Silicon Valley Bank Shut Down
Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) is a financial services provider based in Santa Clara, California. It was founded in 1983 and specializes in providing banking services to technology and life sciences companies. On June 30th, 2020 SVB announced that it would be shutting down its operations.
The closure of Silicon Valley Bank comes at a time when the cryptocurrency industry is booming due to increasing demand for digital assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and other altcoins. This has created an environment where traditional banks are facing pressure from FinTech startups offering alternative banking solutions tailored towards crypto users.
Despite this trend, SVB’s closing came as a surprise to many people in the crypto space since the bank had been one of the few that provided services for cryptocurrency-related businesses including Coinbase and Kraken exchange customers who used their accounts with SVB for deposits or withdrawals from these exchanges. In addition to serving as custodians for these companies’ funds, SVB also acted as a correspondent bank which allowed them access to U.S.-based dollar payment networks like ACH transfers and wire transfers..
The reasons behind Silicon Valley Bank’s shutdown remain unclear but some have speculated that it could be related to regulatory pressures regarding compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) laws or concerns about potential losses associated with crypto transactions. Others suggest that declining profits due to competition from FinTech startups may have played a role too. Whatever the case may be, this news serves as yet another reminder of how quickly things can change within the ever-evolving world of digital finance technology – especially when dealing with large financial institutions like banks who often operate on outdated processes and regulations built decades ago before blockchain took over our lives!
