Silvergate Capital sees 'big opportunity' for stablecoin business

Silvergate Capital (SI -0.2%) CEO Alan Lane sees stablecoins as a "real big opportunity for the future," he said in a virtual session of Oppenheimer's Blockchain & Digital Assets Summit. The bank, which started as an industrial loans bank and is now deep into cryptocurrency with its Silvergate Exchange Network, announced in May that it will be the exclusive issuer of a U.S.-dollar backed stablecoin known as Diem USD, but that's been delayed some by regulatory issues. Ben Reynolds, chief strategy officer, points out that Silvergate (NYSE:SI) is a "critical banking partner for stablecoin issuers." It banks Circle, Pax, and Gemini, but not Tether. And Silvergate (SI) is in a good position from a regulatory standpoint in that it works closely with regulators even as it's developing products or services so that there are no surprises on either side. He points out that the President's Working Group recently issued a