Share this article
Morgan Stanley Silvergate Report Sends Crypto-Friendly Bank Up 7%
Morgan Stanley sees potential stablecoin adoption as positive for the bank.
By Josh Fineman
Updated May 11, 2023, 4:11 p.m. Published Oct 8, 2021, 6:00 p.m.
Crypto-focused bank Silvergate’s (NYSE: SI) stock climbed 7.6% after Morgan Stanley outlined a bullish thesis for the bank based on the potential for further stablecoin adoption.
“As the stablecoin market continues to develop, with more formalized rules around governance, risk management and structure, it could provide sizable upside potential to our Silvergate earnings per share (EPS) estimates, particularly if Silvergate is able to monetize their relationships with the stablecoin issuers,” Morgan Stanley analyst Ken Zerbe wrote in a note.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
The assessment cites a new report from the Bank for International Settlements that could serve as a roadmap for regulating fiat-pegged crypto assets.
“While these requirements would likely increase the regulatory and administrative burden on stablecoin issuers, they should ultimately lead to a more robust framework for faster and more widespread adoption of stablecoins as a form of payment,” Zerbe wrote.
Stabelcoin regulation has been a hot topic in the U.S. recently.
This week the Biden administration floated a proposal that would subject stablecoin issuers to bank-like regulations.
Meanwhile, Circle, the issuer of the USDC stablecoin, disclosed that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) sent the company an investigative subpoena in July.
Morgan Stanley’s Zerbe also saw Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s statement that the Fed has “no intention to ban” stablecoins as well as a CoinDesk report on the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) as “incrementally” positive news for the potential widespread adoption of the stablecoin market.
Morgan Stanley initiated Silvergate last month with an “overweight” rating and $158 price target. The stock is trading at $163 as of press time.
While Silvergate currently gets an “immaterial” amount of earnings related to its relationship with the four U.S. stablecoin issuers, “the adoption of stablecoins for day-to-day commerce is perhaps the single biggest driver supporting the bull case for owning Silvergate,” according to Zerbe.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Cascade Unveils 24/7 Neo-Brokerage Offering Perpetuals on Cryptos, U.S. Stocks
The platform will let retail traders use one margin account to trade round-the-clock perpetual markets.
What to know:
- Cascade has introduced a 24/7 brokerage-style app for perpetual markets spanning crypto, U.S. equities and private-asset exposure.
- The firm is pitching a single, unified margin account with direct-to-bank U.S. dollar capability for deposits and withdrawals.
- The company has raised $15 million from investors including Polychain Capital, Variant and Coinbase Ventures.
Top Stories
