Fallout from Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) collapse so far seems to be contained but the bank failure has had some ramifications for businesses with deposits at the financial institution.
Roku was among those impacted, having around 26 percent of its cash and cash equivalents deposited at the bank. Around $487 million of its total $1.9 billion was in limbo before the government stepped in and said that the bank's clients would be able to recover their deposits in full.
News of the collapse initially plunged Roku's stock by as much as 9.2 percent on Monday, but it rebounded after President Joe Biden said the FDIC would protect impacted customers.
"First, all customers who had deposits in these banks can rest assured … they'll be protected and they'll have access to their money as of today," Biden said in a statement. "No losses will be borne by the taxpayers. Instead the money will come from the fees that banks pay into the Deposit Insurance Fund."
Even without the FDIC backing, Roku indicated to Cheddar News from SXSW that it had enough cash on hand to stay afloat.
"So we filed an 8-K and that's really the totality of our public statement right now. In it, we did say that we're confident that we have the cash balances to meet all of our obligations. That's our public statement right now," Julian Mintz, co-head of U.S. brand sales at Roku, said.
In an effort to avoid a potential financial crisis, global banking leader HSBC acquired SVB in the UK in order to protect a swath of British tech companies.
Meanwhile, the Federal Reserve announced on Monday that it is currently reviewing its own part in overseeing the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and it would have a report by May 1.
This year's worldwide semiconductor shortage limited the supply of everything from new cars to smart phones.
Looking ahead, several experts in the chip industry expect the shortage to continue deep into 2022, and maybe even 2023. Syed Alam, Accenture's Global Semiconductor Lead, joined Cheddar Movers to discuss.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is investigating roughly 580,000 Tesla vehicles due to their front touch screen 'passenger play' gaming feature amid concerns over possible distracted driving. The investigation covers Tesla models ranging from the years 2017-2022. Brian Moody, Executive Editor at Autotrader, joined Cheddar Movers for more.
After a two-week delay of 5G deployment at airports due to the airline industry's claims it will cause "catastrophic disruption," AT&T and Verizon are set to roll out the service on January 19. Michael Boyd, CEO of aviation consultancy Boyd Group International, joined Cheddar to discuss the concerns being voiced by the airlines. "If the airline industry thinks it's going to be something to disrupt our system or impair safety, it shouldn't roll out at all, period," Boyd said, noting that the telecom giants should rethink the activation over safety and security.
Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, a private-public fund backed by Bill Gates, is planning to invest up to $15 billion in clean technology initiatives across the U.S., UK, and European Union. It will target four key areas and help fund large projects that otherwise would not be financially possible. Bobby Hollis, Director of Breakthrough Energy Catalyst, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
An economic development agency, the Northwest Arkansas Council, is looking to draw technology professionals to their region of the Southern state with incentives like $10,000 worth of Bitcoin and a new bicycle. Nelson Peacock, president and CEO of the private nonprofit made up of companies like Walmart and Tyson Foods, joined Cheddar to talk about the program to further power his local economy. "By offering the payment in Bitcoin, we're looking to identify those people with interest and expertise in the underlying technologies, the blockchain technologies," he said.
After months of investors turning to crypto as a hedge against inflation, instead of the traditional hedge of gold, one crypto exchange is working with a token creator to launch a digital coin backed by a physical asset. GCOIN gives customers a digital title of ownership to 99.99% pure physical gold which is stored in a secured vault. Brent de Jong, GCoin's founder and Kristin Boggiano, Co-Founder and President of CrossTower, a cryptocurrency exchange, join Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss the GCOIN rollout, customer interest, why crypto is used as an inflation hedge, and more.
