The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) of the United States has released a statement warning the public that it "does not protect assets created by non-bank businesses, such as cryptocurrency companies."
The FDIC informed banks in the United States on Friday that they needed to evaluate and control risks in third-party connections with cryptocurrency companies. While deposits at insured banks were protected up to a maximum of $250,000, the government agency claimed that no such protections were available "against the default, insolvency, or bankruptcy of any non-bank entity, including crypto custodians, exchanges, brokers, wallet providers, or other entities that appear to mimic banks."
“Some crypto companies have misrepresented to consumers that crypto products are eligible for FDIC deposit insurance coverage or that customers are FDIC-insured if the crypto company fails,” said the FDIC. “These sorts of statements are inaccurate and can cause consumer confusion about deposit insurance and harm consumers under certain circumstances.”
The advisory followed a Thursday letter from the FDIC’s enforcement division, in which assistant general counsels Jason Gonzalez and Seth Rosebrock claimed crypto lender Voyager Digital had made “false and misleading” statements concerning insured deposits. The legal team suggested the FDIC would not be insuring Voyager customers against the firm’s failure, nor insure funds deposited to the platform.
“Customer confusion can lead to legal risks for banks if a crypto company, or other third-party partner of an insured bank with whom they are dealing, makes misrepresentations about the nature and scope of deposit insurance. Moreover, misrepresentations and customer confusion could cause concerned consumers with insured-bank relationships to move funds, which could result in liquidity risk to banks and in turn, could potentially result in earnings and capital risks.”
The FDIC began insuring deposits in 1934, first starting with up to $2,500 in coverage. Since that time, the government agency reported no depositor “lost a penny” in an FDIC-insured bank, despite more than 9,000 such institutions failing before 1940. The FDIC reported that 561 insured banks failed between 2001 and 2022, reaching a peak of 157 in 2010.