Oliver von Landsberg-Sadie, CEO of crypto banking firm BCB Group, stated that the dollar-to-crypto system BLINC could go live in the early second quarter.
In an interview with CoinDesk, the CEO said that BCB Group, a payments broker that connects crypto companies to the banking system, is accelerating its plans to add US dollar capabilities to help fill the gap left by the recently shut Silvergate Exchange Network (SEN). London-based BCB, the first crypto company to receive a payment license from the UK regulatory agency, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), offers institutional players in Europe specifically Bitstamp, Galaxy Digital, Gemini and Kraken for currencies such as sterling, euro, Swiss franc and yen. It provides fiat-crypto options.
Sadie: BLINC Funds are Fully Protected and One-to-One
Banking has been a risky subject for crypto companies, many of whom see the reinvention of traditional finance as their ultimate goal. Recent crashes and scandals have sparked a disorganized response from regulators in the US and put a sort of stalemate on crypto banking.
BCB started working on the instant settlement network called the BCB Liquidity Exchange Network Consortium (BLINC) in mid-2020. This is almost the same real-time gross settlement system that SEN until recently used for large crypto clients transacting in US dollars.
Lansberg-Sadie said that the BLINC-dollar component has been in the works for about a year and is preparing for release. Referring to the news that Silvergate is no longer operational, the CEO said: “I will obviously try to get this to market as soon as possible” and continued: “I would like to say that it may be live by spring, so considering that the BCB and Silvergate customers victimized by SEN largely overlap. We will do whatever it takes to ensure that they have some kind of continuity when they are taken.”
Landsberg-Sadie said the main difference between BLINC and SEN is that the former is multi-currency and is not tied to a single credit institution like Silvergate or Signature Bank.
This is a decentralized model, said Lansberg Sadie. “What you have with Silvergate and Signature is a credit institution solution that is applied first to a payment problem. Silvergate’s problems began when they allowed long-term Bitcoin investments against short-term cash deposits, an impossible position to resolve in the frenzied markets of 2022. BLINC funds are 1:1, no leverage, no pledge, always fully protected funds.”
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