Cryptocurrency bank Silvergate Capital has laid off 40% of its staff, or about 200 employees, after the collapse of FTX.com sparked mass withdrawal requests worth around US$8.1 billion.
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Fast facts
- Silvergate liquidated debt from its balance sheet to honor the withdrawal requests, losing US$718 million in the process, The Wall Street Journal reported.
- FTX, the Bahamas-based bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, and its subsidiaries accounted for around US$1 billion of the bank’s deposits, according to The Wall Street Journal.
- The bank has since cut 40% of its workforce and said it would scale back business operations.
- Crypto deposits at the bank fell to US$3.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, a 68% drop from US$11.9 billion in Q3, according to Silvergate.
- The bank said it still intends to provide crypto-related services for its customers despite the losses.
- Silvergate’s stock price has dropped around 70% over the past three months on the New York Stock Exchange.
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