In 2013, Silvergate Bank opened its doors and provided services to the nascent crypto industry. During those times, the emerging market has yet to penetrate the mainstream scene due to the complicated nature of the technology underpinning it.
Fast forward six years later and Silvergate Bank has become one of the go-to financial firms in the market today, boasting more than 750 crypto businesses under its umbrella. Now, it has successfully received the note of effectiveness from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for its initial public offering (IPO).
The IPO is now listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker SI, with the shares valued at $12. Silvergate plans to offer 3,333,333 shares of Class A common stock to interested parties. The bank itself is offering 824,605 shares, while the rest of 2,508,728 shares is coming from shareholders who are selling, the press released revealed.
Silvergate poised to raise $40 million
The current price of the shares has been reduced from Silvergate’s original $15 as the bank previously intended to raise $65 million. At its current price, Silvergate is poised to raise around $40 million if it manages to sell the 3.3 million shares, CoinDesk reported. The IPO is slated to close on Nov. 12.
The net proceeds from the sale will be allocated to foster the company organic growth and “general corporate purposes.” What’s more, it’ll also be earmarked for “repayment of long-term debt, future acquisitions, and other growth initiatives.” Silvergate will not acquire any revenue from the offerings of its shareholders.
The Silvergate Exchange Network
Aside from the IPO announcement, the firm also revealed that 77% of the crypto businesses that it’s catering are using the Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN), its proprietary payment network.
“The core function of the SEN is to allow participants to make transfers of U.S. dollars from their SEN account at the bank to the bank account of another SEN participant with which a counterparty relationship has been established, and to view funds transfers received from their SEN counterparties,” Silvergate said. With the crypto technology – the gears behind this nascent market – seeing renewed interests from governments and corporate giants, Silvergate has positioned itself as one of the leaders in the crypto financing sector.
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