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R25-Powered Vault Brings Emerging-Market Consumer Lending Onchain

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R25-Powered Vault Brings Emerging-Market Consumer Lending Onchain

  • R25 has powered the launch of Axil Consumer Credit Vault, an institutional-grade onchain vault offering exposure to emerging-market consumer lending.
  • The vault, live on Pharos, launches with $35 million in committed deposits and offers up to 15% APY.
  • The initiative aims to connect global DeFi capital with underserved retail borrowers across markets such as Mexico, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Pakistan.

R25 has powered the launch of the Axil Consumer Credit Vault, an onchain credit product designed to give institutional allocators exposure to consumer lending across emerging markets.

The vault, also called the rcPC Vault, has gone live on Pharos and is curated by Axil. It launches with $35 million in committed deposits, following a broader pre-deposit campaign that R25 said raised $50 million and reached its cap within 48 hours.

The product offers up to 15% APY through a combination of yield from underlying consumer lending assets and protocol incentives. It uses USDC as the settlement asset and is built on R25’s vault infrastructure.

The launch comes as tokenized credit is becoming one of the larger real-world asset categories in crypto.

RWA.xyz data shows tokenized credit had about $22.62 billion in represented value and $5.29 billion in distributed value, covering private credit, onchain lending, corporate credit, structured credit and specialty credit assets.

Emerging-market borrowers meet DeFi capital

The vault targets consumer lending exposure across Mexico, Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia and Pakistan.

R25 said these markets represent more than 1.3 billion people, many of whom remain underserved by formal financial systems. The company said local borrowing rates range from 11% to 30%, while tokenized Treasury products have compressed toward lower single-digit yields.

That gap is the main premise of the product.

Traditional banks often lack underwriting systems for small-ticket consumer loans across fragmented emerging markets. Credit bureaus also do not operate with the same depth in many of these jurisdictions.

Axil’s role is to curate the vault and manage risk governance. R25 provides the underlying infrastructure for tokenization, routing and settlement.

According to the announcement, the vault is designed to provide exposure to a diversified pool of small-ticket consumer loans, using borrower behavior and transaction data instead of relying only on traditional credit bureau scoring.

Why it matters

The launch reflects a broader shift in real-world asset tokenization.

The first wave of institutional onchain yield products focused heavily on U.S. Treasurys, money market funds and corporate credit. Those products were easier to structure because the underlying assets were familiar, liquid and institutionally standardized.

Consumer credit in emerging markets is different.

It is fragmented, data-intensive and operationally complex. The asset class can offer higher yields, but also carries higher default, servicing, currency, jurisdictional and transparency risks.

That makes the rcPC Vault a test of whether DeFi infrastructure can support more complex credit assets, not just tokenized versions of already-liquid financial products.

The timing is also notable because private credit markets are under increased scrutiny.

Reuters reported this month that private credit funds are facing pressure as loan books are marked down, investor concerns rise and fundraising slows. A Reuters review of 14 major business development companies found widespread first-quarter markdowns, with investments marked $1.2 billion below amortized cost.

Blackstone’s flagship private credit fund BCRED also saw net outflows in the first quarter of 2026 after investors requested $3.7 billion in withdrawals.

Moody’s cut its outlook on U.S. business development companies to “negative” in April, citing redemption pressure, rising leverage and weaker funding access.

R25 is positioning the vault as a different kind of credit exposure.

Instead of concentrated loans to mid-market companies, the vault is built around hundreds of thousands of small-ticket consumer loans. The pitch is that this structure may offer diversification and lower correlation to traditional private credit portfolios.

That does not remove risk.

Consumer credit depends on underwriting quality, collection processes, borrower behavior, local economic conditions and the legal enforceability of lending arrangements. The high advertised APY also signals that investors are taking credit and liquidity risk, not receiving a risk-free return.

R25 says infrastructure is the bottleneck

“The greatest bottleneck for RWA adoption isn’t finding yield; it’s reconciling the instant expectations of DeFi with the asynchronous settlement cycles of real-world assets,” Sean Chung, VP, Global Business Development & Ecosystem at R25 told AlexaBlockchain.

“By leveraging a modular architecture and standards like EIP-7540 and ERC-4626, our automated Smart Routing solves complex T+n liquidity mismatches behind the scenes. We provide the universal rails that allow innovators to safely and autonomously bridge DeFi capital to real-world borrowers at an institutional scale,” he added.

The reference to settlement cycles is important.

