New York Regulator Slams SEC’s Claim Of Linking Crypto To Banking Collapse

According to the New York state financial regulator, the failure of Signature Bank in March was not caused by the institution’s exposure to crypto clientele but rather by a run on the bank due to a diverse group of depositors from a variety of economic sectors. This comes after former U.S. Representative Barney Frank criticized the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) for taking preemptive action relating to the bank’s engagement with the crypto industry and the SEC Chair’s latest comment on tying the banking collapse with crypto at a congressional hearing yesterday.

NYDFS Debunks Crypto Exposure Theory

In the Financial Services Committee hearing on stablecoins on Wednesday, NYDFS superintendent Adrienne Harris claimed that not just cryptocurrency clients but also depositors such as wholesale food suppliers, fiduciaries, trust accounts, and legal firms withdrew funds, which ultimately resulted in the untimely bank run.

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While speaking about the benefits and different use cases of stablecoins at the ongoing Congressional hearing, Harris was quoted as saying:

It is a misnomer that the failure of Signature Bank was related to crypto. The outflow of crypto deposits were in exact proportion to the representation in the depositor base overall.

Adrienne Harris Clarifies Banking Collapse

Harris commented that approximately twenty percent of Signature’s deposits were taken out of the bank on the same evening that Silicon Valley Bank failed. However, those transactions were solely tied to cryptocurrency and the remaining customer withdrawals were from ordinary commercial businesses with uninsured deposits. As a result, Harris explicitly refuted the claim that the failure was due to crypto deposits and the volatility which came with it.

“So it’s of course unfortunate that there was a run on the bank, but it is not the case that the failure Signature was related to crypto”, the superintendent further added.

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