Former Silvergate Bank CEO Alan Lane has publicly attributed the crypto lender’s voluntary liquidation in 2023 to political and regulatory pressure from the Biden administration, arguing the institution remained solvent even after absorbing a historic deposit outflow.
In an inaugural Substack post, Lane said Silvergate could have continued operating after satisfying withdrawals equal to 70% of its demand deposits during the fourth quarter of 2022. He described what he called a ‘coordinated attack by the Biden Administration’ and said the bank ultimately chose liquidation ‘in the face of political pressure.’
Deposit collapse and asset sales
Lane acknowledged the severity of the Q4 2022 deposit run. According to a January 2023 business update, digital asset deposits at Silvergate fell 68%, dropping from 11.9 billion dollars to 3.8 billion dollars in a single quarter. To cover withdrawals, the bank sold 5.2 billion dollars in debt securities, recording a 718 million dollar loss in the process. Silvergate reported 4.6 billion dollars in cash and equivalents at year-end.
Lane argued the bank held liquid assets that could be sold or pledged as collateral during the withdrawal surge, framing the wind-down as a choice made under political duress rather than a financial inevitability.
Federal findings tell a different story
Lane’s firsthand account directly conflicts with conclusions drawn by federal regulators. A September 2023 review by the Federal Reserve Board’s Office of Inspector General attributed Silvergate’s liquidation to its concentrated crypto deposit base, rapid growth, multilayered funding risks, and significant weaknesses in corporate governance and risk management. That review also noted that examiners could have acted more aggressively and decisively.
SEC charges and settlements
Lane also pushed back on regulators’ characterisation of the bank’s anti-money laundering controls, stating no regulator had proven those controls failed.
In July 2024, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Silvergate Capital, Lane, and former chief risk officer Kathleen Fraher with misleading investors about the bank’s AML programme and its monitoring of crypto customers. The SEC alleged that Silvergate’s automated monitoring system failed to review more than 1 trillion dollars in transactions and that the bank missed nearly 9 billion dollars in suspicious transfers among FTX entities.
Lane settled the SEC charges without admitting or denying the allegations, agreeing to a 1 million dollar penalty and a five-year officer-and-director bar. Separately, the Federal Reserve fined Silvergate 43 million dollars for transaction-monitoring deficiencies.
Interagency crypto-risk statements
Lane pointed to interagency crypto-risk guidance issued in early 2023 as further evidence of industry-wide pressure. Those statements urged banks to take a cautious approach to crypto-related activities. The Federal Reserve noted at the time that institutions were neither prohibited nor discouraged from serving any specific customer class. Government agencies withdrew the statements in April 2025.
