"I think the crypto industry is going to be having a tough time."

Molly White: Amid Bank Collapses, Crypto Will Turn to ‘Shadier Shadow Banks’

The spectacular collapse of three banks in a single month has sparked

Speaking at the 2023 South by Southwest Festival in Austin, Texas, prominent crypto critic Molly White said that crypto industry may start embracing:

Durin a panel

Sign up for the premium Crypto Investor newsletter today to get exclusive stories.

White, a fellow at the Harvard Library Innovation Lab

The software engineer who runs the platform Web3 Is Going Just Great, which documents

At a SXSW panel, White said that crypto universe brimmed with empty, illusory and misleading projects resting on three fatal errors: (1) revolutionary but unrealistic promises

After the dramatic collapse of three major banks – Silicon Valley Bank, Signature Bank, and Silvergate Bank – this month, the crypto industry is buzzing with debates about whether it has been effectively "unbanked." At least one crypto skeptic says that crypto firms might migrate to "shadier shadow banks" to meet their banking needs.

Speaking at the annual South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas this week, notable crypto critic Molly White said that the industry might have limited options after Silvergate and Signature Banks, both of which serve a large number of crypto customers, both went under this month. Recently, California regulators also pulled the plug on Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), the first time since the 2008 financial crisis that a government took over a major bank.

Sign up for the premium Crypto Investor newsletter today to get exclusive stories.

“Without [Signature and Silvergate], I think the crypto industry is going to be having a tough time. They’re either going to have to find other banks that are willing to work with them – which was already tough, and will probably only be tougher after the collapses of these banks – or they’re going to have to turn to some of the sort of shadier shadow banks,” White said.

“There were only a handful of U.S. banks that were really game to take crypto clients,” she added. “With Signature and Silvergate both out of the picture, I think that’s going to be very impactful on the crypto industry, which still really needs access to traditional finance and to U.S. banking rails.”