Barney Frank, a former member of the United States House of Representatives, has reportedly suggested New York regulators closed the crypto-friendly Signature Bank as part of a seeming show of force.
According to a March 13 CNBC report, Frank — also a board member of Signature Bank — said the only indication of problems at the bank was a deposit run of more than $10 billion on March 10, which he called “purely contagion” from the Silicon Valley Bank fallout. The New York Department of Financial Services took control of Signature on March 12 and appointed the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation to handle the insurance process.
“I think part of what happened was that regulators wanted to send a very strong anti-crypto message,” said Frank. “We became the poster boy because there was no insolvency based on the fundamentals.”
This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.