Signature Bank Giving More PPPP Loans To Crypto Firms Than Before

Signature Bank has been extending dozens of loans more under the Paycheck Protection Program, particularly to cryptocurrency firms, than previously was reported.

Signature Bank Moving Into Crypto Firm Loans

Joseph DePaulo stands as the CEO of Signature Bank, and highlighted a few critical details about the matter. He stated that a total of $1.9 billion in PPP loans had been extended, with $20 million of which being given to about 40 firms within the digital asset space. It should be noted, however, that the executive had abstained from naming the firms that had been given PPP loans.

Alongside this, he did not want to provide an exact number of the amount of firms that took out a loan in this relief program, as well. It should be noted, however, that the $1.9 billion in loans that Signature had given out only constitutes 0.55% of the $350 billion that the US Small Business Administration had distributed.

Public records have revealed that Signature had issued a large number of loans to prominent figures within the crypto space. This includes ConsenSys, Ethereum Venture Studio, Celsius Network, as well as Polychain Capital.

Crypto Businesses Shown To Need PPP More

DePaulo stated that the PPP loan volumes the bank had given to crypto space, is primarily due to how other banks that serve crypto not having the needed resources to do the same sort of program. In the past, $30 million in loans had been extended to various crypto firms, having been given by major banks. These banks include Silicon Valley Bank, JPMorgan Chase, Cross River Bank, and several others. At that time, only nine PPP loans were given out to crypto firms by Signature Bank in particular.

However, this news also reveals that the crypto industry at large have a more profound need than expected for relief due to the COVID-19 induced economic crisis that’s swept the globe. WIth Signature doubling down on loans for crypto firms, the bank has proven its commitment to the crypto space in general, as well.

Expanding Into New Fields

Signature’s primary focus regarding its business is individuals with a high net worth. Alongside this, it doesn’t outright call itself a crypto bank, nor do they refer to their digital asset team as a crypto banking division. It should also be noted, however, that the bank had seen $1 billion in deposits from the sector within Q2 2020 alone. The bank itself is no lightweight.

DePaolo explained that he stated a year and a half ago that banks would have a problem if they weren’t into blockchain technology, as well as the digital world, within the next five years. He stated that three and a half of those years are still left, but he hinted that this might come sooner than expected, as well. As justification, he highlighted how people are moving to crypto as the world is plagued with the pandemic and general unrest.