DeFi users expect near-instant liquidity. Real-world credit assets do not work that way. Loans amortize over time, repayments arrive on schedules, defaults can take months to resolve and redemptions may need to be matched against available cash flows.

That mismatch has been one of the hardest problems in tokenized private credit.

R25’s infrastructure is designed to manage that gap through automated routing and vault standards. The announcement said the relevant smart contracts have been audited by SlowMist.

Similar efforts are gaining traction

The rcPC Vault also enters a market where curated onchain vaults have become more common.

Morpho helped popularize the curated vault model, where depositors place assets into vaults and third-party curators manage lending parameters and risk. This structure has attracted institutional names and asset managers.

Bitwise launched a non-custodial vault strategy with Morpho in January 2026, targeting up to 6% APY on stablecoins.

Bitwise described onchain vaults as similar to “onchain investment funds,” where users deposit assets and a curator manages the strategy.

The difference is the underlying asset mix.

Many of the best-known institutional RWA products remain linked to Treasurys, money markets, overcollateralized lending or corporate credit. R25 and Axil are trying to extend the model into emerging-market consumer loans, a segment that has not been a major focus of institutional onchain credit products.

Pharos, the chain hosting the vault, has also been positioning itself around tokenized real-world assets. Last month, Pharos raised $44 million in Series A funding at a $1 billion valuation to build an asset-native network for regulated financial activity.

The bigger picture

The launch shows how DeFi yield products are moving beyond crypto-native lending and tokenized Treasurys.

The attraction is clear for institutional allocators: higher yields, dollar-denominated settlement and blockchain-based transparency.

And, it promises broader access to capital for borrowers.

But the model will be judged on performance, not just structure. The key questions are whether underwriting holds through credit cycles, whether investors can understand the underlying risk, and whether liquidity terms match the reality of consumer loan repayments.

Anyways, the rcPC Vault adds a new category to the onchain credit market. It brings emerging-market consumer lending into the same institutional tokenization conversation that has already touched Treasurys, money market funds and corporate credit.

The above article “R25-Powered Vault Brings Emerging-Market Consumer Lending Onchain” was first published on AlexaBlockchain. Read the complete article here: https://alexablockchain.com/r25-powered-vault-brings-emerging-market-consumer-lending-onchain/

Read Also: Is India Moving From Crypto Uncertainty Toward a Clearer Policy Framework?

Disclaimer: The information provided on AlexaBlockchain is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Read complete disclaimer here.

Image Credits: R25, Shutterstock, Canva, Wiki Commons

Polymarket Seeks Japan Entry Amid Global Scrutiny: Report

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Polymarket Seeks Japan Entry Amid Global Scrutiny: Report

Polymarket, a global prediction market platform, is reportedly seeking entry into Japan amid growing regulatory scrutiny of the sector worldwide.

The company has appointed Mike Eidlin, head of Japan at crypto firm Jupiter, to lead its local efforts and is preparing to lobby for authorization of prediction markets in the country, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Polymarket is targeting government approval in Japan by 2030, viewing the market as a major untapped opportunity.

The plans come as prediction markets, including Polymarket and rival Kalshi, face increased regulatory pressure globally, with countries such as India among the latest to move against the platforms.

Japan’s strict gambling rules pose hurdle

Japan has strict laws around online gambling, permitting betting only on select government-authorized activities such as horse racing and public lotteries.

Authorities have stepped up scrutiny of online betting in recent years, with violations linked to online casino use carrying fines of up to $3,400 and potential prison sentences of up to three years for repeat offenses.

Polymarket reportedly said the company has seen “meaningful organic interest from users” in the country and across Asia, adding: “We’re always evaluating opportunities to expand access globally in compliant and locally appropriate ways.”

Cointelegraph approached Polymarket for comment but had not received a response by publication.

Related: CFTC sues Minnesota, Governor Tim Walz over prediction markets ban

Polymarket’s Japan community on X already exceeds 53,000 followers

Despite only seeking regulatory approval to operate in the country, Polymarket already has a Japan-focused X account with more than 53,000 followers, 

Cointelegraph was not able to identify any other Polymarket regional community of comparable size on X at the time of writing.

Source: Polymarket Japan

Polymarket lists Japan among 35 restricted jurisdictions, including the United States, according to its country access policy. However, past reporting indicates users in restricted regions may still access the platform using tools such as VPNs.

