Let First Republic and Credit Suisse burn

cointelegraph.com:

When crypto markets took a hit after the collapse of FTX and other crypto lenders last year, some crypto critics repeated the mantra, “Let crypto burn.” Now, it’s big banks that are faltering — including Credit Suisse and First Republic — after regional banks, including Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank, sparked a cascade. As a result, Moody’s has downgraded the entire banking sector.

If “Let crypto burn” was a snappy way of saying that operating outside the financial system means more personal responsibility and heightened risk, fine, crypto natives understand that concept. But now, we have a chance to turn a critical lens on the traditional financial system.

With traditional banks experiencing financial pressure, it’s time to let many of them fail. Forest fires can burn away old growth to make way for new trees to sprout. The same principles apply to banking.

Politicians and crypto critics have aligned to build the narrative that crypto is the risk at the heart of the crisis. The dirty little secret is that Treasury bonds were the nuclear bomb at the epicenter of this banking crisis, and central bank interest rate policy was the plane that delivered the payload.

Related: Expect the SEC to use its Kraken playbook against staking protocols

These struggling banks loaded up on long-term treasury bonds during a period of near-zero interest rates and at a time when the United States Federal Reserve continued to try to mollify banks that they would keep rates near zero for the foreseeable future.

There is an unavoidable tradeoff between low-interest rates and inflation; Fed macroeconomists know this, and yet the Fed acted with surprise as it quickly raised rates to catch up to the inflation wildfire over the last two