Coinbase, OKX, and Binance Confirm No Client Losses in Wake of Silvergate Capital’s Demise

A day after Silvergate Capital revealed its decision to close down the bank and liquidate its assets, causing concerns of contagion to loom over the FTX catastrophe, several cryptocurrency companies have sought to reassure the community of their financial stability.
> Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao tweeted to confirm that the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange had not suffered any asset losses at Silvergate and that all funds at the exchange were safe.
> Other firms followed suit, with Coinbase denying having any client or corporate cash at the bank and OKX's President, Hong Fang, stating that both corporate and customer funds were secure. Details here.

Matchday Raises $21 Million for Revolutionary Soccer Video Games

Matchday, a company focused on creating casual football (soccer) video games, has announced that it has raised $21 million in a seed funding round.
> The funds will be used to develop games that will appeal to the massive fan base of the sport.
> One of Matchday's investors is Play Time, an investment firm owned by Argentine soccer legend and 2022 FIFA World Cup winner Lionel Messi.
> The project has been endorsed by FIFA and FIFPRO, and co-founder and chief gaming officer Sebastien de Halleux explained that the company's goal is to create new types of football games that celebrate their love of the sport. Continue reading.

Silvergate Bank Left Reeling as Marathon Digital Holdings Repays Term Loan

Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. has terminated its credit facilities and repaid its term loan with Silvergate Bank, resulting in a debt reduction of $50 million and an increase in unrestricted Bitcoin holdings by 3,132.
> The company provided Silvergate Bank with the required 30-day notice in February, stating its intent to prepay the outstanding balance on its term loan facility and terminate the term loan facility, according to a press release issued on Thursday.
> The company and Silvergate Bank subsequently agreed to also terminate the revolving line of credit facility.
> The term loan prepayment was completed on March 8 and the company's facilities with Silvergate Bank were terminated. Full report here.

Blockchain.com Suspends Operations Of Its Asset Management Firm

Cryptocurrency financial services company Blockchain.com has suspended operations of its asset management arm, Blockchain.com Asset Management (BCAM), due to the prolonged bearish market,
> BCAM was launched in April 2022, with the aim of attracting institutional investors.
> However, shortly after the launch, the crypto industry faced tough times, with the collapse of crypto lender Celsius Network and several other notable crypto firms, leading to a rapid decline in asset prices.
> “Blockchain.com Asset Management launched in April 2022, shortly before macroeconomic conditions deteriorated rapidly. With crypto winter now approaching the one-year mark, we made the business decision to pause operating this institutional product,” a spokesperson for Blockchain.com said. Continue here.

Republican Lawmaker Campaigns to Stop Biden Administration's Digital Dollar Plans

Republican Representative Tom Emmer from Minnesota has launched a campaign against what he perceives as the Biden administration's efforts to establish a digital dollar that could be employed to collect sensitive financial data of US citizens.
> Emmer, a staunch supporter of the cryptocurrency industry, is backing a bill that would prevent the Federal Reserve from issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC).
> Although the Treasury Department has endorsed the development of a digital dollar, officials have said that the Fed is still in the research phase of the project.
> Speaking at the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank in Washington, Emmer asserted that the government's motivation for a CBDC is not only to create a digital dollar but also to sacrifice Americans' right to financial privacy for a surveillance-style digital currency.

New York Attorney General takes down KuCoin for illegal trading of securities including Ether

The New York Attorney General (AG), Letitia James, has filed a lawsuit against KuCoin, a virtual currency trading platform, for allegedly operating without proper licensure and registration as a securities and commodities broker-dealer.
> The lawsuit also argues that Ether, one of the largest cryptocurrencies available, is a security.
> The New York AG’s lawsuit sent the cryptocurrency market into a free fall with almost all of the major cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ether, Binance, Ripple, and Cardano logging losses between 5-7%.
> James alleges that KuCoin falsely represented itself as an exchange and sold unregistered securities in the form of KuCoin Earn, its lending and staking product. Details here.

Cryptocurrency Prices Plummet as Silvergate Bank Announces Liquidation

The prices of cryptocurrencies experienced a significant decline, which was attributed to Silvergate, a crypto-friendly bank, announcing its plans to liquidate.
> This news led to a shift in investor sentiment, resulting in a sharp drop in prices.
> As per TradingView data, Bitcoin, which had been trading at around $20,325, experienced a decline of 6.4%, reaching its lowest point in seven weeks.
> Following the same trend, Ether dropped by 6.2%, trading at $1,437.
> Altcoins were not spared either, except for stablecoins, which saw an increase in demand from investors as they became the primary means of on and ramps for crypto trading.
> Binance's BNB decreased by 6.4%, Ripple's XRP by 7.4%, and Polygon's MATIC by 8.8%.
> The decline was not limited to mainstream cryptocurrencies, as even meme coins like Shina Inu and Dogecoin experienced drops of 11.3% and 10.3%, respectively.
> The market value of Silvergate also suffered, falling by 42.1% by the end of the day, closing at $2.84.
> The announcement had a domino effect, causing smaller crypto banks like Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank to suffer as well, losing around 12% and 60% of their value, respectively.
> This announcement also had a significant impact on crypto stocks, with Microstrategy dropping by 9.4%, Coinbase by 7.8%, and Jack Dorsey's Block by 5.3% by market close.