Oct 9, 2026 · 1h 30m
Silvergate’s collapse tests crypto’s place in banking
Operation Choke Point 2.0: The Fall of Silvergate | Alan Lane
The episode traces how a bank built around crypto businesses survived an unprecedented run on deposits before regulatory pressure made its model untenable.
- 1Silvergate turned a small community bank into a critical banking hub for cryptocurrency companies and exchanges.
- 2FTX’s collapse triggered withdrawals approaching 70 percent, forcing Silvergate to sell securities rapidly and absorb major losses.
- 3Alan Lane argues regulatory pressure after the run made continued crypto-focused banking impossible, raising questions about financial access and oversight.
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Alan Lane describes withdrawals approaching 70 percent after FTX’s collapse and the frantic sale of Silvergate’s securities portfolio.
The brief
Alan Lane recounts Silvergate’s transformation from a small community bank into a major banking hub for Bitcoin and crypto companies, built around access traditional banks often denied.
The Silvergate Exchange Network gave crypto customers 24/7 dollar settlement, turning an initially modest banking initiative into infrastructure used by exchanges and major industry firms.
FTX’s collapse triggered a historic deposit run: withdrawals approached 70 percent, forcing Silvergate to sell billions of dollars in securities within weeks.
Lane says the January 2023 interagency statement changed the bank’s prospects by signaling that regulators would not permit a bank focused on Bitcoin to operate as before.
The episode connects Silvergate’s wind-down to the March 2023 banking crisis and asks whether regulators were removing key financial infrastructure from the crypto industry.