offer Crypto ServicesPostfinance, one of Switzerland’s largest retail banks, will offer customers access to major cryptocurrencies and related services. The state-owned financial institution will be using the banking platform developed by the Swiss-licensed digital asset bank Sygnum. Postfinance Partners With Sygnum to Provide Digital Asset Products and Services The financial services unit of the national postal service […]

Whales Abruptly Accumulate Over $346,000,000 Worth of Top-10 Altcoin in Just One Week, Says Analyst

Coinbase, Celsius and Paxos disclose funds in Signature Bank

The crypto-friendly Signature Bank was a key partner for many crypto firms, some which have been voluntarily disclosing their exposure to the recently closed firm.

Crypto exchange Coinbase, crypto lender Celsius and stablecoin issuer Paxos are among the crypto firms with funds reportedly tied up with the now-shuttered Signature Bank. 

The crypto-friendly Signature Bank was shut down by New York regulators on March 12 in conjunction with the United States Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to “protect the U.S. economy,” as they claimed the bank posed a “systemic risk.”

Crypto exchange Coinbase tweeted on March 12 that it had around $240 million in corporate funds at Signature that it expected would be fully recovered.

Stablecoin issuer and crypto firm Paxos also came forward, tweeting it had $250 million held at the bank but added it held private insurance that covers the amount not covered by the standard FDIC insurance of $250,000 per depositor.

The Celsius Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, a body that represents the interests of account holders at the bankrupt crypto lender Celsius, added that Signature Bank “held some of its funds” but did not disclose the amount.

It added that “all depositors will be made whole.”

As Signature Bank serviced so many firms in the crypto industry, those firms with no exposure equally came forward to quell fears about their related exposures.

Robbie Ferguson, co-founder of Web3 game development platform Immutable X, and Mitch Liu, co-founder of the media-focused Theta Network blockchain, separately tweeted that both of their respective companies had no exposure to Signature.

Related: Biden vows to hold those responsible for SVB, Signature collapse

Crypto exchange Crypto.com also reported in a March 12 tweet by CEO Kris Marszalek that it had no funds in the bank

The chief technology officer of stablecoin firm Tether, Paolo Ardoino, similarly tweeted Tether’s non-exposure to Signature Bank.

The announcement of Signature Bank’s forced closure aligned with other banking-related announcements by U.S. regulators.

The Federal Reserve said the FDIC was approved to take actions to protect depositors at Silicon Valley Bank, a tech-startup-focused bank that experienced liquidity issues due to a bank run that spread contagion to the crypto sector.

The Fed also announced a $25 billion program to ensure ample liquidity for banks to cover the needs of their customers during times of turbulence.

Whales Abruptly Accumulate Over $346,000,000 Worth of Top-10 Altcoin in Just One Week, Says Analyst

US bank woes? Silicon Valley Bank stocks plunge 1 day after Silvergate downfall

Concerns have been raised around the financial health of the tech-focused bank, which services the likes of crypto-friendly VCs such as Sequoia and a16z.

Fears have been heightened over the future of another United States bank this week after Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) announced a significant sale of assets and stocks aimed at raising additional capital.

However, some investors may be concerned that not all is well at the tech startup and VC-focused bank, particularly given the closure of crypto bank Silvergate just a day earlier. Shares in Silicon Valley Bank collapsed over 60%, wiping some $80 billion in value from the bank’s shares.

SVB is one of the top 20 largest banks in the United States and provides banking services to the likes of crypto-friendly venture firms Sequoia and Andreessen Horowitz (a16z).

In a March 8 financial update, it disclosed it sold $21 billion worth of its securities holdings for a $1.8 billion loss to shore up its balance sheet.

It also raised $500 million from venture firm General Atlantic and is seeking to raise another $1.75 billion in sales of its shares, for a total of $2.25 billion.

It said the sale was made as it expects “continued higher interest rates, pressured public and private markets, and elevated cash burn levels from our clients as they invest in their businesses.”

The release of the financials, however, plunged SVB’s stock price by 60% on March 9, according to Google Finance, with investors concerned about the bank’s financial position. It’s also seen a further 23% decline in after-hours trading.

SVB’s five-day chart shows the sharp one-day price decline from around $265 to trading at nearly $80 after hours on March 9. Source: Google Finance

According to a March 9 report from The Information, SVB chief Greg Becker told investors to “stay calm” and said the bank has “ample liquidity to support our clients with one exception: If everyone is telling each other SVB is in trouble, that would be a challenge.”

In a stakeholder letter, Becker reaffirmed that the bank was “well-capitalized,” with “one of the lowest loan-to-deposit ratios of any bank of our size” and expects to reinvest the capital from the sale into “more asset-sensitive, short-term” securities.

Many have shared concerns regarding the potential knock-on effect if SVB’s clients were to instigate a bank run.

On Twitter, founders and tech executives however aired their support for the bank and urged others not to panic. 

Mark Suster of Upfront Ventures tweeted on March 9 that “more in the VC community need to speak out publicly to quell the panic about [SVB].”

