US Bank Lending Drops by Record $105 Billion in Two Weeks, Trillions Moving to Money Market Accounts, Elon Musk Warns ‘Trend Will Accelerate’

The banking industry in the United States is still struggling after the collapse of three major banks. According to statistics, bank lending in the U.S. has dropped by close to $105 billion in the last two weeks of March, which is the largest decline on record. Additionally, Elon Musk, a Tesla executive and owner of … Read more

Crypto Hardware Wallet Maker Ledger Raises $100M Amid Growing Demand for Secure Storage Solutions 

The cryptocurrency hardware wallet manufacturer Ledger has raised €100 million ($109 million) in funding, according to the company’s disclosure on Thursday. Ledger CEO Pascal Gauthier says there has been significant demand for hardware wallets. He added, “2023 is even better for us because now you can’t even leave money at a Swiss bank.” Ledger to … Read more

Senate Banking Committee Holds Hearing on Recent Bank Collapses, Calls for Tougher Regulations

On Tuesday, the U.S. Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, also known as the Senate Banking Committee, held a hearing to discuss the recent bank collapses in the United States and the regulatory response. Throughout the testimonies, digital assets and crypto businesses were mentioned. Senate Banking Committee chairman Sherrod Brown claimed on Tuesday … Read more

A Look at the Fed’s Recent Custodia Bank Denial and the Central Bank’s Push Back Against Narrow Banking

Over the past century, the number of American banks has significantly decreased, dropping from 30,000 banks in 1921 to 4,997 U.S. banks in 2021, according to data from the Federal Reserve. Recently, the U.S. central bank denied Custodia Bank of Wyoming, a financial institution that holds $1.08 for every dollar deposited by customers. Although there … Read more

Moody’s Warns of Potential Financial Disruption Spillover Beyond US Banking Sector

Roughly ten days ago, the credit agency Moody’s Investors Service downgraded the U.S. banking sector from “stable” to “negative.” In a recent update on Thursday, the company stated that there is still a risk to the U.S. economy. The managing director of credit strategy at Moody’s explained that the country “will be unable to curtail … Read more

US Central Bank’s Fednow Payment Service to Launch in July, Economist Calls Timing ‘Suspicious’

According to the U.S. Federal Reserve, the central bank’s Fednow payment service will start operating in July, and participants will be certified in April to leverage the Fednow Pilot Program. Ken Montgomery, the Fednow program executive, is urging American financial institutions to make preparations to join the central bank’s new payment service. Economist Richard Werner, … Read more

First Republic Bank’s Shares Downgraded to Junk Status by S&P Global; Stock Slides More Than 25% Lower

After UBS acquired Credit Suisse and close to a dozen financial institutions injected $30 billion into First Republic Bank four days ago, S&P Global downgraded First Republic’s shares to junk status on Sunday. Investors are concerned that the cash infusion from 11 major financial institutions may not address the bank’s liquidity issues. First Republic’s shares … Read more

Google Trends Data Reveals Searches for ‘Banking Crisis,’ ‘Bank Runs,’ Skyrocket

Interest in the U.S. banking crisis has risen greatly over the past two weeks, as shown by Google Trends data. There has been a sharp increase in queries related to search terms such as “banking crisis,” “bank collapse,” and “bank failure.” On March 13, 2023, the search term “banking crisis” reached the top Google Trends … Read more

US Bank Outflows and Concerns Mount: 11 Banks Bail Out First Republic Bank From Collapse

After the fall of Silvergate Bank, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), and Signature Bank (SNBY), First Republic Bank, a commercial bank and wealth management services provider, is the latest financial institution to receive a bailout. Close to a dozen lenders announced they will deposit $30 billion into the beleaguered bank’s coffers to shore up liquidity. U.S. … Read more

Republican Congressman Tom Emmer Queries FDIC on Alleged Efforts to Purge Crypto Activity from US

On Wednesday, Tom Emmer, the U.S. Republican congressman from Minnesota, revealed he sent a letter to Martin Gruenberg, the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), regarding reports that the FDIC is “weaponizing recent instability” in the U.S. banking industry to “purge legal crypto activity” from the United States. Specifically, Emmer asked Gruenberg if … Read more