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The filing shows that BlockFi has uninsured $227 million in Silicon Valley Bank MMMF

Crypto News

According to a new bankruptcy filing, defunct crypto lender BlockFi has $227 million worth of uninsured funds allocated to a money market mutual fund (MMMF) offered by the troubled Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).

SVB — one of the largest banks in the US and a key partner of venture-backed companies — was closed by the California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) on March 10, without specific details at the time of closing.

Move adds to recent Bankruptcy carnage at Silvergate which sent crypto markets crashing since the crypto-friendly bank’s financial problems came to light in early March.

Looking at ongoing BlockFi bankruptcy casedeclaration of March 10 shows that the firm has $227 million worth of equity in MMMF offered by SVB.

In particular, the document highlights a summary balance sheet statement from SVB that states BlockFi’s investment is not an FDIC-insured deposit, not insured by any federal government agency, and “not bank-guaranteed “.

FDIC Federal Deposit Insurance covers up to $250,000 per depositor, but does not cover money market funds.

A money market mutual fund invests in highly liquid short-term instruments such as cash, cash equivalents and high-quality short-term debt instruments and is regulated by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

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Investors are issued fund shares in exchange for their capital, and as such BlockFi funds may not be at risk despite SVB’s problems.

SVB offered several mutual fund investment services, but according to his website, he does not appear to have managed the funds themselves. The firm lists big names such as BlackRock, Morgan Stanley and Western Asset Management as fund managers.

As such, the risk to BlockFi in this case is most likely hampered by the fund’s performance rather than anything related to SVB’s financial woes.

One firm that looks set to be directly affected by SVB’s shutdown — and Silvergate’s bankruptcy — is USD Coin (USDC) circle of issuers.

According to the company’s latest audit report as of Jan. 31. $8.6 billion, or roughly 20% of its reserveswere held at several US financial institutions, including SVB, Silvrgate and Bank of New York Mellon.

The exact value held by SVB and Silvergate is unclear, but Circle issued a statement via Twitter on March 10, noting that the firm and USDC will continue to “operate as normal” as it awaits “clarity on how SVB’s receivership by the FDIC will impact on depositors.”

At the time of writing, USDC has fallen below the $1 mark to $0.98 according to CoinGecko data.