Signature Bank’s Real-Time Crypto Payments Network Still Online, For Now

Max Reyes, Muyao Shen and David Pan, Bloomberg News

Signage outside a Signature Bank branch in New York, US, on Monday, March 13, 2023. The sudden closure of New York's Signature Bank by state regulators Sunday underscored the urgency of extraordinary US efforts to backstop the nations banking system and quell mounting concerns among customers about the safety of their deposits. , Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) -- Signature Bank’s payments network — used by cryptocurrency firms looking to exchange fiat currency in real time — is still online even after the lender was put into receivership.

Signet, a blockchain-based system, has been a key piece of the infrastructure powering the 24/7 crypto market. The system, a competitor to Silvergate Capital Corp.’s now-defunct SEN, counted stablecoin issuer Circle, crypto exchange Coinbase and a range of crypto trading shops among its users. Signet used technology developed by Tassat, which builds private blockchains for banks.

“Signet has operated smoothly and without interruption during this period to help facilitate needed intra-bank payments for Signature’s clients,” Tassat Chief Executive Officer Kevin Greene said in an emailed statement. “Tassat’s technology continues to perform without interruption,” Greene said.

One person at a crypto trading firm, who spoke to Bloomberg on the condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss company matters, said they had successfully completed transactions on Monday. Another person, a trader who works with large crypto companies, said two of their trading partners had been able to make crypto deposits and withdrawals as of Monday afternoon in New York.

A third person, who asked not to be named discussing private conversations, acknowledged that Signet was operational but wouldn’t say whether and for how long it might continue to function.

Signature was put into receivership by regulators in New York on Sunday, just days after the collapse of SVB Financial Group’s banking arm caused panic among venture capitalists in Silicon Valley and around the world. The successive bank failures prompted significant interventions from federal regulators in attempt to stop further contagion.

A representative for the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., which was put in charge of Signature after its receivership, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.