Cryptocurrency lender BlockFi filed for bankruptcy, making it the latest major digital assets company to fail.
BlockFi filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey following the notorious implosion of FTX. In the filing, the company indicated that it had more than 100,000 creditors, with liabilities and assets ranging from $1 billion to $10 billion.
The new crypto shock comes as Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. on Nov. 11, sending shockwaves across the sector.
In the filing, the company listed an outstanding $275 million loan to FTX US, the American arm of FTX.
BlockFi announced earlier this month that it had halted withdrawals, citing “significant exposure” to Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange, as well as its sister hedge fund Alameda.
“Since the pause, our team has explored every strategic option and alternative available to us, and has remained laser-focused on our primary objective of doing the best we can for our clients,” the company said in a statement.
Like FTX, BlockFi also has a Bahamian subsidiary. That subsidiary moved for bankruptcy in the Bahamas concurrently with the American filing.
The company started talking with restructuring professionals in the days after FTX’s bankruptcy filing, according to people familiar with the matter.
BlockFi was last valued at $4.8 billion, according to PitchBook.
