Amid the ongoing US banking crisis, several major cryptocurrency firms have denied any exposure to dissolved US banks like Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).
As the possible implications of the SVB crisis for the cryptocurrency market continue to developCointelegraph highlighted several major cryptocurrency firms that have declared themselves unaffected by the issues thus far.
Tether
Tether, the operator of the eponymous US dollar-pegged stablecoin Tether (USDT), was one of the first firms to deny its exposure to SVB and other struggling US banks in mid-March.
On March 12, Tether CTO Paolo Ardoino advertisement on Twitter that the stablecoin company has no relationship with Signature Bank. The tweet came shortly after Signature will officially close its operations that same day.
Ardoino previously said that Tether did not have any exposure to SVB on March 10. The CTO posted a similar tweet about Silvergate on March 2, stating that Tether had “no exposure” to the bank.
Tether’s USDT is the largest stablecoin by market capitalization, with a market value of $73 billion at press time. Its biggest rival, USD Coin (USDC), briefly lost its peg to the US dollar after its issuer, Circle, was unable to withdraw $3.3bn in reserve deposits at SVB.
Crypto.com, Gemini, BitMEX
Kris Marszalek, CEO of popular cryptocurrency exchange Crypto.com, made similar remarks saying that the company had not been affected by the current US banking woes.
In subsequent tweets on March 10 and 12, Marszalek stated 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 such as Gemini and BitMEX have also denied any exposure to the dissolved US banks.
Despite having a partnership with Signature, the Gemini exchange, founded by the Winklevoss brothers, has zero client funds and zero Gemini dollar (GUSD) funds in the bank, advertisement the company on March 13.
Gemini noted that all of its clients’ US dollars and GUSD reserves are held at banks such as JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and State Street Bank.
2/ All Gemini customer US dollars are held at JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, and State Street Bank.
— Gemini (@Gemini) March 13, 2023
BitMEX also took to Twitter on March 13 to announce that the company had “no direct exposure” to Silvergate, SVB or Signature. “All user funds remain secure and accessible 24/7/365,” BitMEX added.
Exchanges like Binance and Kraken have partly denied exposure to the dissolved banks, with Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao affirming that Binance has no assets in Silvergate, and former Kraken CEO Jesse Powell also denying exposure to SVB.
Argo Blockchain
Bitcoin mining company, Argo Blockchain, issued a statement on March 13, stating that the company has no direct or indirect exposure to SVB and Silvergate Bank.
However, the company noted that one of Argo’s subsidiaries maintains a “portion of its operating funds in cash deposits” at Signature. “These deposits are safe and not at risk,” Argo said, citing a decision by the US Treasury and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) from rescue customer deposits in the bank.
Other companies, such as Animoca Brands, Abra, and Alchemy Pay, have denied in part its exposure to struggling US banks, claiming they held no assets in either SBV or Silvergate.
Some companies, such as crypto custodian BitGo, declared that they do not have assets in SVB and that they have not been affected by the problems of Silvergate, USDC and Signature Bank.
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