Cointime

Download App
iOS & Android

FTX-Linked Moonstone Bank To Exit the Crypto Space

Moonstone Bank, a rural Washington state bank that received an estimated $11.5 million investment from FTX’s sister company, Alameda Research, says that it will be exiting the crypto space and returning to its “original mission” as a community bank.

In a Jan. 18 statement, the bank said that the change in strategy comes as a result of “recent events in the crypto assets industry and the changing regulatory environment surrounding crypto asset businesses.”

As part of the bank’s initiative to “return to its roots,” it said that it will no longer use the name Moonstone Bank and will be rebranding and re-adopting the Farmington State Bank name, known in the local community for 135 years.

Moonstone Bank was reportedly acquired in 2020 by Jean Chalopin, the Bahamas-based chairman of Deltec, which is another FTX banking partner. Chalopin reportedly secured an $11.5 million investment from Alameda Research in January 2022 to transform Moonstone into a crypto-focused financial services firm.

On Jan. 5, Cointelegraph reported that the FTX debacle has triggered a bank run on Silvergate, causing the company to sell off its assets at a loss and cut staff by 40% to cover $8.1 billion worth of customer withdrawals. As a result of this, Silvergate dismissed around 200 employees, which was 40% of its total personnel. Additionally, the bank canceled its plan to launch its own digital currency project.

Comments

All Comments

Recommended for you

  • Cointime April 23th News Express

    1. EigenLayer: Deposit limits for all LST tokens will be removed on April 16
  • Cointime April 5th News Express

    1.Mystiko.Network Community Sale Completed, Total $11.25 Million in XZK Sold2.Solana Co-founder Responds to the Sharp Increase in Transaction Failure Rates: Patch Coming Soon3.Ethena USDe market value exceeds 2 billion US dollars, setting a new record4.Du Jun, Executive Director and CEO of Xinhuo & Founder of ABCDE: Xinhuo Technology and ABCDE will invest 100 million US dollars to support blockchain companies that promote social development 5.QCP Capital: Bitcoin is expected to return to $70,000 this week, while Ethereum continues to be weak6.bitSmiley Labs officially launches its independent ecosystem plan, bitUniverse, and reveals its OG pass bitDisc-Black Upgraded Priviledges 7.Avalanche Foundation launches ice-breaking plan, focusing on LST track in the first phase and funding 500,000 AVAX 8.SuperRare Expands into Bitcoin Ordinals with Killer Acid's Psychedelic Art Collection 9.A dormant whale address for 8 months deposited 1,100 BTC into Binance10.Meme exchange DerpDEX.com completes multi-million dollar strategic investment, with participation from ABO Digital and others
  • Terra founder Do Kwon to be extradited to U.S.

    Terra founder Do Kwon will be extradited to the United States.
  • Cointime February 3 News Express

    1. Ripple payment service "Ripple Payments" plans to return to the US market and launch targeted solutions
  • FTX Was Never Really Bankrupt

    The prosecution in Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial drilled into the jurors’ heads that FTX customer losses exceeded $8 billion, but never substantiated that claim. In reality, the crypto exchange had sufficient assets to make creditors whole all along – a fact that would likely change the public’s perception of its founder.
  • Cointime January 14 News Express

    1.Digital asset protocol Metaplex will list its Solana inscription on January 162.Investment bank TD Cowen: The U.S. SEC will not approve an Ethereum spot ETF in the short term3.Binance, Kraken and other nine trading platforms have been removed from Google App Store in India4.Barclays economists advance forecast for Fed rate cut to start from June to March5.The Chairman of the U.S. SEC issued a statement on the theft of the SEC's official Twitter account: The impact is still being evaluated and the company is cooperating with law enforcement agencies for
  • Cointime January 7th News Express

    1.Ordinals’ cumulative fee income exceeds 5,400 BTC
  • Cointime December 31st News Express

    1.Linea mainnet has crossed 305,685 ETH
  • Cointime December 24 News Express

    1.RTFKT will launch the Animus project in Q1 2024
  • Cointime December 23 News Express

    1.The U.S. SEC requires Bitcoin spot ETF issuers to confirm authorized participant information in the next update application