The loan platform thus hopes to “stabilize the activity” and count on some $ 250 million remaining to finance its restructuring operations.
mo12345lemonde with AFP
The American loans specialist in Cryptomonnaies Blockfi announced, Monday, November 28, to have placed under the protection of the bankruptcy law in the United States, attributing its difficulties to the collapse of the FTX virtual currency exchange platform which had come to its rescue this summer.
Blockfi found himself in the turmoil in the first half after the general fall in the value of cryptocurrencies, which has made several companies in the sector stumble. Some of the customers who have deposited money with the company, founded in 2017, in exchange for the promise of the payment of high interests, had then been afraid and withdraw their funds. The platform was also affected by the liquidation of the Singaporean investment company Three Arrows Capital, to whom it had lent money.
To help him overcome these turmoil, FTX had offered his help, notably offering to grant a credit line of $ 400 million. But FTX has since filed for bankruptcy on November 11. Blockfi must have suspended most of its activities in the process, including withdrawals.
Domino effect
“Since this break, our team has explored all the strategic and alternative options available to us,” said a Message on The blockfi site . Posting the bankruptcy, in the state of New Jersey, will allow the company “to stabilize the activity” and will give it “the possibility of implementing a reorganization plan which maximizes value for all customers and other stakeholders” , is added.
The company plans to focus on recovering money due by other companies. She specifies having “more than 100,000 creditors”. It also specifies that it has at its disposal $ 257 million in cash, which should allow it to finance its operations during restructuring.
The bankruptcy of FTX caused a domino effect affecting several other companies in the cryptocurrency sector. The French company Coinhouse, which offers to save in cryptocurrencies, has Blocked in mid-November The withdrawals of her booklets explaining that certain partner sites to whom she had lent funds had themselves blocked money outings.