Top 10 Fintech News for the Week Ending March 18, 2023
My colleague John White said it best in our newsletter yesterday: the week that seemed to last a year. Books will be written and movies will be made about the last seven days as it was the most dramatic week in finance since the 2008 financial crisis. The good news this week was that the world of finance did not collapsed and that we had no bank failures between Monday and Friday, although the First Republic needed a considerable injection of funds. The former Silicon Valley Bank is probably the safest bank in the country today, but no buyer has yet been found. Below is my weekly fintech news roundup.
SVB and Signature: The Big Fintech Nexus Non-Bailout – News broke last Sunday night that the government would guarantee all deposits held at Silicon Valley Bank, and, oh, by the way, Signature Bank has been shut down by regulators.
Big banks rushed to save First Republic from Fintech Nexus – To make sure we didn’t lose a fourth bank this month, eleven of the nation’s biggest banks sent a total of $30 billion to First Republic Bank.
Mortgages, wine, and renovations: Silicon Valley Bank’s deep tech ties from the New York Times – No other bank had closer ties to technology, including fintech, than Silicon Valley Bank. Good article on the depth of these links.
How Goldman’s plan to consolidate Silicon Valley Bank fell apart From the Wall Street Journal – As Silicon Valley Bank collapsed suddenly, the seeds were sown in late February when SVB executives visited Goldman Sachs seeking advice on how to raise new capital.
Failure or sale? What could be next for distressed Credit Suisse from CNBC – Although not directly linked to the failures of major US banks, Switzerland’s main bank, Credit Suisse, is struggling to survive. It needed massive support from the Swiss central bank and there have been rumors in recent days that domestic rival UBS might buy all or part of the bank.
Neobanks report windfall of new customers following SVB shutdown from American Banker – There were some bright spots in fintech this week, as those who serve enterprise customers saw an increase in new accounts. NorthOne, Mercury and Meow all added new customers at a faster rate than normal.
Tether’s Stablecoin Market Cap Now Doubles USDC After SVB Mayhem Decrypt – In the crypto space, Tether appears to be the big winner of the week, as Circle’s USDC had $3.3 billion in reserves at Silicon Valley Bank. Today, USDT has about twice the market capitalization of USDC.
Stripe cuts valuation to $50 billion in new $6.5 billion funding round from CNBC – Oh yeah, Stripe raised some money. In a normal week, this would be our main story as Stripe raised a staggering $6.5 billion in the largest private funding raise ever in this country. Their valuation nearly halved to $50 billion, but most people think that’s a win in the current environment.
Instant payments platform FedNow will go live in July, central bank says from American Banker – The Federal Reserve announced this week that its long-awaited instant payments system, FedNow, will launch in July. While a pilot program has been running since last September with 120 participants (including a few fintechs), a certification program will open next month to help companies prepare for launch.
Whether private or public, the United States needs a digital dollar from Forbes – Dave Birch ruminates on the events of the past week and makes the case for stablecoins, particularly a digital dollar, being a means of stabilizing the financial system.
Every Thursday at 5 p.m. ET, the Fintech Nexus news team and a special guest discuss the week’s fintech news. Below the video we posted this week’s show on YouTube. You can also listen to the show by podcast form.
