What happened
Shares of crypto-related bank Silvergate Capital (SI 2.63%) jumped as much as 14.5% in trading on Tuesday and closed up 13.7% for the day.
So what
The crypto credit crisis continues and the news over the holiday weekend was lender Vauld suspending withdrawals, but then finding a potential bailout in the form of an acquisition by Nexo. The deal with Nexo is far from complete, but the company has 60 days to perform due diligence before deciding if it wants to acquire the company.
Celsius (CEL), which has also frozen withdrawals, has also reportedly paid back $161 million of the funds it owed to Maker. That company has a long way to go to pay back all of its debts, but this is a good start.
Silvergate may be gaining today simply because it's staying afloat as others around the market collapse. Maybe being the last company standing will be a winning strategy.
Now what
I wouldn't take today's pop as a sign of what's to come for crypto stocks or the market, but rather as a sigh of relief that contagion hasn't set in with the entire crypto market. It was possible that we see insolvencies and frozen funds continue, but it's been contained to a small number of companies so far, which is encouraging.
If there is a recovery in crypto markets, a company like Silvergate may be in a position to take market share. That's the bullish case and for now, simply surviving is enough to help the stock today.
