Joseph Seibert, formerly head of its digital assets at Signature Bank, and four members of his Signet payments team have joined Fortress Trust, the Nevada-based chartered trust company with a focus on cryptocurrency and Web3.

A key financial oversight council chaired by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen is aiming to tighten rules on risk assessment and for nonbank companies after the high-profile Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank failures last month.

Metropolitan Commercial Bank is nearing completion of its exit from the cryptocurrency market, with only $278.5 million in crypto-related deposits remaining. The bank's parent company, Metropolitan Bank Holding, announced the termination of crypto-related services in January due to recent industry developments and regulatory pressure.

The Superintendent of the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), Adrienne Harris, has refuted allegations that cryptocurrency depositors were responsible for the collapse of Signature Bank. 

The U.S. affiliate of global crypto exchange Binance has struggled to find a bank for its customers’ cash after the failure of Signature Bank left it without a key banking partner, people familiar with the matter said. 

Adrienne A. Harris, the superintendent of New York’s Department of Financial Services, has branded as “ludicrous” the claims that the closure of Signature Bank was related to its crypto business. Harris insisted that the bank’s “high percentage of uninsured deposits” and insufficient liquidity were some of the reasons why it was closed.

After a Bloomberg article alleged exposure between stablecoin provider Tether and the now-collapsed Signature Bank, rumors began to circulate regarding the involvement between the two companies. 

Tether Holdings Ltd. doesn’t have direct access to the US banking system, but for a while it found at least one pathway: through Signature Bank. 

Tether, the world's biggest stablecoin issuer, used Signature Bank to transfer U.S. dollar funds from the U.S. to the Bahamas, Bloomberg reported.

Insiders of defunct Signature Bank reportedly sold over $100 million of shares in the years after the bank shifted its focus to attract cryptocurrency companies. The bank's deposits surged by 68% in 2021, and the launch of the bank's shares recorded a 140% gain in the same year. A major chunk of shares was sold by the executives in the spring of 2021 at nearly $220. Bank disclosures show that the chairman sold $5.4 million of stock in 2021, and the chief executive and chief operating officer sold $13.9 million and $14.9 million of shares, respectively, in 2021. Signature Bank was reportedly being investigated by two US government authorities prior to its fall, with the Justice Department investigating whether the company took necessary measures to identify potential money laundering by its clients, and the SEC also looking into the bank's dealings. Signature was placed in receivership by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), with the agency now intending to market a $60-billion loan portfolio in the coming months.