The grim reaper is stalking crypto markets. No degen is safe. These unfortunate souls have already heard knocks on their door. Who will be next?
November 16 2018:
Silvergate Capital Corporation is the holding company for our wholly-owned subsidiary, Silvergate Bank, which we believe is the leading provider of innovative financial infrastructure solutions and services to participants in the nascent and expanding digital currency industry. As a result of this leadership position, the majority of our funding comes from noninterest bearing deposits associated with clients in the digital currency industry.
This unique source of funding is a distinctive advantage over most traditional financial institutions and allows us to generate revenue from a conservative portfolio of investments in cash, short term securities and certain types of loans that we believe generate attractive risk-adjusted returns. In addition, we believe that fee income may represent a valuable source of additional future revenue as we develop and deploy fee-based solutions in connection with our digital currency initiative.
March 8 2023:
Silvergate Capital Corporation (“Silvergate” or “Company”) (NYSE:SI), the holding company for Silvergate Bank (“Bank”), today announced its intent to wind down operations and voluntarily liquidate the Bank in an orderly manner and in accordance with applicable regulatory processes.
August 20 2022:
February 20 2023:
A hedge fund that was one of the highest-profile victims of the FTX scandal when half its assets were trapped on the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange has decided to close and return its remaining money to investors.
October 7 2022:
January 19 2023:
Cryptocurrency broker Genesis has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, becoming the latest casualty of the fallout from the implosion of Sam Bankman-Fried’s digital asset exchange FTX last year.
25 December 2022:
5 January 2023:
Wyre, the crypto payments company once valued at $1.5bn, has told employees that it is shutting down. . . . “We’ll continue to do everything we can, but I want everyone to brace themselves for the fact that we will need to unwind the business over the next couple of weeks,” CEO Ioannis Giannaros wrote in an email to employees, a portion of which was seen by Axios.
2 November 2022:
28 November 2022:
6 September 2022:
Bnk To The Future has entered into a non-binding letter of intent to acquire SALT. The move will combine the world’s first Bitcoin and crypto securities business with the first crypto lending platform. Bnk To The Future and SALT have operated advanced securities and lending technology for over a decade combined and have extensive experience in their respective fields. The transactions described in the letter of intent are contingent upon signing definitive agreements and obtaining regulatory approvals.
15 November 2022:
Also 15 November 2022: “Bnk To The Future (the ‘Company’) announces that its previously announced non-binding letter of intent with SALT Blockchain, Inc. (SALT) has terminated due to SALT’s position with FTX and for failing Bnk To The Future’s Due Diligence, and that the transactions contemplated thereby will not proceed.”
5 May 2022:
Co-organized by billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto derivatives exchange FTX and the SALT thought leadership forum, founded by Anthony Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Capital, Crypto Bahamas featured guests ranging from former US president Bill Clinton and ex-prime minister of the U.K. Tony Blair to N.F.L star Tom Brady and his supermodel wife Giselle Bundchen. (Forbes)
11 November 2022:
FTX, the once high-flying cryptocurrency group, has filed for bankruptcy protection in the US, marking a stunning collapse of the $32bn empire built by the colourful 30-year-old entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried.
10 August 2022:
Also 10 August 2022: “[We] regret to inform you that Hotbit will have to suspend trading, deposit, withdrawal and funding functions, the exact time of resumption cannot be determined at the moment.
“The reason is that a former Hotbit management employee who left Hotbit in April this year was involved in a project last year (which was against Hotbit’s internal principles and of which Hotbit was unknown) that law enforcement authorities now think is suspected of violating criminal laws. So, a number of Hotbit senior managers have been subpoenaed by law enforcement since the end of July and are assisting in the investigation. Furthermore, law enforcement has frozen some funds of Hotbit, which has prevented Hotbit from running normally.
“Hotbit and the rest employees of Hotbit’s management are not involved in the project and have no knowledge of the illegal information involved in the project. However, we are still actively cooperating with the law enforcement authorities in their investigations and are continuously communicating with them through our lawyers and applying for the release of the frozen assets.”
