Shares of Silicon Valley Bank (SVB), a key lender to technology startups, sank as much as 60% at the close on Thursday. The worry comes after the Santa Clara, California-based SVB said Wednesday that it was holding a $2.25 billion share sale after suffering a significant loss on its portfolio, which included US Treasuries and mortgage-backed securities.

Overnight developments in US banking: markets, analysts, investors underestimate the importance of financial stability for the balance sheet of a bank. When interest rates move up 500 bps from zero in a year, an accident was waiting to happen somewhere,” said top banker Uday Kotak in a tweet on Friday.

Over the last year, the Fed has raised its benchmark rate to more than 4.5% – the highest rate since 2007 – responding to prices rising at the fastest pace in decades. The head of the US central bank has now warned that officials could raise interest rates farther and faster than previously expected in order to stabilise prices.

According to Bloomberg News, SVB does business with almost half of all US venture capital-backed startups, and 44% of US venture-backed technology and health-care companies that went public last year. Those sectors have been ravaged as rate hikes enacted to combat inflation tank valuations and force companies to search for cash, Bloomberg News notes.

We are taking these actions because we expect continued higher interest rates, pressured public and private markets, and elevated cash-burn levels from our clients as they invest in their businesses,” Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Greg Becker said in a letter to shareholders Wednesday.

The sale of securities will result in a post-tax earnings loss of $1.8 billion, SVB’s letter said, but the company added that its plan to reinvest the proceeds should be ‘immediately accretive’ as the bank reshapes its balance sheet.