As Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a 40-year-old banking institution, winds down, a slew of venture capitalists (VCs) and investors have decided to cushion the impact in case the bank "is acquired and properly capitalized."
Some 125 venture capital firms and investors signed a statement in support of SVB to limit the fallout from the bank's failure and subsequent impact on tech companies. These venture capital firms include Sequoia Capital and General Catalyst. According to Bloomberg, a group of investors in high-profile companies held a series of meetings via Zoom. General Catalyst CEO Hemant Taneja initially revealed a joint statement from several venture capital firms expressing support for the bank. It says: "Should SVB be acquired and properly capitalized, we will strongly support and encourage our portfolio companies to resume banking relationships with them."
Meanwhile, startup incubator Y Combinator launched a petition calling for “complete depositors and regulation to prevent this disaster.” According to Y Combinator CEO Gary Tan, the petition aimed at regulators including U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and FDIC Chairman Martin Grunberg has gained About 2,800 founders and 180,000 employee signatures.
"Everyone understands that we have a role to play in trying to calm the situation," Taneha told Bloomberg. However, prominent Indian entrepreneur Ashneer Grover took issue with such efforts to save SVB, reminding Taneja that the bank will not be saved by a bureaucratic, UN-style joint resolution - digging deep to throw money at the problem in hopes of fixing it it. "It takes willpower and a steel ball!" he concluded.
Hours after U.S. Dollar Coin (USDC) lost its peg to the U.S. dollar, unconfirmed reports of a resolution temporarily lifted the token’s price back to nearly $1. While the reports are currently unconfirmed, multiple sources have confirmed that a number of different avenues of resolution are in the works, with depositors getting back "at least 50% of their deposits" within the next week.