Also 10 August 2022: “Hotbit officially launched KYC function”
30 July 2020:
8 August 2022:
6 April 2022: “Since becoming regulate [sic] our funds are now world class institutional grade products with industry leading fees and very accessible minimum requirements.”
May 2022: “ . . . the Directors of the Fund have determined to suspend subscriptions to the ISG [Margin Lending Fund] and IBA [Bitcoin Alpha Fund] funds to protect potential new investors from 12 May, 2022 and, the subscription, redemption and the determination of the Net Asset Value of the Shares of all the Classes within all Segregated Portfolios of the Fund effective from 04:00 am (UTC time) on 23 May 2022, until further notice. Accordingly, all current investors in the Segregated Portfolios will not be permitted to redeem their Shares and will not receive valuations until further notice.”
13 July 2022, from Celsius’ bankruptcy filing:
7 March 2022:
18 June 2022:
4 July 2022:
We have made the difficult decision to suspend all withdrawals, trading and deposits on the Vauld platform with immediate effect. We believe that this will help to facilitate our exploration of the suitability of potential restructuring options, together with our financial and legal advisors. We seek the understanding of customers of the Vauld platform that we will not be in a position to process any new or further requests or instructions in this regard. Specific arrangements will be made for customer deposits as may be necessary for certain customers to meet margin calls in connection with collateralised loans.
14 June 2022:
22 June 2022 — “Voyager Digital, LLC, may issue a notice of default to Three Arrows Capital (“3AC”) for failure to repay its loan. Voyager’s exposure to 3AC consists of 15,250 BTC and $350 million USDC. The Company made an initial request for a repayment of $25 million USDC by June 24, 2022, and subsequently requested repayment of the entire balance of USDC and BTC by June 27, 2022. Neither of these amounts has been repaid, and failure by 3AC to repay either requested amount by these specified dates will constitute an event of default. Voyager intends to pursue recovery from 3AC and is in discussions with the Company’s advisors regarding the legal remedies available. The Company is unable to assess at this point the amount it will be able to recover from 3AC.”
1 July 2022 — “Today, Voyager made the difficult but necessary decision to temporarily suspend trading, deposits, withdrawals, and loyalty rewards”
16 May 2022 – “The crypto financial market is full of opportunities and hidden risks” — Del Wang, Babel CEO
17 June 2022 – “Recently, the crypto market has seen major fluctuations, and some institutions in the industry have experienced conductive risk events. Due to the current situation, Babel Finance is facing unusual liquidity pressures. We are in close communication with all related parties on the actions we are taking in order to best protect our customers. During this period, redemptions and withdrawals from Babel Finance products will be temporarily suspended, and resumption of normal service be notified separately. We apologise sincerely for any inconvenience caused.”
12 June 2022:
13 June 2022 – “Due to extreme market conditions, today we are announcing that Celsius is pausing all withdrawals, Swap, and transfers between accounts. We are taking this action today to put Celsius in a better position to honour, over time, its withdrawal obligations.”
14 June 2022:
16 June 2022:
8 May 2022:
14 May 2022:
7 May 2022:
14 June 2022:
16 June 2022: “Three Arrows Capital failed to meet demands from lenders to stump up extra funds after its digital currency bets turned sour, tipping the prominent crypto hedge fund into a crisis that comes as a credit crunch grips the industry.”
1 July 2022: Three Arrows files for Chapter 15 bankruptcy
24 May 2022: “We have always considered ourselves to be ‘not another bank’. Nuri stands for trust and responsibility without old-fashioned thinking. We were the first to combine the traditional financial world with the new reality of crypto & Blockchain and started a revolution to sustainably change the financial behaviour of people around the globe. We will continue our path to revolutionize the way people grow their wealth.
We will focus on sustainable, long-term growth and build upon what made us so successful: We will double-down on the great products we have built to date and continue to build cutting-edge financial services to allow everyone to take control of their own financial future.”
9 August 2022: “We would like to inform you about an important development that does not affect our services, funds or investments with Nuri. Nevertheless it is of great importance to us to provide this update to you straight away: Due to the current challenging market developments and subsequent effects on financial markets on Nuri’s business development, we have filed for insolvency on Tuesday 9 August 2022. This step became necessary to ensure the safest path forward for all our customers.”