“I believe they could only fail if everybody panics so I would urge calm decisions based on facts,” he added.

Reacting to the news, Zak Kukoff, principal at VC firm General Catalyst, said the bank had “consistently gone out of their way” for startups, adding that “now is the right time to support them.”

Related: Silvergate downfall sparks debate over whose fault it actually was

The uncertainty over SVB follows only a day after Silvergate said it would “wind down operations” and liquidate its crypto-friendly bank.

In a March 8 announcement, Silvergate Capital Corporation said the decision to shutter operations was “in light of recent industry and regulatory developments.”

Silvergate was one of the major banking partners for many crypto firms but concerns about its solvency emerged following an announcement it would delay the filing of its annual 10-K report by two weeks. The document provides an overview of a company’s financial situation. 

Whales Abruptly Accumulate Over $346,000,000 Worth of Top-10 Altcoin in Just One Week, Says Analyst

Silvergate downfall sparks debate over whose fault it actually was

The demise of the crypto-friendly bank has prompted discussion about who tipped the first domino, and where crypto firms can turn for their banking needs.

The voluntary liquidation of Silvergate Bank has sparked many to share their thoughts about the source of its troubles and the broader impact of the crypto-friendly bank’s collapse on crypto. 

From lawmakers to crypto analysts, crypto firm executives to commentators — nearly everyone’s had something to say regarding the recent announcement from Silvergate.

Some United States lawmakers have used the moment to make a comment about the state of the crypto industry, labeling it a “risky, volatile sector,” which “spreads risk across the financial system.”

Senator Elizabeth Warren called Silvergate’s failure “disappointing, but predictable,” calling for regulators to “step up against crypto risk.”

Senator Sherrod Brown also chimed in, sharing his concern that banks that get involved with crypto are putting the financial system at risk and reaffirming his desire to “establish strong safeguards for our financial system from the risks of crypto.”

The senators’ remarks have sparked criticism from the community, some of whom argue it was not a crypto problem and that fractional-reserve banking was to blame — as Silvergate held far more in-demand deposits compared to cash on hand.

Several companies have instead used the recent announcement from Silvergate to reiterate their lack of or now-severed ties with the firm.

Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao assured customers on Twitter that the crypto exchange does not have assets stored with Silvergate, while peer exchange Coinbase has also assured its followers that no customer funds were held by the bank.

Meanwhile, Nic Carter, co-founder of venture firm Castle Island and crypto intelligence firm Coin Metrics, suggested that it was the government that “hastened the collapse” of Silvergate by launching investigations and legal attacks on it.

“They’re the arsonist and the firefighter in one,” he wrote.

The CEO of financial services firm Lumida — Ram Ahluwalia — had a similar take, arguing in a tweet that Silvergate faced a bank run after a senator’s letter had undermined public trust in the firm. He saidthat “Silvergate was denied due process.”

Related: Marathon Digital terminates credit facilities with Silvergate Bank

In an earlier blog post, Carter referred to “Operation Choke Point 2.0” as being underway, claiming that the U.S. government is using the banking sector to organize “a sophisticated, widespread crackdown against the crypto industry.”

Others believe the collapse of Silvergate won’t necessarily hurt the crypto industry, but along with proposed changes to tax laws, would exacerbate the exodus of crypto firms from the U.S.

With Silvergate winding down, some have also asked where crypto firms will turn to now.

Coinbase, which previously accepted payments via Silvergate, announced on March 3 that it would facilitate institutional client cash transactions for its prime customers with its other banking partner, Signature Bank.

Signature Bank, however, announced in December that it intended to reduce its exposure to the crypto sector by reducing deposits from clients holding digital assets.

To further reduce its crypto exposure, on Jan. 21 Signature imposed a minimum transaction limit of $100,000 on transactions it would process through the SWIFT payment system on behalf of crypto exchange Binance.

Whales Abruptly Accumulate Over $346,000,000 Worth of Top-10 Altcoin in Just One Week, Says Analyst

White House ‘aware of the situation’ at Silvergate, says spokeswoman

The spokeswoman said that she won’t be commenting specifically on Silvergate, but the White House will be actively monitoring the situation.

The Biden Administration is “aware of the situation” at Silvergate and will continue to monitor reports on the troubled bank as it unfolds, according to a White House spokesperson.

Speaking at a press briefing on March 6, Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said the White House has noted that Silvergate marked another major crypto firm to "experience significant issues" in recent months, but declined to go into any further specifics on the firm.

"In recent weeks banking regulators have released guidelines on how banks should protect themselves from risks associated with crypto," she said, adding that:

"This is a president that has repeatedly called on Congress to take action to protect everyday Americans from the risk posted by digital assets and he will continue to do so. We won’t speak to this particular company as we have not with other cryptocurrency companies, but we will continue to monitor the reports."

Silvergate, known as a “crypto bank” was a key banking partner to a number of major crypto companies and projects.

However, uncertainty over the bank’s solvency began to spread at the start of March, after Silvergate delayed the filing of its annual 10-K report by two weeks. A 10-K report is a legally required document that provides a comprehensive overview of a company’s business and financial condition.

