SVB crisis: Here are the crypto firms denying exposure to troubled US banks
3 min read
Amid the ongoing United States banking crisis, several major cryptocurrency firms have denied exposure to dissolved U.S. banks like Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).
As potential implications of the SVB crisis for the crypto market continue to unfold, Cointelegraph highlighted several major crypto firms that have declared to be unaffected by the issues so far.
Tether
Tether, the operator of the eponymous U.S. dollar-pegged stablecoin, Tether (USDT), was one of the first companies to deny exposure to SVB and other troubled U.S. banks as of mid-March.
On March 12, Tether chief technology officer Paolo Ardoino took to Twitter to announce that the stablecoin company has zero exposure to Signature Bank. The tweet came soon after Signature officially shut down operations the same day.
Ardoino previously said that Tether had no exposure to SVB on March 10. The chief technology officer posted a similar tweet about Silvergate on March 2, declaring that Tether did not have “any exposure” to the bank.
Tether’s USDT is the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, with a market value of $73 billion at the time of writing. Its biggest rival, USD Coin (USDC), briefly lost its 1:1 peg with the U.S. dollar after its issuer, Circle, could not withdraw $3.3 billion in reserves from SVB.
Crypto.com, Gemini, BitMEX
Kris Marszalek, CEO of major cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com, provided similar statements on the company being unaffected by the ongoing issues in U.S. banking.
In subsequent tweets on March 10 and March 12, Marszalek declared that Crypto.com had zero exposure to Signature, Silvergate and SVB.
https://t.co/pFc4Pz9nFR has $0 exposure to Signature Bank. https://t.co/TG2h7HyXE9
— Kris | Crypto.com (@kris) March 13, 2023
Other major exchanges, including Gemini and BitMEX, have also denied any exposure to the dissolved U.S. banks.
Despite having a partnership with Signature, Winklevoss brothers-founded Gemini exchange has zero customer funds and zero Gemini dollar (GUSD) funds held at the bank, the firm announced on March 13.
Gemini emphasized that all customer U.S. dollars and its GUSD reserves are held at banks like JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and State Street Bank.
2/ All Gemini customer U.S. dollars are held at JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and State Street Bank.
— Gemini (@Gemini) March 13, 2023
BitMEX exchange also took to Twitter on March 13 to announce that the company had “no direct exposure” to Silvergate, SVB or Signature. “All user funds continue to be safe and accessible 24/7/365,” BitMEX added.
Related: Ripple CEO assures ‘strong financial position’ despite SVB collapse
Exchanges like Binance and Kraken have partly denied exposure to the dissolved banks, with Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao stating that Binance does not have assets at Silvergate, and former Kraken CEO Jesse Powell also denying exposure to SVB.
Argo Blockchain
Bitcoin mining firm Argo Blockchain issued a statement on March 13, declaring that the company has no direct or indirect exposure to SVB and Silvergate Bank.
However, the company said that one of Argo’s subsidiaries holds a “portion of its operating funds in cash deposits” at Signature. “These deposits are secure and are not at risk,” Argo noted, citing a decision by the U.S. Treasury and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to rescue customer deposits at the bank.
A number of other firms, including Animoca Brands, Abra and Alchemy Pay, have partly denied exposure to the troubled U.S. banks, stating that they had no assets at SBV and Silvergate.
Some companies, like crypto custodian BitGo, declared it holds no assets at SVB while being “not impacted” by issues at Silvergate, USDC and Signature Bank.
