State California Financial News

USD Coin (USDC) issuer Circle exposure to the United States banking system sits near to $9 billion, according to its latest audit report from January. Circle's reserves are held in a number of regulated financial institutions in the country, including Silvergate, Silicon Valley Bank, and Bank of New York (BNY) Mellon. 

Silicon Valley Bank, a major financial institution for venture-backed companies, was shut down by California’s financial watchdog on March 10 — marking the first Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-insured bank to fail in 2023. 

Silicon Valley Bank was closed down by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation on 10 March, according to a news release by from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

Worker filings for U.S. unemployment benefits jumped last week due to increases in New York and California but remained historically low, as demand for labor outstrips the number of people looking for work.

Worker filings for U.S. unemployment benefits jumped last week due to increases in New York and California but remained historically low, as demand for labor outstrips the number of people looking for work.

Shares of Silvergate Capital (SI) crashed more than 37% at Thursday's market open after the California-based crypto bank said it is shutting down operations and starting the liquidation process.

Silvergate Capital Corp.Shares have plunged roughly 98% from a November 2021 peak, earning bearish bettors about $780 million in mark-to-market profits in the process, including more than $190 million last week alone as questions about Silvergate’s viability surfaced, data from S3 Partners show.Wagers against the stock surged in recent months as crypto contagion spread across the market and setbacks for the bank accumulated. About 85% of Silvergate’s float is sold short, one of the highest rates among US stocks, S3 data show. Traders looking to increase short exposure are now hampered by a severe lack of stock available to borrow and rising financing costs, said Ihor Dusaniwsky, the head of predictive analytics at S3.

Despite a series of high-profile moves by the Securities and Exchange Commission as it seeks to reign in the US Crypto Industry, a new digital asset fund venture could reignite market growth.

A federal judge has refused to consolidate a number of proposed class-action lawsuits against the FTX exchange by investors. According to the judge, the exchange and its defendants have not yet been heard on the matter. 

Silvergate Capital (SI), the San Diego crypto bank under investigation by regulators, said it shut down, sending ripples through an industry that’s been on edge since the collapse of FTX in November. Its shares lost almost half their value.

Crypto-friendly US-based bank Silvergate Bank has begun the voluntary process of liquidation, according to a statement issued by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI). 

According to a Mar. 7 announcement from the University of California San Diego (UCSD), the post-secondary institution has received a 15 million USD Coin (USDC) donation from the Balvi Filantropic Fund. The foundation is currently directed by Ethereum (ETH) co-founder Vitalik Buterin and "is a scientific investment and direct gifting fund for deploying quickly to high-value COVID projects that traditional institutional or commercial funding sources tend to overlook." As told by UCSD, the donation is the largest gift of its kind to a U.S. university and will be used to establish the Meta-Institute for Airborne Disease in a Changing Climate, "The Airborne Institute."

Disclaimer: The Industry Talk section features insights by crypto industry players and is not a part of the editorial content of Cryptonews.com.

The crypto community is debating whether SMS two-factor authentication (2FA) should ever be used for account security following news that a Coinbase customer is suing the cryptocurrency exchange for $96,000.

United States banking regulators have reportedly been sent to Silvergate's headquarters in La Jolla, California — looking for ways to save the crypto-friendly bank from a possible shutdown. 

Shares of cryptocurrency-related firms, including Coinbase Global, Signature Bank, and Ebang International, plunged during premarket trading following Silvergate Capital's decision to discontinue its cryptocurrency payment network, SEN. 

Silvergate has been struggling to stay afloat after the collapse of FTX. (File)

NanoLabs, the company behind digital currency Nano, has filed a legal complaint against Coinbase, a leading crypto exchange, for alleged trademark infringement. According to the complaint filed on February 24, 2023, in the California Northern District Court, NanoLabs has accused Coinbase's Nano Bitcoin futures contract and Nano Ether futures contract products of infringing on its trademark rights.

Prosecutors and attorneys for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried are requesting the disgraced cryptocurrency entrepreneur be allowed a flip-phone or another device thats not a smartphone while on bail.

This time, the counterparty is Silvergate Capital Corp., the bank behind a widely used payments network that facilitates the real-time transfer of money between crypto firms. Silvergate suffered from a run on deposits already last year, triggered by the bankruptcy of its key client FTX. On Wednesday, the bank said it sold more debt holdings at a loss and was reviewing whether it can remain viable. It also indicated it was being investigated by the US Justice Department. That warning prompted swift reactions by crypto exchanges, stablecoin issuers and trading desks. Coinbase Global Inc., Galaxy Digital and Paxos Trust Co. announced that they will no longer accept or initiate payments through Silvergate, as did Gemini Trust Co., Crypto.com and Cboe Clear Digital LLC.

The start of this year brought a glut of assets for sale on the secondary market by institutional investors facing a growing need for cash, but so far buyers have been slow to bite.