Former Chairman of Silvergate Bank Mike Lempres joins us for a discussion of Silvergate, the crypto-focused bank that was forced into liquidation in early 2023 following a bank run. This are the first on the record comments from any Silvergate executive following the voluntary liquidation announced in March 2023. In this episode:
- Mike’s background at the DoJ, at Coinbase, and how he came to be chairman of the board at Silvergate
- How Silvergate grew to become the premier crypto-focused bank with $14b in deposits
- Why the Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN) was so useful to the crypto space
- How Silvergate suffered a bank run and ultimate liquidation following the FTX collapse
- How Silvergate survived a 70% bank run
- Regulatory shifts in 2023
- What led the decision to voluntarily liquidate
- What has happened at Silvergate since the announcement of the liquidation?
- The effect of Elizabeth Warren’s letters and short seller behavior on the collapse
- Could Silvergate have survived and thrived?
- Should bank regulators be allowed to ringfence entire industries?
- Silvergate’s relationship with Alameda/FTX - and could they have detected the fraud?
- Was Silvergate a victim of FTX
- How the Signature case adds to the suspicion - were regulators sending a message?
- What was the issue with SEN monitoring?
- Silvergate’s settlements with the Fed, the SEC, and the CA DFP
- How Silvergate was rugpulled by the government with regards to Diem
- The Fed’s recent evolution on the topic of banks serving crypto
- Mike’s outlook on crypto banking and the domestic crypto industry
- Why Signature and Silvergate executives are limited in what they can say publicly
- The problem with “confidential supervisory information”
- Why we may not get a “smoking gun memo” from the regulators on Choke Point 2.0
- What changes would Mike make to bank regulation in the US?
- Lingering misconceptions about Silvergate
- Do Silvergate shareholders have a legal case against the government?
Further reading:
