Crypto

Here are the crypto firms denying exposure to troubled US banks

03/14/2023
Bitcoin Ethereum News

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 the 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.

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 platform’s customer U.S. dollars, as well as GUSD reserves, are held at banks like JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and State Street Bank.

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 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, one of Argo’s subsidiaries holds a “portion of its operating funds in cash deposits” at Signature, the company said. “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, 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 to hold no assets at SVB, while being “not impacted” by issues at Silvergate, USDC and Signature Bank.