Following the collapse of two crypto-friendly American banks, European lenders are reportedly filling that space.
As Bloomberg News reported Tuesday (July 23), two Swiss banks — Amina Bank and Sygnum Bank — have recently launched real-time payment and settlement networks, targeting a gap left by the closure of Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN) and Signature Bank’s Signet platform.
Before their collapse in March of last year, those banks played a key role in providing liquidity to the crypto market, the report said.
SEN facilitated $117 billion in transfers in the quarter before Silvergate voluntarily liquidated, while Signet processed $275.5 billion before Signature was taken over by U.S. regulators.
According to Bloomberg, the end of those networks left bitcoin liquidity even worse off than it was following the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX in 2022.
Now, crypto players are still seeking alternatives. Amina and Sygnum, both of which went live in recent weeks, are hoping to fill that void, offering a 24/7 network for instant transactions in both fiat currencies and cryptoassets, with no fees for transfers between network members.
The aim is to help crypto companies “execute trades and settle positions more quickly,” said Kok Kee Chong, chief executive of Singapore-based crypto exchange AsiaNext, which has partnered with Sygnum Connect.
“This improves market liquidity, as traders can respond to market movements in real-time without having to wait for settlement,” he added.
Meanwhile, PYMNTS wrote earlier this month on the state of the crypto industry as it struggles to gain wider acceptance.
That report pointed to research by PYMNTS Intelligence showing “that using cryptocurrencies for cross-border payments could be the winning use case that the sector has been looking for.”
According to the research, blockchain-based cross-border solutions, particularly stablecoins, are being increasingly embraced by companies seeking a better way to transact and expand internationally. The Solana network processed $1.4 trillion in stablecoin cross-border payments this past March alone — a sign of the technology’s scalability.
At the same time, the industry continues to argue that regulators such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) need to provide more regulatory clarity.
“What we are seeing, where it’s the U.K., Japan, Singapore … even the European Union, more than two dozen countries have come together to provide a framework for crypto regulation,” Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse said last week. “It’s frustrating that we as a country can’t get that framework in place. And instead, we have this interminable litigation coming from the SEC that really isn’t solving the problem.”
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