Crypto company failures not covered by federal insurance, FDIC says

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) protection does not apply to crypto company failures, according to a new fact sheet released by the agency on Friday.

“Some crypto companies have misrepresented to consumers that crypto products are eligible for FDIC deposit insurance coverage,” the FDIC said in a press release. “These sorts of statements are inaccurate and can cause consumer confusion about deposit insurance and harm consumers.

The two-page fact sheet comes a day after the FDIC and the US Federal Reserve issued a joint cease-and-desist letter to crypto firm Voyager Digital over its depository insurance claims. Voyager  suggested to consumers that it is FDIC insured and that customers who invested with Voyager would get FDIC insurance coverage, the letter said. “These representations are false and misleading,” the FIDC and the Federal Reserve wrote. 

FDIC deposit insurance “protects bank depositors in the unlikely event that an FDIC–insured bank fails” and backs depositors up to $250,000. No depositor has “lost a penny” of insured funds since the FDIC began insuring deposits in 1934. 

Deposit insurance does not apply to a non-bank failure, such as by a crypto company, and deposit insurance does not protect consumers with non-deposit products, including stocks, bonds, securities, commodities or crypto assets, among other things. 

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