BlockFi, Haftalarca Belirsizlik Sonrası Chapter 11 İflası İçin Başvurdu

After leaving its clients hanging for weeks, wondering what was going on behind the scenes at BlockFi, the company has just duyurdu that it and its 8 affiliated debtors are indeed proceeding forward with filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in the United States.

Ne Oldu?

Per BlockFi, this turn of events is the result of its exposure to FTX and various of its affiliated companies.  While disheartening to see another large group of investors negatively impacted by a centralized entity, this move is not surprising given the lack of communication afforded by BlockFi since it opted to halt withdrawals weeks ago – a situation reminiscent of what rival lending platforms Celsius is currently going through.

Şirket, kendisinin FTX’ye bu kadar maruz kalmasının tam detaylarını paylaşmamış olsa da, bu yılın başlarında FTX.US tarafından cömert bir kredi hattıyla kurtarılmış olması spekülasyonları körüklemiştir. Bildiğimiz tek şey, şirketin FTX’ye önemli ölçüde maruz kaldığı ve artık faaliyet gösteren borsanın fonlarını geri alana kadar normal şekilde çalışmaya devam edemeyeceğidir. Şimdilik yatırımcılar neyin yanlış gittiğini merak ediyor. Müşteri fonları kötüye mi kullanıldı? Gemini tarafından saklanması gereken varlıklar nerede? BlockFi’nin FTX’ye ne kadar maruziyeti var? vb.

These answers should come out in time now that BlockFi has filed for Chapter 11 – a path which BlockFi indicates was chosen in an effort to “…stabilize its business and provide the Company with the opportunity to consummate a comprehensive restructuring transaction that maximizes value for all clients and other stakeholders.”

Varlıklar ve Talepler

In its filing, various bits of information have been released, shedding light on who will be affected, and the state of BlockFi’s finances.  Overall, we now know that somewhere north of 100,000 creditors have been affected by this development, and that BlockFi is in control of assets valued between $1B and $10B.
The top-50 creditors with the most significant exposure were listed in the filing.  The following are the top five, the type of claim, and what is owed to them by BlockFi.

• Ankura Trust Company, Tahvil Sözleşmesi, ~$730M
• West Realm Shires Inc., Kredi, ~$275M
• İsimsiz alacaklı, Müşteri, ~$48.5M
• Securities and Exchange Commission, Anlaşma, ~$30M
• İsimsiz alacaklı, Müşteri, ~28M

With many already critical of the SEC on its approach towards providing investors with protection and access to fair markets, it should be interesting to see what comes of the ~$30M still owed to the regulator from its past fine.
For the time being, creditors of BlockFi should not expect to retrieve any funds from the platform in the near future.  Not only does this process need to see itself through, its progress is directly linked to FTX and its own Chapter 11 filing.

İleriye Dönük

Now that Chapter 11 has been filed, BlockFi has shared various steps that it hopes to take which will allow it to continue operating moving forward, navigating what will surely be treacherous water.  Beyond its stated ~$257M cash on hand earmarked to provide liquidity for some its operations, these steps include filing for,

• ‘Anahtar Çalışan Tutma Planı’
• çalışan maaş ve faydalarının ödenmesine devam edilmesi onayı
• çeşitli maliyet düşürme önlemleri

From the publics perspective, it is hard to see a good outcome from this situation.  Not only does BlockFi has a checkered past in which it has had run-ins with regulators, and various instances of poor practices, the current state of affairs has resulted in the company having completely lost the trust of many .  Much of this stems from the fact that the company continually encouraged users that everything was alright behind the scenes mere hours before halting withdrawals.  Put bluntly, BlockFi knowingly lied about its situ hdrawals. Put bluntly, BlockFi knowingly lied about its situation to the masses, giving false hope and assurances to individuals that were about to lose access to significant sums of their own money – a similar move that has recently resulted in criminal investigations into companies like Hodlnaut by local authorities.