GM. This is Milk Road. The newsletter that makes you feel like you’re part of the family. *raises glass of milk*... salud!
Here’s what we're serving today:
- Down goes SVB
- Epic Games & Lego team up on a new metaverse
Today's edition is brought to you by Brickken, the go-to platform for token investments
DOWN GOES SILICON VALLEY BANK
There's no sugarcoating: things are bad...
On Friday, Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) was forced to shut down by U.S. regulators. SVB was added to the "Failed Bank List" and ~$175B of customer deposits were seized by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC).
It's one of the worst bank failures since 2008. That's right, it hasn't been this bad since Twilight came out.
Why is this such a big deal? SVB has been the go-to bank for Silicon Valley tech startups for the last decade. In fact, ~50% of all U.S. venture-backed tech & life sciences companies used SVB to hold their funds.
Well, turns out SVB mismanaged those funds and now thousands of companies have lost their money and don’t know if they can meet payroll or continue running their businesses.
On top of that, only ~3% of all deposits into SVB are FDIC-insured. For reference, the average bank in the U.S. has about ~50% of deposits FDIC insured.
Damn, our expectations and trust in traditional finance were already low, but this takes it to another level...
So what's next? It's hard to predict how far the SVB contagion will spread or how long the effects will last, but buckle up because things will get rocky.
It isn't gonna affect just the stock market & startup world either, it will bleed into crypto too. And we're already seeing it begin...
- Circle, issuer for the USDC stablecoin, announced it has $3.3B of its reserves stuck on SVB. USDC has depegged from $1 over the last 24h as panic has caused a sell-off
- Coinbase announced it's temporarily pausing USDC: USD conversions over the weekend. What is this, a traditional bank?
- Blockfi, the bankrupt crypto lender, has $227M stuck on SVB.
These might be the first companies to make announcements about their exposure to SVB, but certainly won't be the last.
This is like if FTX and Enron had a kid - it's gonna cause more havoc than Dennis the Menace...
Here's how people on Twitter are reacting:
The tragedy of SVB is that its not the wealthy taking the hit. It's the thousands of companies who borrowed from SVB and were required to keep their cash in SVB. Those entrepreneurs and their employees and vendors are feeling the pain. And they are who the Fed should protect
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban)5:32 AM • Mar 11, 2023
SVB depositors, mostly startups paying payroll to employees, lost money because their bank, unbeknownst to them, bought treasuries and mortgage-backed securities with a duration mismatch this isn't a "lOL riCh vCs LoSt MoneY on ApeS" situation
— ⚡🌙 (@dystopiabreaker)9:02 AM • Mar 11, 2023
The real victims of the SVB fallout are the depositors: startups (10 to 100 employees) who cannot make payroll, and will have to shut down or furlough *next week* If these startups wait weeks/months for their deposits, we have destroyed a generation of US startups, *at random* twitter.com/i/web/status/1…
— Garry Tan 陈嘉兴 (@garrytan)9:50 PM • Mar 10, 2023
And of course, we got some funny tweets/memes to help chuckle away the pain...
My lead investor just texted me this about SVB.
— Roshan Patel (@roshanpateI)4:58 PM • Mar 10, 2023
Just took out 7 mortgages from Silicon Valley Bank. There is a good chance they go bankrupt and I don’t have to pay it back. Be greedy when others are fearful.
— Dr. Parik Patel, BA, CFA, ACCA Esq. (@ParikPatelCFA)3:32 PM • Mar 10, 2023
The SVB aftermath is something we'll be keeping a close eye on and we'll make sure to bring you all the latest news. Keep an eye on those inboxes next week!
BRICKKN - A NEW WAY TO RAISE & INVEST FUNDS
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MILK AND COOKIES
An NFT collection tied to Vitalik Buterin is at the top spot on OpenSea with ~$13.4M in trading volume. The drop includes his project Quadratic Funding’s 2018 whitepaper and physical prints signed by Vitalik.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong tweeted a positive thread summing up why crypto matters, such as its speed and transparency. Ah, we forgot what serotonin feels like…
Lego and Epic Games are teaming up to create a new metaverse. Finally, a Lego piece that won't kill me every time I step on one...
Meta is in the early stages of building a decentralized, text-based social network. Look out, Elon.
MILKY MEME
🤣🤣
That's a wrap for today. Meet us on Twitter to talk all about it. It’s kinda like a family BBQ but better - no screaming kids, awkward photos, or drunk uncles telling weird stories(@MilkRoadDaily)
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A ROADER'S REVIEW
VITALIK PIC OF THE DAY
gm to everyone touching grass today ☀️
— Milk Road (@MilkRoadDaily)12:58 PM • Mar 11, 2023
DISCLAIMER: None of this is financial advice. This newsletter is strictly educational and is not investment advice or a solicitation to buy or sell any assets or to make any financial decisions. Please be careful and do your own research.
