Banking Financial News

A class-action suit was filed against Silvergate Capital, operator of the Silvergate Exchange Network and parent company of Silvergate Bank, in United States District Court of Southern California on Jan. 10. The suit was filed on the behalf of all purchasers of Silvergate securities between November 9, 2021, and January 5, 2023, claiming violations of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

US Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp., the parent company of the New York-based, $6.4 billion-asset-heavy Metropolitan Commercial Bank (MCB), said it would "fully exit the crypto-asset related vertical."

One of the largest Bitcoin mining operations in North America, Marathon Digital Holdings, has shared in an update that it has been experimenting with overclocking to increase its competitive advantage in the Bitcoin mining industry.

For the first time ever, regulators in the United States issued a joint warning to banks about crypto-related risks, prompted by the massive failures of several large crypto companies.

The FTX debacle has triggered a bank run on Silvergate, causing the company to sell off its assets at a loss and cut staff by 40% to cover $8.1 billion worth of customer withdrawals.

United States federal bank regulatory agencies started off the new year with a statement on crypto assets looking back at the troubles of the crypto sector in 2022. The Federal Reserve, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) released a joint statement on Jan. 3 on past problems and their efforts to maintain sound banking practices in spite of those challenges.

The Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) has completed the first trial of its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Digital Turkish Lira. 

Blockchain.com's founder and CEO, Peter Smith, believes on-chain analytics will play a significant role in locating the missing FTX funds, though it will have its limitations.

Bitcoin Group SE, operator of the German crypto trading platform bitcoin.de, announced that it has acquired 100% of shares in Bankhaus von der Heydt. The bank has a full banking license and is a provider of digital asset custody and tokenization services. 

Ukraine is continuing the work on its digital hryvnia, or e-hryvnia, despite the ongoing aggression by Russia.

Brendan Blumer, CEO of Block.one, which developed the EOSIO blockchain platform and EOS (EOS) coin, has purchased a stake in Silvergate Capital, the holding company for Silvergate Bank, a crypto-fiat gateway network designed for financial institutions, according to an SEC filing. That document, dated Nov. 23, listed Nov. 16 as the date of the transaction.

Chairman of the United States Senate Banking Committee Sherrod Brown and three other Democratic committee members sent letters Nov. 21 to federal officials and to Anthony Noto, president of SoFi Technology. They expressed concern about the online bank’s efforts to conform to Federal Reserve Board requirements and nonbank digital asset trading activities conducted through SoFi Digital Assets.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), the country’s central bank, has started a pilot program of its digital currency today, in cooperation with nine banks. It also released a Concept Note on Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) for India.

German crypto bank Nuri has told its 500,000 users to withdraw funds from their accounts as the firm prepares to shut down and liquidate the business, marking it as another victim of the 2022 bear market.

On Tuesday, Silvergate Capital, a crypto-fiat gateway network designed for financial institutions, announced its financial results for Q3 2022.

United States Acting Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) Michael Hsu has expressed concerns that regulators are spending “too much time on crypto," rather than more pressing issues, such as technology and banking. 

 

The comments period has ended for the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) “Second Consultation on the Prudential Treatment of Cryptoasset Exposures,” a document published in June 2022. 

Metaverse is and the components it consists of, is key to understanding the potential of the Metaverse for banking. The metaverse is simply a digital representation of our existing reality. Sounds interesting, isn’t it? It has moving pieces of the puzzle that can make it into a possibility followed by a business opportunity. Platform, technology, marketplace, and commerce play vital roles in developing the metaverse. Participants in each ecosystem are characterized by distinct evolution processes. Holographic and immersive gadgets will be used to create the Metaverse. Digital items are projected into the real world, appearing as if they are actually there, with holographic devices. Virtual reality replaces the physical environment and provides an immersive experience by concealing it. You might be thinking about how this is even affecting the business in general. Banks are a very great example of how the metaverse can change the way industries and individuals think about a product or service. One of the significant changes that the metaverse brings to banks is the potential for a highly immersive user experience. They can tailor their digital spaces to suit individual customers or provide a consistent experience across the board.

Crypto-focused finance company Delio has partnered with Blockdaemon to launch retail-focused staking services, giving customers a more seamless way to earn rewards on their digital asset holdings.

Nomura, one of the largest investment banks in Japan, has established a venture capital arm aimed at investing in companies focusing on crypto and blockchain.