Tausende Amerikaner sehen, wie ihre Ersparnisse nach dem Zusammenbruch des Fintech-Mittelsmanns Synapse verschwinden – 96 Millionen US-Dollar an Kundengeldern fehlen immer noch

Hugh Son, [CNBC](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/11/22/synapse-bankruptcy-thousands-of-americans-see-their-savings-vanish.html):

*[…] The crisis started in May when a dispute between Synapse and Evolve Bank over customer balances boiled over and the fintech middleman turned off access to a key system used to process transactions.*

*Synapse helped fintech startups like Yotta and Juno, which are not banks, offer checking accounts and debit cards by hooking them up with small lenders like Evolve.*

*In the immediate aftermath of Synapse’s bankruptcy, which happened after an exodus of its fintech clients, a court-appointed trustee found that up to $96 million of customer funds was missing.*

*The mystery of where those funds are hasn’t been solved, despite six months of court-mediated efforts between the four banks involved.*

*That’s mostly because the estate of Andreessen Horowitz-backed Synapse doesn’t have the money to hire an outside firm to perform a full reconciliation of its ledgers, according to Jelena McWilliams, the bankruptcy trustee.*

*[…] The losses demonstrate the risks of a system where customers didn’t have direct relationships with banks, instead relying on startups to keep track of their funds, who offloaded that responsibility onto middlemen like Synapse.*

I’m sure those at the Synapse executive level made out fine. This is what deregulation gets you, and it’s only going to get worse.

What the actual fuck? It’s a “bank” advertising itself as FDIC insured and the FDIC never bothered calling bullshit? Things go as terribly as you’d expect from a company fraudulently claiming institutional bank safety nets…and no one seems to be doing anything?

This is worse, to me, than the Sam Bankman-Fried scandal. Not excusing his shitty behavior, but crypto is still wild wild west in finance. Being able to advertise yourself as completely legitimate and make off with 10s of millions of dollars…this is the kind of shit that makes the public lose faith in institutions.

As a taxpayer, I would be perfectly happy to see the FDIC retroactively cover those accounts

*exclusively under the condition that Synapse executives serve prison time like an NFL player is about to serve for committing financial fraud*

Fintech’s are gaining popularity and many young people see traditional banks as evil. 

The difference is that traditional banks are heavily regulated to avoid these issues and TDIC insured.  Yes the regulators are not perfect look at signature banks collapse but the average consumer was still fully protected.

With Fintechs, crypto and alternative banking options it can be much more risky because they avoid a lot of baking regulations. You have no idea how good or bad they are at having good financial controls and accounting.

Please help a noon out, what’s the purpose of these institutions? Why not use a traditional bank?