• Silicon Valley Bank’s parent company’s shares dropped dramatically, causing panic among traders.
• Hedge funds have recommended portfolio firms remove their cash from the bank and investigate opening multiple accounts.
• SVB is having difficulty providing banking services to cryptocurrency firms, leading them to look for other options.
Silicon Valley Bank Shares Plunge
Markets were sent crashing as Silicon Valley Bank failed to reassure customers of its financial state. The announcement followed a dramatic decrease in the shares of SVB Financial Group, the bank’s parent business, which plunged by more than 60%. This caused investors to sell their shares, resulting in a further 44% drop on March 10 pre-market trading.
Hedge Funds Urge Investors to Withdraw
Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund and Pantera Capital have both recommended that portfolio firms remove their cash from the failing Silicon Valley Bank and investigate opening several accounts instead. Furthermore, five anonymous venture capital investors in cryptocurrency have given similar advice to firms they have sponsored.
SVB Struggles with Crypto Firms
With the failure of cryptocurrency-friendly Silvergate Bank earlier this week, Silicon Valley Bank is having trouble at a time when cryptocurrency firms are already looking for other banking choices. Many users complained about difficulties logging into their accounts on Twitter, leading them to seek alternative banking solutions.
Silicon Valley Bank’s Customer Base
According to its website, Silicon Valley Bank has worked with more than 2,600 customers in the financial technology industry alone. As one of the go-to banks for venture-backed technology businesses located in the US, these difficulties could spell disaster for its customer base if not resolved quickly.
Crypto Markets Follow Stock Market Crash
The stock market crash has caused crypto markets to suffer too as venture capital investors urge companies associated with SVB Financial Group to remove their assets from the bank immediately. This suggests that crypto investors are increasingly worried about whether or not this failing institution will cause yet another collapse in crypto prices