Al Drago | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesThere is an $85 million shortfall between what partner banks of fintech middleman Synapse are holding and what depositors are owed, according to the court-appointed trustee in the Synapse bankruptcy. Customers of fintech firms that used Synapse to link up with banks had $265 million in balances. But the banks themselves only had $180 million associated with those accounts, trustee Jelena McWilliams said in a report filed late Thursday. The missing funds explain what is at the heart of the worst meltdown in the U.S. fintech sector since its emergence in the years after the 2008 financial crisis. She said Synapse apparently commingled funds among several institutions, using multiple banks to serve the same companies.

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Persons: Jelena McWilliams, Al Drago, Andreessen Horowitz, McWilliams, Bank —, it's, Banks, Cravath, Judge Martin Barash Organizations: Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Banking, Housing, Urban Affairs Committee, Washington , D.C, Bloomberg, Getty, Synapse, Evolve Bank & Trust, American Bank, AMG, Bank, Partner Bank Locations: Washington ,, U.S, what's