Amid several widely publicized closures of banks and even more businesses at risk, a truck displaying an advertisement for Bitcoin (BTC) was seen outside the headquarters of the now-collapsed Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) in California, attracting the attention of the cryptocurrency community and media around the world.
With the help of several friends, a Bitcoin enthusiast and street artist known as Cryptograffiti has placed an ad for the flagship decentralized finance (DeFi) asset on a truck and parked it outside the entrance to the HQ of the now-collapsed banking giant, posting the video of the process on Twitter on March 15.
The artist’s move, which seems to depict the perceived strength of cryptocurrencies over traditional finance, with the message to “Be Your Own Bank,” has grabbed the attention of media in other countries, including a local television station in Barcelona, Spain, which aired the story, as shared by Twitter user eVelocity on March 16.
Crypto vs. banks
Indeed, after three major banks were closed within days from each other, the contagion is threatening to spread to more institutions, including Credit Suisse, which has recently announced plans to borrow nearly $54 billion from the Swiss central bank in a bid to strengthen its liquidity and avoid possible downfall.
Such uncertainty in the banking sector has resulted in many fearful investors fleeing to the crypto market, withdrawing massive amounts of Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) from crypto exchanges to ‘hodl’ despite heightened regulatory hostility.
Notably, Bitcoin enthusiasts have long argued that the largest crypto by market capitalization had the capacity to act as a safe haven asset and a hedge against inflation, including the author of the personal finance book ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ Robert Kiyosaki, who praised Bitcoin as a store of wealth in a possible economic crash.
