Silvergate Capital (SI) was defended by Wall Street analysts after its shares plunged over 20% on Tuesday amid the ongoing concerns about crypto exchange FTX.
Silvergate is a crypto-focused bank with its own Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN), a fiat on-ramp for bitcoin (BTC) markets, with FTX being one of their customers.
Analysts don’t see a lasting hit to Silvergate, however. BTIG analyst Mark Palmer said he spoke on Tuesday to Silvergate's president, Ben Reynolds, who told him that Silvergate neither holds FTT tokens nor lends against them, and that FTX’s challenges have had no direct impact on the company.
“As for the suggestion expressed by some on social media that SI’s SEN Leverage platform could suffer losses due to exposure to FTX, [Reynolds] noted that all of the platform’s loans are significantly overcollateralized by bitcoin that could be liquidated to cover those exposures if necessary,” Palmer wrote in a research note. BTIG has a buy rating and $135 price target on Silvergate.
Separately, Canaccord highlighted that Silvergate doesn’t hold any crypto assets of its own, and should be able to avoid additional risk from the FTX situation.
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“In the event that FTX ceases operations or some customers migrate to other exchanges, it is highly likely that Silvergate will still capture that trading volume under its operational umbrella,” Canaccord analyst Joe Vafi told clients in a note. Canaccord has a buy rating and $150 price target on Silvergate.
Silvergate shares are down close to 11% Wednesday morning to $35.26.