Cross River Bank, a US-based financial institution that is crypto- friendly recently received regulatory heat by the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) due to some alleged violations of fair- lending laws. The bank agreed to a legal consent order in early March and claims to have made significant progress in its practices. FDIC issued a public notice, however, the bank neither confirmed nor denied the allegations. Cross River Bank, which is situated in New Jersey, caters to various digital asset firms like a major stablecoin issuer Silicon Valley Bank (SVB).

In recent times, Cross River Bank has been plagued with criticism and doubt due to its massive growth and rapid expansion. Early of 2018, the bank only had one branch in New Jersey, yet, it became the fourth most prominent originator of COVID -19 relief loans in the US, even being the primary bank of the second-largest stablecoin.

The bank defended itself by indicating that the FDIC agreement was made prior the downfall of SVB and went further to agree that this year, look out for banks has escalated, down to the collapse of SVB.

Some question how Cross River Bank was able to achieve such tremendous growth with ties to crypto- related companies that have always found it hard to maintain consistent banking partnerships. The story is yet to unfold regarding the bank's meteoric growth and the role of digital asset firms in the process.

Cross River Bank, a US-based financial institution, gained attention recently when the US Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) put them under regulatory heat due to alleged violations of fair-lending laws. After signing the legal consent order in early March, they claim to have made major strides in their practices to comply with the terms. The FDIC issued a notice but it should be noted that the allegations were neither confirmed or denied by Cross River Bank. This crypto-friendly New Jersey-based bank predominantly caters for digital asset companies, notable amongst them is the Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a major stablecoin issuer.

This huge growth was one of the major red flags that sparked a beehive of controversy and uncertainty as to how the bank attained such heights from just a single-branch business in New Jersey. Cross River Bank, in its defense, demonstrated that the FDIC consent was reached before the failures of SVB and admitted that 2021 has been characterized by increased scrutiny for banks for the same reasons.

Questions linger on how Cross River Bank attained the peak of its growth with dubious relations with crypto-related companies which have since had a difficult time establishing standard banking partnerships. The pieces of the puzzle in this story of the success of Cross River Bank keeps unfolding as curiosity as to the role of digital asset firms in this impressive growth continues to build.



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