Trading volumes fall amid regulatory pressure and competition

Polymarket’s trading activity has come under pressure amid rising regulatory scrutiny across multiple jurisdictions and growing competition from platforms such as Kalshi.

According to Token Terminal data, Polymarket’s monthly notional trading volume fell nearly 15% in April, while Kalshi saw an increase of about 13%.

Polymarket’s monthly notional trading volume. Source: Token Terminal

Polymarket’s access is also increasingly restricted globally, with the platform blocked in roughly 34 countries and subject to “close-only” restrictions in four others, according to Start Polymarket data.

Related: Polymarket team says user funds safe as exploit losses climb above $600K

India is among the latest jurisdictions moving to restrict access to prediction markets, with authorities reportedly preparing blocking orders against rival platform Kalshi following earlier action against Polymarket.

Magazine: Should users be allowed to bet on war and death in prediction markets?

Blockchain Projects Syndicate, ZERO and Everclear Wind Down on the Same Day

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Blockchain Projects Syndicate, ZERO and Everclear Wind Down on the Same Day

Syndicate Labs, an a16z-backed on-chain development startup, is winding down operations, citing a fundamental shift in the Rollup market and significant market contraction.

Syndicate Labs, Everclear, and ZERO Network all announced wind-downs today, a single-day convergence that underscores widening cracks in the blockchain infrastructure layer.

Syndicate Labs, a startup backed by venture capital firm a16z that raised more than $27 million since its founding, said it is shutting down after five years of building on-chain development tools, the company announced in an X post. The team cited a fundamental shift in the rollup market and a sharp contraction in addressable market size.

“The market has shifted away from our technology, making it impossible to wait out these market conditions. EVM rollups are no longer the standard,” Syndicate posted. “Instead, custom chains are being built by consulting teams from scratch, with very little reusable tech or network value.”

Everclear and Zero Network Shutter

Hours later, Everclear, a cross-chain clearing protocol formerly known as Connext, announced it is winding down its Foundation and Labs entities, citing an inability to convert volume into revenue.

Everclear’s CLEAR token fell roughly 40% on the day, according to data from CoinGecko.

ZERϴ Network, a gasless Ethereum layer-2 rollup built by crypto wallet Zerion, also said it is shutting down, redirecting its team toward Zerion’s wallet and API products.

Users have until July 31 to bridge funds off the network, the team said in an X thread. Bridging into ZERϴ was disabled immediately.

Infra is Struggling

The three shutdowns point to a common challenge: infrastructure projects that attracted capital and built working products still struggled to find business models that could outlast deteriorating market conditions or misaligned timing.

Everclear said that despite reaching $500 million in monthly volume, the cross-chain solver segment failed to develop the commercial depth the project needed, with users proving highly price-sensitive.

The project attempted a pivot to a business-to-business model over the past six months, signing several large partners, but those partners took longer than expected to go live and the project’s runway ran out. Acquisition talks also failed to produce a deal.

Everclear co-founder Arjun Bhuptani said the team processed over $6 billion in network volume across nine years, shipped what he described as the first production Layer 2 in 2018 using state channels, and pioneered intent-based bridging.

Re-directing Efforts to Zerion Wallet

Zerion, which raised over $22 million in total funding with an additional undisclosed angel round to back ZERO Network, said the team and everything learned from the rollup will be redirected into building its wallet and data API.

Syndicate said the decision to close is unrelated to a recent cross-chain bridge exploit.

All three projects said some form of their organizations will continue.

Syndicate said the Syndicate Network Collective, a Wyoming Decentralized Unincorporated Nonprofit Association, will carry on if a successor is found.

Everclear said it is exploring open-sourcing the protocol to allow its DAO to continue under new stewardship, and may conduct a token buyback if funds remain after liabilities are settled, though it cautioned the sum would likely fall between $50,000 and $200,000 and is not certain.

ZERϴ said its DAO is not affected by the wind-down.

Ark Invest buys $12.5 million of Bullish stock in four days

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Ark Invest buys $12.5 million of Bullish stock in four days

Ark Invest bought $5 million worth of Bullish (BLSH) stock on Thursday, the fourth day in a row it has added BLSH shares to its exchange-traded funds (ETFs).

Cathie Wood’s investment manager has purchased $12.5 million worth of shares in the crypto group, which is also CoinDesk’s parent company, since Monday based on the stock’s closing prices, according to emailed disclosures.

BLSH shares closed 0.2% lower at $35.96 on Thursday, having fallen more than 17% in the last two weeks, a period in which bitcoin BTC$77,341.59 struggled to break above the $80,000 resistance.

