Barney Frank, a former member of the US House of Representatives and board member of Signature Bank, has blamed some members of the public for the bank's collapse. Speaking at a New York State Senate hearing, Frank claimed that the bank's dealings with crypto were safe before regulators intervened. He suggested that the bank acted as a facilitator for crypto rather than investing directly in digital assets and that some members of the public failed to understand this. The hearing was one of the first at state level to explore the failure of the crypto-friendly bank.

A former executive of Signature Bank has attempted to shift blame for the bank's failure onto digital assets. However, Senator Cynthia Lummis criticized this approach as deflationary, pointing out that reckless management policies were also to blame.

According to FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg, Signature Bank's involvement in the digital asset industry was a major factor in its collapse. Gruenberg also acknowledged the FDIC's shortcomings in not taking action sooner to prevent the crisis from spreading. The agency's supervision could have been stronger, he said. Signature Bank was not exclusively a crypto bank, but its efforts towards the industry became more pronounced during the pandemic-era bull run. However, the fall of FTX was a major turning point, and Signature Bank distanced itself from the industry in a bid to reduce its exposure.

Former Signature Bank executive, Scott Shay, has been criticized for blaming the collapse of the bank on cryptocurrency while allegedly pocketing millions in bonuses and stock options. During a Senate Banking Committee hearing, Senator Cynthia Lummis accused Shay of deflecting blame onto digital assets and regulators. Senator Elizabeth Warren also criticized Shay and Silicon Valley Bank CEO, Gregory Pecker, for keeping millions after recklessly crashing banks. Warren is working with a bipartisan group in the Banking Committee to introduce a bill that can claw back excessive paychecks. The New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) previously stated that blaming crypto for Signature Bank's collapse was "ludicrous" and that it was instead a "new-fashioned bank run."

During a Senate Banking Committee hearing, Senator Cynthia Lummis expressed disappointment that former crypto-friendly Signature Bank executive, Scott Shay, was not taking responsibility for the bank's failure and instead blaming digital asset depositors and regulators. Shay had noted the volatility of digital assets and regulators' concerns in prepared testimony, but Lummis pointed out that he had mentioned digital assets 10 times, implying they were a cause of the bank's collapse. Some crypto advocates on Twitter have blamed the government for intentionally targeting the crypto sector with bank closures, but NYDFS Superintendent Adrienne Harris pushed back on that sentiment, calling it "ludicrous." Signature Bank failed in March, one of three banks to fail within days of each other.

Wells Fargo & Co. Chief Executive Officer Charlie Scharf said US banks such as his shouldn’t be required to “unconditionally” cover the failures of other financial institutions.

Democratic presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. criticized what he called a “war on crypto” following earlier remarks he made opposing a U.S. central bank digital currency, or CBDC.

The Federal Reserve and the FDIC published reports on Friday concerning the fall of the second and third-largest U.S. bank failures in history.

The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) investigation into the collapse of Signature Bank found that the root cause of its troubles was “poor management” and risky crypto deposits.

Signature Bank (SBNY) fell apart due to mismanagement by its officers and “contagion effects” after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and wind-down of Silvergate Bank, a federal bank regulator said Friday.