How Will the FTX Collapse Affect Silvergate? A Bear and a Bull Debate - Ep. 431
Ram Ahluwalia, CEO and cofounder of crypto-native investment advisor Lumida, and Marc Cohodes, individual investor and former hedge fund manager, have a heated debate about Silvergate, a crypto-friendly bank that plays a key role in integrating crypto with traditional finance and is currently under scrutiny due to its ties with FTX and Alameda. Both Marc and Ram have a vested interest in Silvergate. Marc is shorting the stock, while Ram is longing it.
Show highlights:
- why Silvergate plays such a vital role in the movement of money within the crypto industry
- whether Silvergate runs proper KYC and AML practices
- whether Silvergate has a $1 billion hole in its balance sheet
- whether regulators will go after Silvergate as they are doing with FTX
- why Marc thinks the FTX collapse wouldn't have happened without Silvergate
- whether Silvergate was complicit with FTX’s activities or simply negligent
- why Ram believes this case is different from JPMorgan's involvement with Madoff
- what regulatory actions might come in the near future for Silvergate
- why Ram thinks regulators will go to "great lengths" to avoid a bank failure
- what would it take for Ram and Marc to change their minds
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Thank you to our sponsors!Ram:
- Ram’s thread on Silvergate
- Ram’s previous appearances on Unchained:
- Genesis May Be Facing Bankruptcy. Could It Take DCG Down With It?
- Why Genesis Could Very Well Be Insolvent, Not Just Illiquid
Marc:
Episode links:
- Class action lawsuit against Silvergate
- The Block: Silvergate CEO seeks to reassure investors over crypto contagion
- Letter from Senators Elizabeth Warren, John Kennedy, and Roger Marshall
- The Guardian: JP Morgan Chase to pay more than $2bn in penalties for Madoff ties
- The Financial Times: Silvergate: from tiny local lender to bank behind the crypto boom
- WSJ: Crypto Is Taking a Few Small Banks on a Wild Ride
- Bloomberg:
- These Banks Were Left Holding the Bag in Crypto Implosion
- An Obscure Bank Found Its Key to Success. Then FTX Collapsed
- CoinDesk: Crypto Bank Silvergate Says Its BlockFi Digital-Asset Deposit Exposure Totals Less Than $20M
- New York Post: Crypto ‘smart’ money? Big traders fell for Sam Bankman-Fried
- NBC: Sen. Warren demands answers from Silvergate Bank about its business dealings with FTX
- Dylan LeClair’s Twitter thread
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