Circle discloses $3.3B tied up at Silicon Valley Bank

On March 10, Blockchain payment technology company Circle confirmed that wires initiated on Thursday to remove balances have not yet been processed, leaving $3.3 billion of its $40 billion USDC reserves at Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).

“Following the confirmation at the end of today that the wires initiated on Thursday to remove balances were not yet processed, $3.3 billion of the ~$40 billion of USDC reserves remain at SVB,” the firm stated in a March 10 tweet.

Circle said it is now joining other customers and depositors in calling for the continuity of SVB, which the company alleged is important for the U.S. economy. Circle stated on Twitter that it will follow guidance provided by state and Federal regulators.

2/ Like other customers and depositors who relied on SVB for banking services, Circle joins calls for continuity of this important bank in the U.S. economy and will follow guidance provided by state and Federal regulators.

— Circle (@circle) March 11, 2023

Notably, prior to the announcement USDC was sitting below its $1-peg at $0.98 as per CoinGecko data, however promptly after, the price has dropped significantly to $0.93 at the time of writing.

The statement followed news that Silicon Valley Bank, a major financial institution for venture-backed companies, was shut down by California’s financial watchdog, making it the first Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation-insured bank to fail in 2023.

Although the exact reason for the closure remains unclear, the California regulator appointed the FDIC as the receiver to protect insured deposits. SVB, one of the United States’ 20 largest banks by total assets, provided financial services to several crypto-focused venture firms, including Andreessen Horowitz and Sequoia.

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