On the back of that news, Coinbase announced on March 2 that it had terminated its partnership with Silvergate, as the crypto exchange also alluded to concerns over the Department of Justice’s investigation into the firm over involvement in the FTX collapse.

Several crypto heavyweights promptly followed suit by either cutting ties or distancing themselves from the bank, including Circle, Paxos, Bitstamp, Galaxy, MicroStrategy and Tether to name a few.

On March 4, Silvergate also announced that it was shutting down its digital asset payment network Silvergate Exchange Network due to “risk-based” concerns, sparking further uncertainty over the firm’s financials.

Related: Investor concerns persist as crypto investment products see 4th week of outflows

As a result, Silvergate's stock price (SI) has plummeted roughly 60% since Mar. 1, while the total combined market cap of crypto has dropped around 5.5% to $1.072 trillion in that same time frame.

Speaking with CNBC on March. 6, economist and author of the Crypto is Macro Now newsletter Noelle Acheson, suggested that if Silverbank were to file for bankruptcy, it could give regulators a far greater excuse to clamp down on crypto than before, given the bank’s ties to traditional finance.

“Up until now we’ve been able to say that the fallout of everything that happened last year was contained within the crypto industry – painful, but contained,” said Acheson, adding that:

“If Silvergate goes under then the regulators will be able to say ‘aha, systemic risk, we told you so.’ That will give them even more ammunition to go after crypto and increase their choke on fiat access for crypto businesses.”

Whales Abruptly Accumulate Over $346,000,000 Worth of Top-10 Altcoin in Just One Week, Says Analyst

MicroStrategy, Tether adds to firms distancing from Silvergate as stock dives 57%

MicroStrategy confirmed that none of its 130,000 BTC is custodied by Silvergate. However, the firm does have a loan to pay off to the bank by Q1 2025.

Business intelligence firm MicroStrategy and stablecoin issuer Tether have become the latest two firms to publicly deny any meaningful exposure to Silvergate Bank.

The news comes after Silvergate announced on March 1 that it would postpone the filing of its annual 10-K financial report, which has many fearing the cryptocurrency bank may be on the brink of a bankruptcy filing.

This led MicroStrategy — which holds over 130,000 Bitcoin (BTC) — to confirm that its BTC collateral is not custodied with Silvergate.

The Michael Saylor-founded firm added that it will not need to pay back a loan from Silvergate until Q1 2025 and that a bankruptcy or insolvency event wouldn’t “accelerate” the loan repayment.

Paolo Ardoino, the chief technology officer of Tether, confirmed in a March 2 tweet that Tether is not exposed to Silvergate either.

A collapse of the cryptocurrency bank could prove costly for the rest of the industry.

Silvergate is a fintech firm that provides financial infrastructure solutions and services to some of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, institutional investors and mining companies in the world.

It offers a 24/7 payments platform, named Silvergate Exchange Network, which has reportedly processed over $1 trillion in transactions since 2017.

The firm also provides a stablecoin infrastructure platform, digital asset custody management and collateralized lending services to several institutional players in the cryptocurrency industry.

A diagram of Silvergate’s clientele and crypto offerings. Source: Silvergate Bank

Despite the large network effects, the late 10-K filing appears to have had a consequential effect on its partnerships.

Within 24 hours of the late 10-K filing, Coinbase, Circle, Bitstamp, Galaxy Digital and Paxos confirmed that they will scale back their partnerships with the cryptocurrency bank in some capacity.

Gemini also announced that it has stopped accepting customer deposits and processing withdrawals through Silvergate ACH and wire transfers.

Others who have seemingly cut or reduced ties include Crypto.com, Blockchain.com, Wintermute, GSR and Cboe Digital, according to reports. 

Concerns of Silvergate’s potential financial troubles first surfaced in Q4 2022, when it reported a net loss of $1 billion as a result of the shock collapse of FTX in November.

Related: Coinbase no longer accepts payments via Silvergate Bank

The exact dealings between Silvergate and FTX have been subject to a probe by the United States Department of Justice recently, although there’s been no accusation of wrongdoing at this point.

Plaintiffs in a newly proposed class-action lawsuit against FTX on Feb. 14 accused Silvergate of “aiding and abetting” a “multibillion-dollar fraudulent scheme” that was orchestrated by former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.

Despite many firms recently claiming not to have exposure to Silvergate, the bank still processed over $3.8 billion in customer deposits in Q4 2022. This was a steep fall from $11.9 billion in Q3 2022, according to Silvergate.

Silvergate’s change in share price index on the New York Stock Exchange. Source: MarketWatch.

Since the news of the late 10-K filing on March 1, Silvergate’s stock price has fallen a massive 58.7% to $5.57. The stock is now down over 97% since its all-time high of $219.7, hit on Nov. 14, 2021.

Whales Abruptly Accumulate Over $346,000,000 Worth of Top-10 Altcoin in Just One Week, Says Analyst