The Federal Reserve Board, on August 15, 2022, issued final guidelines for regional Reserve Banks to use when considering applications for Federal Reserve “master accounts”—deposit accounts that enable direct access to the Federal Reserve’s payment systems and provide critical infrastructure to financial institutions operating in the United States. The final guidelines comprise a set of
Crypto-Related Bankruptcies Timeline
The Crypto-Related Bankruptcies Timeline serves as an interactive compilation of select dates relating to bankruptcies of companies involved in cryptocurrency, including hedge funds, lending companies, and exchanges. Beginning with Mt. Gox filing for Chapter 15 bankruptcy protecting in February 2014, the Timeline includes relevant information regarding crypto-related companies that filed for bankruptcy protection, as well
Voyager—The Auction to Come
Voyager Holdings filed a Notice of Auction with the bankruptcy court announcing an Auction* of its assets (or the assets Voyager believes it is entitled to sell). The Auction will start on September 13 in New York and promises to be anything but simple or dull. Whatever occurs and whichever bidder(s) emerge(s) successful, expect a hotly contested Sale Hearing.
An interesting aspect of bankruptcy auctions is their flexibility compared to a regular auction. Voyager has been soliciting bids on anything and everything—up to and perhaps including a bid for the whole kit and kaboodle. Qualified bidders were invited to submit offers for 100% of Voyager’s equity, all of Voyager’s assets, or some unspecified subset of the assets.
Blockchain Week in Review: Week of September 9, 2022
- Cryptocurrency Exchange Backs Lawsuit Against the U.S. Department of the Treasury
- U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Gives Speech on Crypto
- SEC Announces Formation of New Office for Crypto Disclosures
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Celsius Bidding Procedures Create Possible Bidding Opportunities
The Celsius Network bankruptcy cases provide another opportunity for parties to acquire their assets and/or operations. As predicted in an earlier post, the bankruptcy court issued an order in the Celsius cases, approving bidding procedures that outline the entire process and steps to be followed by anyone interested in submitting a bid.
Anyone interested in buying assets or operations from Celsius will need to follow the process outlined in the order to connect with the advisors to Celsius, sign a nondisclosure agreement (NDA), and structure a bid with the bid requirements to become a Qualified Bid* as defined in the order.
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Voyager—Bankruptcy Timelines Begin to Slide
A host of reasons can cause bankruptcy timelines to slide—ongoing negotiations, buyers dealing with their lenders, holidays, court scheduling issues, perhaps a dearth of interested buyers, and more. These types of changes are usually more of a stew of events than they are attributable to any single ingredient.
An earlier post included a timetable for the Voyager sale process that contemplated a September 8 hearing to approve one or more sale of assets to an as-of-yet-undetermined bidder or bidders. Voyager also initially planned for a Chapter 11 plan confirmation process that would have a disclosure statement hearing on September 29.
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OFAC Takes Action Against Virtual Currency Tornado Cash in Novel Application of Sanctions Authorities
The U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), on August 8, 2022, sanctioned virtual currency mixer Tornado Cash. OFAC alleged that it had been “used to launder more than $7 billion worth of virtual currency since its creation in 2019 [, including] over $455 million stolen by the Lazarus Group[,]” a Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) state-sponsored hacking group that OFAC identified for sanctions in 2019, in what the agency characterized as the largest known virtual currency heist to date.[1]
Big Move in Celsius – Will Parties Get a Deeper Look from an Examiner’s Review
Something big happened the Celsius bankruptcy case last week. The filed by the Office of The United States Trustee (“UST”), a part of the US Department of Justice, has filed a motion asking the Court to appoint an examiner in the Celsius chapter 11 case. According to the UST, an examiner is needed because of:
Voyager Holdings—Disclosure Statement and Plan Leave Customers and Creditors Asking “Who’s on First?”
Voyager filed its Disclosure Statement and First Amended Plan (Plan) on Friday, August 12. A primary purpose of a Chapter 11 plan is to define how creditors’ and customers’ claims are proposed to be treated. For a business such as Voyager’s, the plan would be expected to include how customers’ claims will be treated. A disclosure statement typically describes the plan, the debtors’ history, events leading to bankruptcy, and for debtors that intend to operate after bankruptcy, includes projections of its future under the plan (along with a liquidation analysis to compare the plan with a liquidation of the debtors).
Calling Voyager’s Plan a shell is an overstatement to anyone who has ever searched for crustaceans by the seashore. It does not indicate what customers or creditors will receive. It does not indicate what Voyager’s future will or may hold, since the bidding process is still underway and there is no way to know whether there will be one or more “white knights” or if Voyager will seek to keep existing management in charge.
Voyager Bankruptcy Shows a Smorgasbord of Digital Assets
As we’ve previously noted, customers and other creditors of Voyager Digital Holdings face a deadline to file official “proofs of claim” setting forth the amounts they assert that Voyager owes them. The deadline is 5:00 p.m. ET on October 3, 2022. Information regarding the deadline, filing requirements, and procedures is available in the bankruptcy court’s order that established the deadline.
The court-approved proof of claim form for customers can be found here.
Proofs of claim can be filed electronically here.
Continue Reading Voyager Bankruptcy Shows a Smorgasbord of Digital Assets