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Alternative Assets  + Crypto  + Financial Advisory  + Latest News  + Real Assets  + RIAs & Financial Advisors  + Wealth Management  | 
Crypto Lender BlockFi Files for Bankruptcy as FTX Fallout Grips Industry

Crypto Lender BlockFi Files for Bankruptcy as FTX Fallout Grips Industry

BlockFi, one of the largest cryptocurrency lenders in the industry, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey.

The crypto firm, founded in 2017 by Zac Prince and Flori Marquez, has liabilities of $1 billion to $10 billion and more than 100,000 creditors.

The company recently acknowledged it had “significant exposure” to FTX and founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s subsidiaries. Blockfi said this included “obligations owed to us by Alameda, assets held at FTX.com, and undrawn amounts from our credit line with FTX.US.”

BlockFi owes $729 million to its largest creditor, Ankura Trust, a business that manages creditors in stressed situations. FTX, its second-largest creditor, is owed $275 million on a loan approved earlier this year. The firm also listed the SEC as a creditor that is owed $30 million.

BlockFi currently has $256.9 million in cash on hand, which is enough liquidity to support operations throughout the process.

The company noted in its filing that bankruptcy protection would allow BlockFi to effectively stabilize the organization and restructure operations, including recovering all obligations owed by its counterparties, like bankrupt crypto exchange FTX. But BlockFi noted it expects recoveries from FTX will be delayed.

Crypto prices have also been hit hard over the past month. Bitcoin and Ethereum have slumped 22% and 28%, respectively, and the global crypto market cap has dropped to $820 billion, down from its November 2021 peak of about $2.5 trillion.

BlockFi, which received financial backing in its early days from major Wall Street investors Peter Thiel and Mike Novogratz, hired Kirkland & Ellis and Haynes & Boone as bankruptcy counsel and Berkeley Research Group as a financial advisor.

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About Joe Palmisano

Joe Palmisano is Editorial Director for Connect Money, where he brings nearly three decades experience of market insights as a financial journalist, analyst and senior portfolio manager for leading financial publications, advisory firms, and hedge funds. In his role as Editorial Director, Joe is responsible for the selection of content and creation of daily business news covering the financial markets, including Alternative Assets, Direct Investment and Financial Advisory services. Before joining Connect Money, Joe was a financial journalist for the Wall Street Journal, regularly publishing feature stories and trend pieces on the foreign exchange, global fixed income and equity markets. Joe parlayed his experience as a financial journalist into roles as a Senior Research Analyst and Portfolio Manager, writing daily and weekly market analysis and managing a FX and US equity portfolio. Joe was also a contributing writer for industry magazines and publications, including SFO Magazine and the CMT Association. Joe earned a B.S.B.A. in Finance from The American University. He holds the Chartered Market Technician (CMT) designation and is a member of the CFA Institute.

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