Ark frequently uses broader digital asset downturns, which tend to pull crypto equities lower, as an entry point into cryptocurrency companies.

Polymarket aims for prediction market approval in Japan by 2030

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Polymarket aims for prediction market approval in Japan by 2030

Polymarket is set to lobby for authorization of prediction markets in Japan, according to a Bloomberg report on Friday.

The decentralized prediction market platform has appointed a representative in the country and is aiming for government approval by 2030, Bloomberg report said, citing people familiar with the matter who asked not to be named.

Mike Eidlin, head of Japan at cryptocurrency exchange Jupiter, is leading Polymarket’s efforts, according to the report.

Polymarket, which allows users to bet on outcomes of real-world events through blockchain-based futures contracts, has been under pressure to expand its reach into other major markets as legal scrutiny has hampered its activity in the U.S.

Read More: India cracks down on prediction markets: Polymarket goes dark, Kalshi could be next

Japan maintains some of the world’s strictest gambling laws, with most forms of betting prohibited under the country’s criminal code. Exceptions exist for state-sanctioned wagering on events such as horse racing and lotteries, while casinos are only beginning to emerge under a tightly regulated framework.

Polymarket has seen “meaningful organic interest from users in Japan,” a spokesperson said, according to Bloomberg’s report.

Japan has also taken a comparatively cautious approach toward crypto-related businesses, with regulators enforcing licensing and consumer protection requirements on digital asset firms operating in the country.

Polymarket did not respond to CoinDesk’s request for comment.

ZachXBT flags $520K Polymarket exploit on Polygon, team says funds are safe

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ZachXBT flags $520K Polymarket exploit on Polygon, team says funds are safe

Blockchain investigator ZachXBT has highlighted a suspected security breach involving Polymarket, the world’s largest decentralized prediction market platform.

Over $520,000 was reportedly drained from two smart contracts on the Polygon blockchain, according to on-chain data shared by ZachXBT. The affected addresses are 0x871D7c0f9E19001fC01E04e6cdFa7fA20f929082 and 0x91430CaD2d3975766499717fA0D66A78D814E5c5, with funds allegedly sent to attacker address 0x8F98075db5d6C620e8D420A8c516E2F2059d9B91.

Polymarket developers said the company is aware of reports tied to its rewards payout system in a post on X. The team emphasized that user funds and market resolutions remain safe, describing the issue as a private key compromise of an internal operations wallet rather than a broader smart contract exploit or core infrastructure breach. Further updates are expected.

Polygon Labs’ CTO Mudit Gupta also commented on the incident, stating:
“Polymarket contracts are safe. User funds are safe. Looks like their market initializer was compromised. No impact to the users or the contracts.”

Polymarket has not yet issued an official statement from its main X account. CoinDesk has reached out to the company for additional comment. The incident comes amid heightened scrutiny of decentralized finance platforms.

Investigations by ZachXBT

Near Protocol to automate its own growth and its token is skyrocketing

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Near Protocol to automate its own growth and its token is skyrocketing

Layer-1 blockchain Near’s forthcoming upgrade will allow the network to scale dynamically without human intervention.

The market is giving it a thumbs-up, sending the native token’s price sharply higher. NEAR has gained more than 27% in the last 24 hours to trade at $2.25.

“Dynamic resharding is coming to NEAR. The upcoming network upgrade will enable the protocol to add shards automatically as demand grows,” the protocol announced on X. “This delivers on NEAR’s founding vision of building the world’s most scalable blockchain protocol at the highest level of performance.”

Shards are smaller, independent partitions of the blockchain network that process transactions and smart contracts in parallel. Imagine a grocery store with multiple checkout lines. This helps Near handle more traffic than typical blockchains with a single checkout line.

The catch? Until now, opening a new partition on Near has been a slow, manual process, requiring weeks of validator coordination, a vote, and a staged rollout.

The upcoming dynamic resharding in June will automate this process. In other words, when the network sees a specific check out line, a shard, getting too full, it doesn’t wait for a human to fix it. It automatically splits, not in half, but by adding more independent parallel validators to the system, just as the grocery store would hire new cashiers and customer staff.

“Adding shards has required a full protocol upgrade: weeks of validator coordination, a vote, a staged rollout. Dynamic resharding makes it automatic: a shard hits a state size threshold, splits deterministically, and is validated by state witnesses with no human intervention,” Near said in an explainer.

