10-K Filing

Bitcoin price slides 5% in 60 minutes amid Silvergate uncertainty

The price of BTC fell sharply on March 3, wiping $22 billion from Bitcoin’s market cap.

The price of Bitcoin (BTC) fell more than 5% from $23,500 to $22,240 in just over 60 minutes on March 3, amid a wave of uncertainty concerning crypto-friendly bank Silvergate Capital. 

The price drop wiped $22 billion from Bitcoin’s total market capitalization, which is now at $430.9 billion, according to Cointelegraph Markets Pro.

Ether (ETH), XRP (XRP), Cardano (ADA), MATIC (MATIC) and other non-Bitcoin cryptocurrencies also suffered a similar sharp decline.

Markus Thielen, the head of research at digital asset platform Matrixport, told Cointelegraph that he believes the price fall is linked to the recent Silvergate Bank controversy with its delayed annual 10-K financial report filing, in addition to an increased effort by United States regulators attempting to restrict ties between banks and crypto firms:

“The drop is due to the continuous fallout from Silvergate Bank, as there is now more uncertainty about fiat on-and-off ramp. In addition, there are now wider industry concerns that U.S. regulators are trying to cut off further banking relationships between crypto firms and FDIC-insured banks.”

“Nevertheless, this is playing into the hands of Hong Kong and China, which are becoming more crypto-friendly.”

“We have seen an increase in stablecoin activity as a sign that crypto firms are using crypto rails to move money around,” he added.

Several technical analysts on Twitter claimed to have predicted the fall from the $23,000 resistance.

Bitcoin price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro.

The last time BTC was priced at $22,250 was Feb. 15.

The sharp fall comes despite a solid start to 2023, with BTC still up 34.8% for the year. It was changing hands at $16,550 on Jan. 1.

Ether has also fallen 4.74% from $1,644 to $1,566, causing a $9 billion wipeout from its market cap over the first hour.

Ether price chart. Source: Cointelegraph Markets Pro.

MicroStrategy, Tether adds to firms distancing from Silvergate as stock dives 57%

MicroStrategy confirmed that none of its 130,000 BTC is custodied by Silvergate. However, the firm does have a loan to pay off to the bank by Q1 2025.

Business intelligence firm MicroStrategy, stablecoin issuer Tether have become the latest two firms to publicly deny any meaningful exposure to Silvergate Bank.

The news comes after Silvergate announced on March 1 that it would postpone the filing of its annual 10-K financial report, which has many fearing the cryptocurrency bank may be on the brink of a bankruptcy filing.

This led MicroStrategy — which holds over 130,000 Bitcoin (BTC) — to confirm that its BTC collateral is not custodied with Silvergate.

The Michael Saylor-founded firm added that it will not need to pay back a loan from Silvergate until Q1 2025 and that a bankruptcy or insolvency event wouldn’t “accelerate” the loan repayment.

Paolo Ardoino, the chief technology officer of Tether, confirmed in a March 2 tweet that Tether is not exposed to Silvergate either.

A collapse of the cryptocurrency bank could prove costly for the rest of the industry.

Silvergate is a fintech firm that provides financial infrastructure solutions and services to some of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges, institutional investors and mining companies in the world.

It offers a 24/7 payments platform, named Silvergate Exchange Network, which has reportedly processed over $1 trillion in transactions since 2017.

The firm also provides a stablecoin infrastructure platform, digital asset custody management and collateralized lending services to several institutional players in the cryptocurrency industry.

A diagram of Silvergate’s clientele and crypto offerings. Source: Silvergate Bank

Despite the large network effects, the late 10-K filing appears to have had a consequential effect on its partnerships.

Within 24 hours of the late 10-K filing, Coinbase, Circle, Bitstamp, Galaxy Digital and Paxos confirmed that they will scale back their partnerships with the cryptocurrency bank in some capacity.

Gemini also announced that it has stopped accepting customer deposits and processing withdrawals through Silvergate ACH and wire transfers.

Others who have seemingly cut or reduced ties include Crypto.com, Blockchain.com, Wintermute, GSR and Cboe Digital, according to reports. 

Meanwhile, a spokesperson from crypto exchange Binance confirmed to Cointelegraph that Binance has no partnership with Silvergate and does not use the crypto bank’s services.

Concerns of Silvergate’s potential financial troubles first surfaced in Q4 2022, when it reported a net loss of $1 billion as a result of the shock collapse of FTX in November.

Related: Coinbase no longer accepts payments via Silvergate Bank

The exact dealings between Silvergate and FTX have been subject to a probe by the United States Department of Justice recently, although there’s been no accusation of wrongdoing at this point.

Plaintiffs in a newly proposed class-action lawsuit against FTX on Feb. 14 accused Silvergate of “aiding and abetting” a “multibillion-dollar fraudulent scheme” that was orchestrated by former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.

Despite many firms recently claiming not to have exposure to Silvergate, the bank still processed over $3.8 billion in customer deposits in Q4 2022. This was a steep fall from $11.9 billion in Q3 2022, according to Silvergate.

Silvergate’s change in share price index on the New York Stock Exchange. Source: MarketWatch.

Since the news of the late 10-K filing on March 1, Silvergate’s stock price has fallen a massive 58.7% to $5.57. The stock is now down over 97% since its all-time high of $219.7, hit on Nov. 14, 2021.