Bank

United

Goner

April

United States regulators have closed Philadelphia-based Republic First Bank, marking the nation’s first banking failure of 2024.
It has sparked debate among the crypto community amid Bitcoin (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/bitcoin-price" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">BTC</a>), Ether (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/ethereum-price" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">ETH</a>) and several altcoins slightly faltering following the news.
“Another bank just collapsed, the Republic First Bank. Yeah... I think I’ll stick to Bitcoin,” CEO of Zesh Marius Martocsan stated in an April 26 <a href="https://x.com/martocsan_/status/1784009342129234339" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">post</a> on X.
“Republic First Bank failure is worth a look since bank failures are the best possible narrative we can get for crypto,” pseudonymous crypto trader Pillage Capital claimed in an April 26 <a href="https://x.com/PillageCapital/status/1784002832233902226" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">post</a> on X.
“How many more need to fail before people start to be their own bank?” crypto commentator Randi Hipper <a href="https://twitter.com/missteencrypto/status/1783995096314118389" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">asked</a> her 87,100 X followers on April 26.
After Republic First was seized by the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities on April 26, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was appointed as its receiver. The agency will take on nearly all deposits and acquire all assets of Republic Bank, <a href="https://www.fdic.gov/news/press-releases/fulton-bank-na-lancaster-pennsylvania-assumes-substantially-all-deposits" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">according</a> to an April 26 statement published by the FDIC.
Republic First had approximately $6 billion in total assets along with $4 billion in total deposits as of Jan. 31.&nbsp;
Furthermore, the bank’s 32 branches across New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York will reopen under Fulton Bank’s umbrella on April 27.
In 2023, even <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-price-jumps-in-the-wake-of-first-republic-bank-crash" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">rumors of possible banking failures</a> saw slight spikes in Bitcoin’s price shortly after. However, its price has slightly declined following the news of First Republic.
Over the past hour, Bitcoin is down 1.16%, trading at $62,715, and Ether is down 0.58%, trading at $3,095, <a href="https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">according</a> to CoinMarketCap data.&nbsp;
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 Bitcoin has been trading below a key support level of $65,000 in the past 24 hours. Source: CoinMarketCap
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Meanwhile, altcoins have seen a slightly larger slump in the same timeframe, with Dogecoin (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/doge-price-index" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">DOGE</a>) down 2.88% and Solana's (<a href="https://cointelegraph.com/solana-price-index" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">SOL</a>) down 1.79%.
The news follows a rough year for the banking industry, with five banking failures recorded in the U.S. in 2023, <a href="https://www.fdic.gov/resources/resolutions/bank-failures/in-brief/bfb2023.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">according</a> to FDIC data.
Related: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/custodia-bank-takes-case-higher-court-after-march-setback" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Custodia Bank takes case to higher court after March setback</a>
First Republic Bank, a separate entity with no affiliation to Republic First, was acquired by JPMorgan in May 2023 after initial recovery efforts failed.
In March 2023, the Federal Reserve <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/signature-bank-closed-by-new-york-banking-authorities" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">announced the closure of Signature Bank</a>&nbsp;to protect the U.S. economy, citing “systemic risk.”
It came only days after <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/sen-warren-calls-out-sham-audits-while-svb-threatens-crypto-bankruptcy" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Silicon Valley Bank</a> was ordered to shut down. A week prior, <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/news/silvergate-capital-corporation-will-voluntarily-liquidate-silvergate-bank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Silvergate Bank</a>, another crypto-friendly bank, announced it would close its doors and go into voluntary liquidation.
Magazine: <a href="https://cointelegraph.com/magazine/gordon-goner-health-battle-bored-apes-turn-3/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Gordon Goner on his dramatic health battles and Bored Apes turning 3</a>

Republic First Bank closed by US regulators — crypto community reacts

Cointelegraph

Other articles published on Apr 27, 2024

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