us dollar coin (USDC) has announced that stablecoin issuer Circle has lost $3.3 billion in its now collapsing currency. Silicon Valley Bank It will be “fully available” when US banks open.
USDC is a type of virtual currency called a stablecoin. USDBacked by real assets including US Treasury and cash, it is the second largest stablecoin in existence. tether.
Circle said last week that SVB has a cash reserve of $3.3 billion. After the bank collapse, USDC lost its $1 peg and fell to 86 cents on Saturday, according to CoinDesk data.
In total, they have about $9.7 billion in cash, according to Circle. His $5.4 billion of that is currently held at BNY Mellon.
The company said the $3.3 billion in USDC reserves held at Silicon Valley banks will be fully available when U.S. banks open for business on Monday.
USDC nearly regained its peg after the Circle relief, hovering just below $1 at around 99 cents on Monday, according to CoinDesk data.
Circle’s announcement comes after U.S. regulators shut down SVB last week and took control of its deposits. It was the biggest bank failure since the 2008 financial crisis.
On Sunday, the US Treasury Department, Federal Reserve Board and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation announced that SVB depositors will have access to all funds starting Monday.
According to Circle, USDC will continue to be redeemable 1:1 with the US dollar.
Circle CEO Jeremy Allaire said Sunday that the company has entered into a new partnership with Cross River Bank to issue and redeem USDC.
Allaire also praised the government’s intervention in the SVB debacle.
“We are pleased that the U.S. government and financial regulators are taking important steps to mitigate the risks emanating from the banking system,” he said in a press release.
SVB is the latest of a handful of technology and crypto-focused moneylenders to go bankrupt in the past few days. Silvergate Capital, a major lender to the cryptocurrency industry, announced Wednesday that it will scale back operations and liquidate its banks. And on Sunday, US regulators shut down another cryptocurrency lender, Signature Bank, to prevent an infection in the banking sector.
Circle said Signature Bank has no cash reserves.
The broader cryptocurrency market rallied on Monday as regulators intervened. Bitcoin It jumped 10% to over $22,000.