SVB's meltdown was partly caused by a chasm between its assets and what they were worth in the market. Eventually, SVB sold some of those assets, spooking investors and triggering a run on the bank. But SVB isn't alone, as banks across the United States were sitting on $620 billion in unrealized potential losses at the end of last year, per the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
That hole illustrates why authorities at the Federal Reserve, the Treasury Department, and the FDIC were so eager to stave off contagion or panic spread from SVB's demise across the banking sector.
