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> not their current market value if sold at fire-sale prices

Fire sale means the selling of the assets pushes their value down. This is not that. It’s insolvency; the assets were and are worth less than their book value.

> stability of the US banking infrastructure

Speaking anecdotally, New York is surprised and the Bay Area scared. This is a local problem. Not a systemic one.

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> Fire sale means the selling of the assets pushes their value down. This is not that. It’s insolvency; the assets were and are worth less than their book value.

As has been repeated many times, the bank was never and is not insolvent.

> the bank was never and is not insolvent

Yes, it was, as declared by its regulators. Its balance sheet balanced. But its liabilities were worth more than its assets. If it weren’t insolvent, SVB could have borrowed at the Fed’s discount window. It couldn’t.

the bank was closed by the FDIC due to insolvency

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