The new feature is particularly foundational to an AI-led onchain economy, where bots are doing business with each other, it explained.

Quantum-proof

Scaling isn’t the only thing changing with the impending upgrade. Near is also adding “post-quantum-safe signing.”

Quantum fears have gripped the developer community ever since Google researchers warned that a sufficiently powerful quantum computer might be able to crack today’s blockchains with significantly less firepower than initially expected.

Near, therefore, is installing new locks so that years from now, those super quantum machines won’t be able to touch funds of Near users.

Native token NEAR is the best-performing cryptocurrency among the top 100 coins by market cap over the past 24 hours thanks to the rally. Bitcoin BTC$77,341.59 has dropped 0.4% to $77,360.

NEAR’s external performance is supported by strong demand for the Bitwise Near Staking ETF (exchange-traded product) listed in Europe. This week, the ETP has pulled in $7 million in investor money, according to data shared by Bitwise’s CEO Hunter Horsley.

Bitcoin Posts a Record 90-day Comeback as Analyst Questions BTC Bear Market

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Bitcoin Posts a Record 90-day Comeback as Analyst Questions BTC Bear Market

Bitcoin (BTC) has trended up for 90 days and is seeing a “bull market rally,” analysis says.

Key points:

  • Bitcoin has trended up for 90 days within its bear market — something that has never happened before.
  • Analysis thus sees price as being in a “bull market rally,” with February’s macro lows untouched.
  • Separate commentary calls for a reclaim of the weekly supertrend nearer to $90,000 to confirm that bulls are back.

Bitcoin internal bear-market uptrend makes history

In a post on X on Thursday, trader and analyst Matthew Hyland said that Bitcoin’s recent rebound from macro lows has been unlike any other in history.

“This BTC rally resembles a bull market rally NOT a bear market rally,” he summarized.

BTC/USD one-day chart. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

According to Hyland, BTC/USD has been in a fresh uptrend since the last week of February. At the start of the month, the pair briefly fell below $60,000, hitting its lowest levels since late 2024.

Since then, relief has taken over, with Bitcoin reaching local highs near $83,000 exactly three months after the February bottom, data from TradingView confirms.

“There has NEVER been a rally that trended upward for 89 days ever in a bear market in BTC history,” he continued.

“The break of high time frame resistance also has marked the start of a bull market rally the prior three times.”

BTC/USD one-week chart. Source: Matthew Hyland/X

An accompanying chart shows that resistance was cleared when the price first broke above and held $77,000.

“Both of these characteristics are characteristics of a bull market rally NOT a bear market rally,” Hyland reiterated.

Analyst: BTC price needs $88,000 rebound

On the topic of bear market expirations, independent analyst Filbfilb demands a higher resistance reclaim for confirmation that bulls are back in control.

Related: Bitcoin due ‘5%+’ move as analysis stays bullish on BTC price outlook

Bitcoin’s weekly supertrend, currently near $90,000, is the line in the sand to watch.

“The last 2 BTC bear markets ended with a >+20% weekly candle and a break of the weekly super trend – presently around $ 88k,” he told X followers. 

“If the bearish move we see in play at the moment fails, I’m expecting one of those candles to happen rather than much messing about around these levels.”

BTC/USD one-week chart with supertrend data. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

The super trend is calculated using the average true range of price, coupled with a multiplier. BTC/USD last had a weekly close above the supertrend line in early November 2025.

Bitcoin Weekly RSI Retest Calls Price Bottom: Analyst

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Bitcoin Weekly RSI Retest Calls Price Bottom: Analyst

The chance of Bitcoin (BTC) falling below $60,000 is “extremely slim,” according to data showing that BTC long-term holders increased their holdings to 71.6% of the total supply. In addition to this data, a key technical signal turned bullish for the first time since February.

BTC price may avoid fresh new lows, says analyst 

Crypto analyst Sykodelic said the possibility of Bitcoin revisiting fresh lows has “become extremely slim” after the weekly relative strength index (RS) retested the 50 level. Historically, Bitcoin has entered long-term expansion phases after the RSI recovered above that threshold following an oversold position. 

BTC/USD, one-week chart, and RSI analysis. Source: Skykodelic/X

The latest move came 105 days after Bitcoin’s weekly RSI entered oversold territory for only the fourth time on record. Skykodelic noted that the 2022 cycle was the lone exception in which Bitcoin later formed new lows, largely due to the FTX exchange collapse, and forced a market-wide drawdown. In that period, the RSI never retested 50 during the recovery attempt.

