Block.one and its CEO become largest Silvergate Capital shareholders
Brendan Blumer, CEO of Block.one, which developed the EOSIO blockchain platform and EOS (EOS) coin, has purchased a stake in Silvergate Capital, the holding company for Silvergate Bank, a crypto-fiat gateway network designed for financial institutions, according to an SEC filing. That document, dated Nov. 23, listed Nov. 16 as the date of the transaction.
The purchase of nearly 3 million shares represents 9.27% of Silvergate stock. Blumer purchased 571,351 shares personally, and Block.one purchased 2,363,186. According to CNN, this deal will make them Silvergate’s largest shareholder.
@BrendanBlumer founder of EOS buys 9.27% of Silvergate Capital $SI + his company https://t.co/tZqWL2yAx6 buys 7.64%https://t.co/Wh64Odn9Nr
— yeezus (@yeezuscapital) November 23, 2022Block.one raised a record-breaking $4 billion in its initial coin offering (ICO) for EOS in 2017-2018. Later, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged Block.one with not registering its ICO. Block.one settled with the SEC for $24 million. Block.one was also the object of class action suits by EOS investors over money-raising issues and, later, the coin’s market performance. The EOS Network Foundation announced plans to sue Block.one for $4.1 billion in February. The network became fully decentralized in September.
Block.one also founded the Bullish crypto exchange.
Related: Inside the blockchain developers’ mind: Can EOS deliver a killer social DApp?
Silvergate saw mixed Q3 results this year, with crypto-to-fiat transfers falling by $50 billion year-on-year, although profits rose 84% to $43.33 billion in the same period. The bank had partnered with Facebook (now Meta) to issue the Diem stablecoin. Then the project was sold to Silvergate, which said it would integrate it into its Silvergate Exchange Network. Silvergate intended to issue a stablecoin this year, but announced a delay in the launch in October, reportedly because of distribution problems.
Meta employees and others who had worked in Diem went on to create the Aptos network. Silvergate has also partnered with Crypto.com.
Block.one did not response to a Cointelegraph enquiry by the time of publication.