During her White House press briefing Monday, Karine Jean-Pierre stated that Biden’s administration is “aware of the situation” regarding the troubled crypto-friendly bank Silvergate Capital and will continue to monitor its reports.
Jean-Pierre declined to comment on the Silvergate specifically, but said that the bank "is obviously only the latest company in the cryptocurrency field to experience significant issues," pointing out to the risks posed by crypto assets to the banking sector.
“In recent weeks, banking regulators have released guidelines on how banks should protect themselves from risks associated with crypto,” the spokeswoman said. “This is a president that has repeatedly called on Congress to take action to protect everyday Americans from the risk posed by digital assets and he will continue to do so. We won’t speak to this particular company as we have not with other cryptocurrency companies, but we will continue to monitor the reports and, clearly, we are aware of this situation.”
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For context, Silvergate postponed its annual 10-K report last week, fueling the uncertainty over its long-term financial health. The bank’s stock dropped more than 40% on Thursday morning, and numerous crypto heavyweights — including Coinbase, LedgerX, Circle, Paxos, and Tether — rushed to cut ties with the troubled company.
On March 4, Silvergate also announced it will suspend its crypto payment infrastructure known as Silvergate Exchange Network, its most popular offering that allowed for round-the-clock transfers between retail investors and cryptocurrency exchanges.
"Effective immediately Silvergate Bank has made a risk-based decision to discontinue the Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN). All other deposit-related services remain operational," the bank said in a statement.