BTC long-term holders (LTHs) are also leaning in the same direction. Crypto analyst CryptoZeno said Bitcoin’s one-year-plus holder metric has returned to the historical “oversold” accumulation zone that preceded major upside cycles in 2013, 2016, 2019 and late 2022.

BTC long-term holders (1+ year) metric. Source: X

CryptoZeno said earlier that market cycle highs in 2021 and 2017 usually formed when LTH holder distribution accelerated. The current readings instead point to a steady accumulation and a tighter available supply of BTC.

Onchain data supports that trend. Long-term Bitcoin supply climbed back above 15.04 million BTC for the first time since Oct. 1, 2025, accounting for 71.6% of the circulating supply.

BTC long-term holder flow. Source: CryptoQuant

Related: Key Bitcoin price metric used by bulls falls to 6-week low, with silver lining

BTC miners are cautious amid bottom formation

Crypto analyst Pelin Ay said BTC miner activity still points to cautious positioning despite the strong LTH holder data. Binance pool miner reserves dropped to 41,915 from 41,987 in May, indicating a steady supply entering Binance. Speaking on the importance of Binance pool miner reserve data, Ay said, 

“Since Binance Pool represents a major share of the global hash rate, its behavior often reflects overall miner psychology before the broader market reacts. Falling reserves usually indicate that operational selling pressure is still continuing.”

BTC Puell Multiple and Binance pool miner reserve. Source: CryptoQuant

Miner Position Index (MPI) readings remain below historical panic-selling levels, while the Puell Multiple stays under 1, signaling continued revenue pressure across mining operations. The analyst described the behavior as a “wait phase” often seen near bottom formations.

Related: Bitcoin due ‘5%+’ move as analysis stays bullish on BTC price outlook

Former Silvergate Exec Sheds Light SEC Settlement

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Former Silvergate Exec Sheds Light SEC Settlement

The former chief risk officer of Silvergate revealed she made the decision to settle with the US securities regulator in 2024 to avoid a “multi-year battle” in court, where she was accused of misleading investors about anti-money laundering rules and how the bank monitored crypto customers.

In her first public comments about her settlement with the SEC on Wednesday, Kate Fraher claimed that no financial agency proved that Silvergate’s anti-money laundering controls had failed, and that she only opted to settle to “move forward.” 

Fraher had agreed to a civil penalty of $250,000 and was banned from serving as a company executive or board director for five years.

“The process itself is designed to apply maximum pressure, and the human costs are real. I was personally de-banked and had credit lines summarily closed—an aggressive tactic used to disrupt daily life and force compliance,” she said. 

The comments provide more insight into the circumstances surrounding the wind-down of Silvergate, a crypto-friendly bank that voluntarily closed following the collapse of FTX. Fraher said her ability to comment came after the SEC rescinded the long-standing “gag rule” on Monday.

Source: Kate Fraher

Fraher said the wind-down was not because of a “bank run” or market volatility from FTX’s collapse in November 2022, even as the bank experienced a deposit run of around 70%. 

Instead, Fraher said the company chose to wind down because the “broader administrative and regulatory pressure levied against the digital asset industry made operating a viable business impossible.”

Many crypto industry pundits labeled this as “Operation Chokepoint 2.0,” an unconfirmed plan in which US financial regulators cut off banking services to crypto companies in an attempt to restrict their ability to operate within the broader financial system. 

Silvergate wasn’t the only crypto-friendly bank affected by the strict measures, which intensified following the collapse of FTX in November 2022.

Signature Bank and Silicon Valley Bank also shut down in early 2023, in part due to deposit runs, liquidity stress and contagion effects tied to FTX and several crypto lending platforms that went bankrupt in 2022.

Related: Trump-backed Truth Social pulls bids for crypto ETFs 

But Fraher said by the beginning of 2023, it had weathered the FTX collapse by restructuring the business with “appropriate capital levels” and a “right-sized workforce” to continue operations safely.

Gag policy was unconstitutional, Fraher argues

Fraher applauded the current Paul Atkins-led SEC leadership for ending the gag rule, which she described as an “unconstitutional policy.”

“I am glad the right to speak the truth has finally been restored,” Fraher said, adding: “We must continue to talk about the long-term professional and personal toll exacted on individuals by regulation through enforcement.”

Magazine: 5 tech predictions the mainstream media got horribly wrong 

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