Why You Should (Still) Care About Silvergate

And then there’s Silvergate. Silvergate was never sold, but rather voluntarily liquidated by management. None of its executives have since dared speak up. In early 2023, the SF Fed communicated to them, with the seeming tacit approval of other regulators, that they would have to reduce their crypto deposits to a de minimis share of their overall business. This was fatal to its practice – as over 90% of their deposits related to the crypto space as of Q2 2022. Following the bank run in Dec. 2022-Jan. 2023, Silvergate was still solvent. After all was said and done, they were able to make all depositors whole, even though they were cut off from last-resort liquidity at the FHLB thanks to a pressure campaign from Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA).