US regulators shut down Republic First Bank, sparking debate in the crypto community as Bitcoin and altcoins experience a slight fall.
United States regulators’ closure of the Philadelphia-based Republic First Bank represents the country’s first banking failure in 2024.
The news has generated discussion within the cryptocurrency community, with Bitcoin and several alternative cryptocurrencies experiencing a modest decline.
“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 post 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 post on X.
“How many more need to fail before people start to be their own bank?” crypto commentator Randi Hipper asked her 87,100 X followers on April 26.
On April 26, the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities seized Republic First; the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) was designated as the institution’s receiver. The agency will assume the vast majority of deposits and acquire all of Republic Bank’s assets, the FDIC announced on April 26.
As of January 31, Republic First possessed an estimated total of $6 billion in assets and $4 billion in deposits.
Furthermore, on April 27, 32 branches of the bank located in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey will reopen, operating under the aegis of Fulton Bank.
Even rumors of potential bank failures in 2023 resulted in brief price increases for Bitcoin. Despite this, its cost has decreased marginally since the announcement of First Republic.
JPMorgan acquired First Republic Bank, an independent entity unrelated to Republic First, in May 2023 after unsuccessful initial attempts at recovery.
As a precautionary measure to safeguard the U.S. economy, the Federal Reserve declared the closure of Signature Bank in March 2023, citing “systemic risk.”
The order to close Silicon Valley Bank was issued only days before its arrival. Another crypto-friendly bank, Silvergate Bank, declared its intention to cease operations and enter voluntary liquidation one week prior.
