FTX-Linked Moonstone To Leave The Crypto Sector

After the abrupt collapse of the FTX exchange, Moonstone has now decided to rebrand and leave the crypto industry.

The rural Washington state bank that got an estimated $11.5 million investment from Alameda Research, FTX’s sister company, announced on January 19 that it will be leaving the crypto sector and heading back to its original mission as a community bank.

In an official statement released by the bank – now called Farmington State Bank – on January 19, it cited that the change in strategy comes due to “recent events in the crypto assets industry and the changing regulatory environment surrounding crypto asset businesses.”

As part of Moonstone’s initiative to “return to its roots,” it shared a statement that said it will no longer use the name Moonstone Bank and will rebrand and adopt the famous Farmington State Bank name that has been a part of the local community for 135 years.

Based on the bank, the change is expected to take effect in the coming weeks and local banking clients will not encounter any disruption of services.

Although the bank never cited the collapse of the FTX exchange directly as part of its decision to re-strategize and rebrand, it is believed that these events might be connected.

Moonstone Bank was allegedly acquired in 2021 by the Bahamas-based chairman of Deltec, Jean Chalopin. Deltec is another FTX banking partner. Chalopin allegedly secured an $11.5 million investment from Alameda Research in January 2022 to change Moonstone into a crypto-focused financial services company.

Farmington State Bank seems to be on the expanding list of banks impacted by the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange.

On January 5, reports emerged that the FTX saga has triggered a bank run on Silvergate making the firm sell off its assets at a loss and sack 40% of its workers to cover $8.1 billion worth of client withdrawals. Due to that, Silvergate dismissed almost 200 employees, translating to 40% of its total personnel. Moreover, the bank canceled its plan to launch its digital currency project.