Silvergate Bank Hires Aave General Counsel Rebecca Rettig as Board of Director

Rebecca Rettig, a general counsel for Aave Companies, the team behind decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Aave, is assuming a new role at Silvergate bank, a leading bank for innovative businesses in fintech and cryptocurrency.

Silvergate Capital Corporation announced Wednesday the appointment of Rebecca Rettig to the board of directors for both Silvergate Bank and its publicly traded parent company, Silvergate Capital.

Ms. Rettig started her legal career in 2006 at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP in New York, litigating complex commercial disputes. Before joining the Aave Companies in March 2021, Ms. Rettig served as a partner at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP in the financial services group, representing digital currency and blockchain clients.

Through exercising her career roles, Ms. Rettig gained unique and deep-rooted expertise representing firms at the forefront of the financial services industry’s digital transformation. She has widely represented blockchain clients in all aspects of litigation and regulatory enforcement proceedings, as well as in regulatory licensing matters and before regulators.

Alan J. Lane, the President and CEO of Silvergate bank, talked about the development and said: “Rebecca’s broad wealth of knowledge in the blockchain and digital currency space make her a valuable addition to our board. Her experience will support us as we continue to provide innovative solutions to the rapidly growing digital currency industry.”

Ms. Rettig also commented about her appointment and stated: “I am honoured to join Silvergate’s board at this moment of evolution in the bank’s history and the digital asset ecosystem. I look forward to working with Silvergate’s leadership and my fellow board members to strengthen the Company’s leadership position in this evolving and innovative industry.”

Bridging Services between Traditional and Digital Currencies

Rettig’s hiring is vital to Silvergate bank to continue performing its business. The community bank based in San Diego has gained much reputation as a service provider for cryptocurrency exchanges and firms that in many cases have been shunned by Wall Street banks. Silvergate’s willingness to work with crypto firms has been key to the growth of the digital asset industry.

In December last year, the Diem Association, a cryptocurrency initiative backed by Meta Platforms Inc (formerly Facebook Inc), was shutting down. Silvergate bank acquired the cryptocurrency technology backbone of Facebook’s Diem Association to keep the prospect alive.

Silvergate wants to leverage the technology with its own crypto expertise to launch a stablecoin digital currency later this year. The stablecoin could serve as a cryptocurrency alternative to Mastercard and Visa with streamlined international remittances and lower transaction fees.

Facebook tried for two years to get approval but kept running into roadblocks from U.S. regulators. Silvergate Bank was the natural buyer because it understands the technology. The regulators are comfortable with it.