Coinbase, Celsius, Paxos reveal Signature Bank funds

Crypto exchange Coinbase, crypto lender Celsius, and stablecoin issuer Paxos are apparently among the crypto companies with cash related to the defunct Signature Bank.

New York authorities and the United States Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) shut down the crypto-friendly Signature Bank on March 12 to “defend the U.S. economy” because the bank constituted a “systemic danger.”

Coinbase tweeted on March 12 that it had around $240 million in corporate money at Signature that it anticipated would be returned in full.

Stablecoin issuer and cryptocurrency company Paxos also stepped forward, tweeting that it had $250 million kept at the bank but that it has private insurance to cover the amount not covered by the regular $250,000 per depositor FDIC insurance.

The Celsius Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors, which represents account holders of the insolvent cryptocurrency lender Celsius, said that Signature Bank “kept part of its cash” but did not specify the amount.

It further said that “all deposits would be refunded in full.”

When Signature Bank handled a large number of enterprises in the cryptocurrency sector, firms with no exposure came forward to allay concerns about their risks.

Robbie Ferguson, co-founder of the Web3 game creation platform Immutable X, and Mitch Liu, co-founder of the media-focused Theta Network blockchain, independently tweeted that none of their firms had any exposure to Signature.

Bitcoin exchange in a March 12 tweet, Crypto.com’s CEO, Kris Marszalek, said that the company lacked any cash on hand.

Paolo Ardoino, the chief technical officer of stablecoin company Tether, also tweeted about Tether’s lack of exposure to Signature Bank.

The news of the forced closure of Signature Bank coincided with other banking-related pronouncements made by U.S. authorities.

The Federal Reserve said that the FDIC was authorized to safeguard depositors at Silicon Valley Bank, a bank focusing on tech startups that suffered liquidity concerns owing to a bank run that extended contagion to the cryptocurrency industry.

The Fed also established a $25 billion initiative to guarantee that banks have sufficient liquidity to meet the demands of their clients during turbulent periods.