Stablecoin issuers helped Signature Bank attract $1 billion in deposits

New York-based Signature Bank, whose clients include cryptocurrency companies, increased deposits by $4.11 billion in the third quarter. A quarter of that amount came from firms dealing with digital currencies, including stablecoin issuers, according to Coindesk.

Total deposits at Signature Bank stand at $54.34 billion. Over the past year, they have risen by $15.28 billion, or about 40%.

During a conference call on the company’s financials, Signature Bank CEO Joseph DePaolo disclosed the information.

He did not specify which stablecoin issuers’ reserves are on the bank’s balance sheet, but this is the first time such information has been disclosed, the publication notes.

DePaolo added that in the second quarter, deposits from crypto firms also grew by about $1 billion.

“Our clients in the cryptocurrency industry were initially hesitant. They wanted to be sure of the resilience of our business,” said Joseph DePaolo.

The bank’s interest in working with crypto companies is explained by the fact that they often keep funds in on-demand deposits, providing the bank with a cheap source of funding for active operations.

In addition to taking deposits, this year Signature Bank provided about 40 loans to blockchain companies under the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Signature Bank has opened its doors to many crypto firms in recent years. The bank offers Signet, a platform targeted at institutional users for digital payments. It competes with Silvergate Bank’s Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN), which enables corporate clients to conduct real-time transactions around the clock and borrow against Bitcoin.

In May this year, Bitstamp, the oldest Bitcoin exchange in Europe, announced the integration of Signet.

In September, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC), part of the U.S. Treasury, allowed national banks and federal savings associations to hold reserves of stablecoin issuers.

Subscribe to ForkLog news on VK!