Crypto in many ways used to be a 24/7 market, but the escalating crisis among a set of small U.S. banks has upended that.
Regulators’ abrupt closure Sunday of Signature Bank following Silvergate’s shuttering last week knocked out the two biggest crypto-friendly banks and also means the round-the-clock payment systems both offered have disappeared.
Some signs of problems have already started to emerge. Crypto exchange Okcoin said that Signature was its primary bank for USD deposits, and temporarily paused U.S. dollar deposits along with wire and ACH transfers. And BCB Group, a U.K.-based bank, said Sunday it has delayed a pilot expansion in the U.S. of its European instant settlement network, originally scheduled for Monday.