Block.one, the famous Peter Thiel-backed crypto start-up raised $4 billion in an ICO For Ethereum competitor EOSsaid in a press release on Wednesday that it had sold its entire stake in Silvergate Bank.
In a statementBlock.one said it had “exited” its equity position after Silvergate announced last week that it fail to file annual report with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission in time. On Wednesday, Silvergate confirmed that it will end operations.
Block.one wrote that while disappointed with how things ended for Silvergate, it is still “unwavering that banks and other financial institutions embracing the digital asset and cryptocurrency sectors are doing well.” positioned”.
At the end of last year, Block.one CEO Brendan Blumer and his company held a combined 9.9% stake in Silvergate Bank worth around $95 million, according to filings. with the SEC. He first acquired a 9.27% participation in November for approximately $92 million, and the remainder on December 31.
Last Friday, when Block.one said it exited its stock position, Silvergate shares closed at $5.69. At the time, Block.one’s position would have been worth around $18 million, meaning Blumer and Block.one lost around $83 million on the investment.
On Friday, the bank announced that it would immediately shut down its Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN), a service used by institutional clients to settle large transactions with each other. Prior to last week’s announcement, a growing number of such institutional clients – including crypto exchange Coinbase, USD (USDC) coin issuer Circle and investment firm Galaxy – announced that they had severed their ties with the crypto-enabled bank.
In a press release now deleted accessible via the Internet Archive, Block.one said in November that Silvergate had “a proven track record of maintaining a liquid and conservative balance sheet investment portfolio – far more conservative than most federally regulated banking institutions.”
In Wednesday’s press release, issued the same day Silvergate’s holding company announced its voluntary shutdown, Block.one also said its holding company Bullish, a crypto exchange, has no exposure to Silvergate.
The statement did not mention the status of a $225 million revolving line of credit issued to Bullish in May last year.
At the time, Bullish planned to go public by merging with Far Peak Acquisition Corp, a so-called blank check company. But the merger, which valued the exchange at $9 billion, was canceled in december.
Neither Block.one nor Bullish immediately responded to a request for comment from Decrypt about the status of his line of credit with Silvergate.
In recent weeks, as it became increasingly clear that Silvergate Bank was in trouble, two other borrowers commented on their loans.
MicroStrategy said on Twitter last week that its subsidiary’s $205 million loan from Silvergate, which it notoriously secured with bitcoin so he can buy more bitcoinis not redeemable until early 2025.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin miner Marathon Digital said in a Filing with the SEC yesterday that he prepaid his Silvergate line of credit and terminated the relationship with the bank. Last year the mining company announced he had increased his credit facility with the bank by $100 million.