The First Republic Bank saw its shares drop 50% on Tuesday after reporting an exodus of deposits. The San Francisco-headquartered bank recorded $102 billion in deposit outflows during the first quarter of the year, sparking fears that it can become the third bank failure in the US, following the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank at the beginning of March.
After the stock market opened on Wednesday, the New York Stock Exchange halted trading in the bank’s stock, but not before it plunged another 39%. According to CNBC, First Republic pitched a rescue plan that would involve the government purchasing bonds from the bank at above-market prices. For now, the government isn’t willing to step in.
“First Republic Bank is down another 35% and falling fast. If this was a ‘crypto’ bank, it would have been assassinated weeks ago. The fact that it hasn't been taken into receivership shows just how blatant the double standard is,” Gemini’s Cameron Winklevoss tweeted.
Amid the biggest banking turmoil since 2008, Bitcoin is increasingly viewed by many as a safe haven asset, currently trading at $29,800, up almost 10% over the last 24 hours, as per data from DigitalCoinPrice. The Block estimates that over $60 million in Bitcoin shorts were liquidated, with Binance and OKX experiencing the most volume.
