Leading US Bank to Downsize Crypto-related Deposits by $10 Billion

• Signature Bank plans to cut nearly $10 billion of deposits tied to crypto.
• Crypto makes up over 23% of Signature’s $103 billion customer deposits.
• The firm aims to lower the percentage to about 20% and less than 15% ultimately.

According to reports, Signature Bank, a leading US-based financial institution, will downsize nearly $10 billion of its deposits tied to cryptos as turmoil envelops the digital asset industry. 

The bank’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), Eric Howell, hinted at the upcoming development at an investor conference in New York last Tuesday. As of November 2022, over 23% of Signature’s $103 billion customer deposits are funds tied to crypto assets. According to the COO, the company ultimately aims to lower the percentage to about 20% and less than 15%.

Howell said:

We are not just a crypto bank; we want that to come across loud and clear.

Howell clarified that by reducing its exposure to crypto, Signature would exit around eight to $10 billion deposits in the volatile market. Notably, the bankrupt FTX crypto exchange was one of the bank’s clients, although the crypto exchange’s deposits were less than 0.1% of the bank’s overall deposits. Furthermore, stablecoin firms hold a sizable portion of Signature’s crypto asset business, but the company now believes investing in them is worthless.

CEO Joe DePaolo said:

We recognize that in certain cases, especially as we look at stablecoins and other parties in that space, there’s a better way for us to utilize our capital.

According to the Financial Times, Signature is one of the few regulated US banks that have taken large-scale crypto deposits from clients, stablecoin issuers, and Bitcoin miners. The strategy helped the firm triple cash in-flow from $33 in 2017.