Circle, Paxos, Bitstamp and Galaxy join Coinbase in scaling back partnerships with Silvergate Bank

Several crypto firms have announced they will scale back or outright terminate their relationship with Silvergate Bank following an announced investigation into its alleged involvement in the FTX collapse.

Amid news that crypto exchange Coinbase would no longer accept or initiate payments with Silvergate, companies including stablecoin issuers Paxos and Circle and Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital have announced similar actions regarding their partnerships with the crypto bank. Galaxy Digital announced on March 2 that it had stopped accepting or initiating transfers to the bank “out of an abundance of caution”.

In separate posts on Twitter on March 2, Paxos said it had already “discontinued all [Silvergate Exchange Network] transfers and wires” to the firm’s account, but would continue to process outgoing payments. Circle added it was “in the process of unwinding certain services” with Silvergate, and Bitstamp said its bank transfer services would be provided by “other global banking partners”.

“Please be aware that Bitstamp cannot be responsible for any funds deposited into the Silvergate bank account,” said the firm. “If you do choose to deposit funds into this account, you do so at your own risk.”

The termination of partnerships with Silvergate followed reports the bank was facing an investigation from the United States Department of Justice over its alleged involvement in the FTX collapse. Former FTX chief executive officer Sam Bankman-Fried — also the target of a criminal investigation — held an account with the crypto bank.

Related: Crypto bank Silvergate ranks as the second- most-shorted stock on Wall Street

Silvergate announced in a March 1 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission that it did not expect to submit its report on the 2022 fiscal year by March 16. Shares of the crypto bank’s stock have already fallen more than 55% in the last 24 hours, reaching $5.97 at the time of publication.

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