Crypto firm Silvergate Capital boosted by standout first quarter earnings
Silvergate Capital jumped 13 per cent yesterday after its first quarter earnings blasted analyst expectations.
Investors were treated to a payout of $0.79 per share – far above Bloomberg estimates of $0.45 – after the bank’s net income for the first quarter doubled from $12.7m in 2021 to $27.4m.
Silvergate Capital, which bought assets from Facebook’s abandoned stablecoin project Diem in January, revealed digital asset customers have increased 36 per cent to 1,503 this year.
“I’m particularly pleased with our first quarter results when you consider that this was one of the most challenging periods for the broader crypto ecosystem since the beginning of the pandemic,” said Silvergate president and chief executive Alan Lane.
The Bank struck a high profile deal with Michael Saylor’s Microstrategy this year, showcasing its crypto offering to potential customers.
Using Silvergate’s Exchange Network Leverage product, Microstrategy received a $205m loan from the bank which was backed by $820m of Bitcoin.
Despite yesterday’s standout results US listed crypto firms have faced a testing start to the year. US exchange giant Coinbase is down 40 per cent this year to date, Silvergate Capital is down by 14 per cent and Riot Blockchain is down 33 per cent. Meanwhile, the global crypto market is down 13 per cent this year to date.