Biden White House Blamed for Silvergate Collapse

Alan Lane, the former CEO of Silvergate Capital, claims that the Biden administration's pressure led to his bank's demise in 2023. He describes it as a 'coordinated attack' against the crypto industry that made continued operation untenable.

Silvergate had already survived an $8 billion deposit run triggered by FTX's collapse in late 2022, repaying every depositor in full without costing the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) a dime. However, despite this achievement, the bank announced its wind-down on March 8, 2023.

Lane attributes the bank's demise to relentless regulatory pressure rather than compliance violations or poor risk management. The $63 million settlement with the SEC and other regulatory bodies suggests that there were issues with the bank's operations, but Lane argues that these were largely driven by the administration's posture toward the crypto sector.