One of the Richest People in Crypto Just Bought a 9.3% Stake in Silvergate Capital, Becomes Largest Shareholder

Brendan Blumer, known as one of the creators of the EOS blockchain and one of the richest people in the crypto space, has bought a 9.3% stake in the crypto-friendly bank Silvergate Capital, a new SEC filing has revealed.

The large stake taken by Blumer means that the Hong Kong-based crypto entrepreneur now is Silvergate’s largest shareholder.

The purchase of Blumer’s stake comes in addition to a 7.5% stake acquired by Block.one, the EOS development firm that Blumer heads.

Combined, Blumer and his company now control close to 17% of Silvergate Capital.

A “unique investment opportunity”

In a press release sent out by Block.one, Silvergate was described as a company with a “proven track record of maintaining a liquid and conservative balance sheet investment portfolio.”

Block.one added that they see Silvergate as a currently undervalued investment opportunity.

“We believe Silvergate’s current equity prices do not accurately reflect their strong balance sheet, their strategic positioning, or their market-defiant growth trajectory, and therefore offers a unique investment opportunity. We are excited to be a new passive shareholder,” the crypto firm wrote.

FTX exposure continues to weigh on Silvergate

Shares of Silvergate have suffered since the collapse of FTX, with the market worrying about the bank’s exposure to the now-bankrupt crypto exchange. Since the beginning of November, the share price is down by about 52%, despite a jump of more than 11% yesterday on the news that Blumer has become the largest shareholder.

It is known that FTX had at least $1bn in deposits with Silvergate, but that bank said in a statement that this represents less than 10% of the total deposits from its customers in the crypto industry.

Among other prominent clients of Silvergate is Michael Saylor’s company MicroStrategy, which took a bitcoin-secured loan of USD 250m earlier this year to buy even more BTC.

Block.one is a crypto development company founded by Brenden Blumer and Dan Larimer in 2017. The company is best known for developing EOS.IO, a blockchain protocol set up to compete with Ethereum and other smart contract networks.