Silvergate Bank Onboarded 59 New Crypto Customers in Q4 2018

Crypto-supportive Silvergate Bank has signed on a slew of new cryptocurrency customers in the fourth quarter of 2018, according to a recent filing with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The filing reveals that as of Dec. 31, 2018, Silvergate had 542 digital currency-related clients including cryptocurrency exchanges and miners, custodians and global investors, among others. This marks an increase of 59 crypto-related customers since a previous filing in September 2018.

By Dec. 31, 232 cryptocurrency customers were purportedly in various stages of the bank’s customer onboarding process, including regulatory compliance.

The bank further says that it believes that acceptance of digital currency by traditional financial institutions will continue to grow, highlighting the following data:

“Currently, there are over 300 institutional investment funds with aggregate estimated assets under management of between approximately $7.5 billion to $10 billion. Over $8.3 billion has been invested in digital currency-related projects, excluding initial coin offering funding, since December 31, 2013. Approximately $1.3 billion in venture funding was raised in the digital currency and blockchain market in the 12 months ended June 30, 2018, which is the most recent date such information is available.”

Per the document, in the fourth quarter of 2018 the bank saw two exchanges, 33 companies, and 24 investors among its new clients, including software developers, cryptocurrency miners, and service providers.

Throughout the whole year, Silvergate’s deposits derived from cryptocurrency customers reportedly increased by $150.4 million, or around 11.4 percent. Digital currency investors’ deposits saw a growth by $4.8 million to $577.5 million, while other startups’ balances increased by $46.4 million, reaching $273.9 million.

Last February, the Digital Currency Group (DCG), a cryptocurrency venture capital firm, announced that they had invested in the Silvergate Capital Corporation, which contains the Silvergate Bank. As the Corporation later revealed on its website:

“Proceeds from this placement will support further growth in the Bank's nationwide fintech deposit initiative and its business banking and residential lending activities.”