Bank Deposit Risk Grows as $482B in Losses Threaten Stability (Uncut) 03-16-2025

FDIC: Bank Deposit Risk Grows as $482B in Losses Threaten Stability

Fear created the FDIC in 1933, after the depression set off panics that wiped out even healthy banks. Question becomes, how many times can the FDIC do that? At what point is the FDIC broke? What is FDIC actually doing right now? If you thought American banks and therefore your deposits were safe, think again. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the FDIC, the people responsible for keeping your deposits insured, just announced that the total amount of unrealized losses on U.S. banks balance sheets isn’t declining.

It’s surging. But that’s not all. This crisis is compounded by a major broken promise.

Last year, the Federal Reserve indicated seven interest rate cuts, but only three of those happened. Banks at the time promised that when interest rates came down, these unrealized losses would disappear. Only that didn’t happen.

These unrealized losses become very real, very quickly jeopardizing not only the savings of Americans who aren’t paying attention, but the entire financial system as we know it. Because the truth is, banks aren’t just writing this out. They are preparing for something big.

It’s not a coincidence that they are stockpiling gold and positioning themselves now for what’s coming next. But the questions remain. What could the trigger be to make these losses realized? What exactly are the banks preparing for? And with all of this volatility, how does it impact you? And what can you do now to protect yourself before it’s too late? Let’s get into it.

This week, the FDIC confirmed that in Q4 of 2024, U.S. banks added a whopping $118 billion in unrealized losses, bringing the total amount to just under half a trillion dollars. But to put this into perspective, that number is 10 times what banks carried during the great financial crisis. As a quick refresher, unrealized losses occur when the market value of an asset has depreciated, but the asset hasn’t been sold at a loss yet.

Key phrase here, hasn’t been sold yet. Think of it this way. You buy a house for $500,000 and five years later, the market crashes.

Now, your home is only worth $300,000. But if you don’t sell, the loss is just theoretical. But should you be forced to sell, now suddenly that $200,000 loss becomes very real very quickly.

But this isn’t just a theoretical risk. It’s already happened. It’s exactly what led to Silicon Valley banks collapse.

On the surface, SVB looked totally fine, but just underneath it, they were sitting on massive amounts of unrealized losses. When they needed liquidity they didn’t have, they were forced to sell their assets at a loss, exposing the truth that the capital they said they had on paper wasn’t there, leading to a loss of confidence, a depositor bank run, a collapse of the bank, and a hard lesson in just how fragile the system really is. Now, some people might say, so what? All of the depositors were made whole.

That’s exactly what would happen this time. But I wouldn’t be so sure. It’s been two years since that bank failure and the FDIC’s deposit insurance fund is still recouping losses from that one bank failure.

In fact, most Americans have no idea that the total deposit insurance fund only covers 1.25% of total insured deposits. Let that sink in. 1.25%. When you walk into your bank and you see that gold sticker on the window on the door at the teller, it’s supposed to give you confidence.

But the reality is, if one large bank or multiple small banks or a handful of regional banks went under, there are not enough funds in the deposit insurance fund to make all the depositors whole again. It’s all an illusion. The banks operate on a fractional reserve system.

The insurance corporation operates on a fractional fund system. And the lender of last resort, the Federal Reserve, well, we know right now the United States is running a $2 trillion annual deficit. Not exactly a great foundation to build upon.

But I can already hear the argument, oh, she’s cherry picking information. The same report that talks about unrealized losses from the FDIC also talks about problem banks. And right now, only 1.5% of total banks in the United States are considered high risk on the problem bank list, which is true.

But here’s the problem with the problem bank list. They ignore all of the flashing red warning signs. See, the last couple of banks that have failed or almost failed and had to be bought or consolidated weren’t even flagged on this list.

But don’t just take my word for it. If you look today at the number of problem banks, it’s actually higher than it was in 2007. And we can see how healthy those banks really were in the years that followed.

It’s because the FDIC and the problem bank list don’t look at risk until it is all ready too late. It’s not a good predictor. But this shouldn’t be shocking.

It’s the same way that lawmakers in the United States who were supposed to protect us after the great financial crisis never fixed the system as promised. No, they never addressed or enforced the real issue, derivatives, or as Warren Buffett calls them, financial weapons of mass destruction. Again, derivatives are essentially bets stacked on top of bets stacked on top of bets that all tie back to an underlying asset.

