Erebor, a bank focused on startups in crypto, artificial intelligence, and defense, is in talks to raise $1.5 billion at a valuation of as much as $9.5 billion, according to CoinDesk, citing the Financial Times. The bank was co-founded by Anduril founder Palmer Luckey and Joe Lonsdale, with Peter Thiel’s venture firm Founders Fund leading the round. The report said the capital is intended largely to meet a statutory 12% leverage ratio, allowing Erebor to expand lending while maintaining adequate capital. That lending includes a $200 million credit facility for nuclear startup Valar Atomics. Erebor received final U.S. operating approval in February this year. Its deposit growth has also been rapid, climbing from $1.1 billion in March to $4.6 billion in July, with customers concentrated in the crypto, AI, and defense sectors. The bank’s positioning targets a gap left after Silicon Valley Bank collapsed in 2023.

Stablecoin depegging can stem from market stress, reserve issues, technical failures, or redemptions. This guide explains how pegs are maintained, what risks users face, and what the UST and USDC cases revealed.

Silicon Valley Bank said bitcoin-backed lending is becoming more institutional after the 2022 credit crisis, with tighter underwriting, stronger transparency and broader bank participation.

Newly public court documents, cited by the Financial Times, show that stablecoin issuer Circle froze the account of Heka Funds, a crypto fund backed by Tether, in late 2023. Circle suspected the fund of using large-scale arbitrage during the Silicon Valley Bank crisis to manipulate the market and help expand Tether’s share. According to the arbitration record, Heka bought discounted USDC when the token briefly fell below its $1 peg in 2023 and redeemed those tokens with Circle for U.S. dollars. Circle argued that Heka’s redemption activity far exceeded that of other market participants and suspected the proceeds ultimately flowed to Tether to support USDT growth. The filings also said Tether had invested about $800 million in Heka, representing roughly 75% of the fund’s assets, and had waived stablecoin minting fees. Heka later filed arbitration in 2024, seeking about $49 million in lost profits after the account freeze. In February this year, the arbitrator rejected all of Heka’s claims, found that it had acted in bad faith, and ordered it to pay Circle about $166,000 in legal and expert costs.

Blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis has raised $100 million in Series E funding, lifting its valuation to $4.2 billion. The company plans to expand data coverage, support more cryptocurrencies, and deepen its focus on DeFi use cases.

SVB Financial Group and two top executives have been sued by shareholders after Silicon Valley Bank’s collapse, while reports say the DOJ and SEC have opened separate investigations, including into executive stock sales.

African fintech unicorn Chipper Cash is reportedly considering a sale or new investors. The company says it never sought to be acquired and describes its exposure to SVB and Signature Bank as limited.

Erebor, a proposed U.S. bank backed by Palmer Luckey, Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, and Joe Lonsdale’s 8VC, aims to serve crypto, AI, and defense startups left underserved after SVB’s collapse.