Silvergate Capital winding down business; will voluntarily liquidate
The company's stock price has fallen over 70% since the start of 2023
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Silvergate Bank will be wound-down and liquidated, the California-based Silvergate Capital said Wednesday.
In a press release, Silvergate said it thought the "best path forward" was the wind-down and voluntary liquidation, citing "recent industry and regulatory developments." It is "considering how best to resolve claims and preserve the residual value of its assets" such as proprietary technology and tax assets, the company said.
"The Bank's wind down and liquidation plan includes full repayment of all deposits," Silvergate said in the release.
Speculation about Silvergate's future had arisen the prior week following the publicly-traded company on March 1 indicating in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing it was assessing whether or not it had the "ability to continue as a going concern." Silvergate Capital describes itself as the "leading provider of innovative financial infrastructure solutions and services for the digital assets industry."
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In the March 1 SEC filing providing notification it didn’t expect its annual report to be submitted by mid-March, the company said certain events had happened since the end of 2022 that it anticipated "will negatively impact the timing and the unaudited results previously reported in the earnings release." Those included selling "additional investment securities" for repaying "outstanding advances" from the Federal Home Loan Bank of San Francisco as well as selling "additional debt securities" in January and February, it said
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The day after it submitted the filing, some crypto companies – prompted by the news about the bank – started backing away from Silvergate.
Its Silvergate Exchange Network shuttered late last week. The bank said Wednesday "all other deposit-related services" are continuing to operate amid shutting down.
Cryptocurrency mixing platform, Tornado Cash, has been hit with US sanctions over allegations of money laundering. Cryptocurrency Illistration picture taken on Jan. 24, 2022. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration / Reuters)
In January, the company said it had experienced "significant outflows of deposits" in the fourth quarter, referencing bankruptcies in the sector that impacted crypto investor confidence. FTX, which Silvergate has faced lawmaker questions in connection to, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November.
Representations of cryptocurrencies plunge into water in this illustration taken, May 23, 2022. (REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo / Reuters Photos)
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Moody’s on Friday announced it had chosen to downgrade Silvergate’s long-term issuer and long-term deposit ratings, pointing to aspects in the bank’s March 1 SEC filing.
As of press time, Silvergate's stock has seen a roughly 71% drop in price since the beginning of 2023 and an over 96% plunge over the past 12 months.