It’s the financialization of financialization. But should those underlying assets deteriorate the way we saw with the subprime mortgage crisis? Well, suddenly the entire house of cards comes crashing down. Right now, it is estimated that globally there is over a quadrillion dollars worth of derivative exposure just to give you a sense of how big this global casino really is.

So what happens when banks need liquidity? Well, right now they’re sitting on these junk assets like commercial real estate loans or long-term mortgage bonds and securities. And they’re fine as long as they don’t have to sell. But the moment they need cash, the losses become undeniable.

But what could cause them to need cash? Well, anything. We have stock market volatility, geopolitical risks, economic uncertainty. Any one of these could be the trigger where banks have to get more liquidity and they have to sell at a loss.

And that’s when it becomes a systemic threat because everything is so intertwined and connected at this point that it could cause the entire system to come crashing down. What do you think? Do you think that the banks are hiding a crisis in plain sight or do you think everything’s fine? And if you think a crisis, how long do you think we have? Tell me your thoughts in the comments below because for me, should this happen, it won’t just be a slow unwinding. It would most likely be a sudden shock which would lead to two things.

Number one, we could expect to see increased inflation. When confidence breaks, the Fed would flood the system with cash, money printing on steroids. And the result? Prices would skyrocket.

Purchasing power would decrease and it wouldn’t just be your cash, it would be your deposits, your savings, your retirement. Everything that’s dollar denominated would be worth less. And or if things get bad enough, we won’t just see governments bailing out banks.

We could expect to see a bank bail in. The same way we saw in Lebanon and Cyprus where depositors wake up one morning and suddenly their deposits have been frozen and they are being used to make the banks and the system whole again. Essentially legalized theft of your deposits.

But the thing is, it is completely legal. And before you say, well, that would never happen here in the United States. It absolutely could.

It is written into our laws. And the FDIC has already been recorded on video laughing about what would happen if Americans found out the truth about a potential bailing. I think you’ve got to think of the unintended consequences of taking a public that has more full faith and confidence in the banking system than maybe people in this room do.

Those are the people who are supposed to make sure our deposits are safe. Now, I’m not saying this is going to happen tomorrow. And no, I’m not encouraging or proposing a bank run by any means.

But what I am doing is making sure that everyone has an equal opportunity to protect themselves now against what could be coming next. I want to make sure that everyone understands the health of our banks and the risks that they pose to the entire system because not everyone was given that opportunity in the past. And this is why for me, I personally protect my wealth outside of their system in physical gold and silver.

Since it’s outside of the system, it can’t be frozen or seized. There is zero counterparty risk. It’s not dependent on all of these entities.

And, of course, it is the ultimate safeguard against inflation, against the never ending money printing that is going on, the devaluation of our currency, which is happening at an accelerated rate. There is a reason that these banks are stockpiling gold. I mentioned it at the beginning of the video.

They are preparing for something big. That something big is inevitably going to be a currency devaluation, revaluation where those who hold dollars will be left with next to nothing. But those who hold gold and silver, those who hold true wealth, those will be the people and the institutions who come out on the other side with real power.

They are preparing. I’m preparing. The only question left is, are you? Only you can answer that.

But if you are looking for a place to start or you want some additional information, we have created a free ITM gold and silver guide, which is an incredible place to start. The fact you’re watching this video means you’re already ahead of the curve. But if you want more information, download your copy today so you have it.

You can scan the QR code. You can click the link in the description below. It is an incredible free resource.

I recommend everyone download and have a copy of it. But to take it even further, to take action, to ensure you’re protected so that you can sleep well at night, talk to one of our expert analysts. Make sure that you have a plan in place for what’s coming next.

We specialize in gold, silver, and lifelong wealth protection. We work with everyone to understand because everyone’s different. What are your goals? What are your concerns? What are you preparing for? That is how we have helped so many people, and we are here to help you as well.

So to talk to one of our analysts, again, scan the QR code. Call us at the number below if that’s easier, or click the link in the description and find a time that works best for you. No matter what you choose, just make sure that you are protected with physical gold and silver, that you’re protected outside of the system.

That is my wish for everyone. And as always, in the meantime, I so appreciate you being here. I’m Taylor Kenney with ITM Trading, your trusted source for all things gold, silver, and lifelong wealth protection.

Until next time.