Washington-based rural state bank Moonstone Bank announced on Wednesday it would leave the cryptocurrency market and return to its status as a community bank.
The comment comes after Alameda Research, FTX’s hedge fund division, invested $11.5 million USD in the bank. According to the latter’s statement, the shift in focus comes after “recent events in the crypto assets industry and the changing regulatory environment surrounding crypto asset businesses.”
The bank will no longer brand itself as Moonstone Bank and rebrand as Farmington State Bank to “return to its roots.”
It continued: “The return to its role as [a] community bank will be seamless for the bank’s local customers in the Farmington community with no change or disruption of services. The bank has consistently remained committed to safe and sound practices, has kept its balance sheet liquid and customer deposits have remained secure and fully accessible.”
The announcement comes after Deltec chairman Jean Chalopin bought out Moonstone Bank in 2020. According to reports, his firm is an FTX banking partner and received $11.5 million in investments.
Investments from the now-bankrupt hedge fund firm allowed his banking business to transform as a cryptocurrency financial services firm.
The news comes after numerous companies, including BlockFi, Genesis, Gemini, and many others have faced the fallout from the ongoing FTX collapse. Due to ongoing capital crises, Genesis could reportedly file for bankruptcy as early as this week due to a liquidity crunch.
