Metropolitan Bank to exit crypto-related services, citing ‘recent developments’ (NYSE:MCB)

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Metropolitan Bank Holding Corp. (NYSE:MCB) announced on Monday that it will be exiting the cryptocurrency asset vertical due to “recent developments” in the digital asset industry, as well as increased regulatory scrutiny of bank involvement. in these services.

The move should have minimal financial impact, said the bank, which currently has four active institutional clients tied to crypto-assets that account for around 1.5% of total revenue and 6% of deposits.

The New York-based lender said it has begun the process of ending its relationships with those customers and expects that process to be completed in 2023.

Today’s announcement of our exit from the cryptocurrency-related asset vertical represents the culmination of a process that began in 2017, when we decided to move away from crypto and not grow the business, said MCB President and CEO Mark R. DeFazio.

As part of the “recent developments” that caused MCB to terminate its crypto-related services, the lender likely referred to the multi-billion dollar collapse of crypto exchange FTX (FTT-USD) in November and the resulting financial contagion effects.

Earlier (December 26), S&P Global warned that increasing crypto deposit outflows were cause for concern.

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