Megan Crowell, the chief people officer at crypto lending firm BlockFi, has petitioned a court to allow bonuses for “key employees” amid Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. In a Jan. 23 declaration for United State Bankruptcy Court in the District of New Jersey, Crowell said without giving certain financial incentives, BlockFi might be unable to retain employees in a “highly competitive” crypto industry. According to the BlockFi executive, many staff were “highly likely to leave the company” amid the Chapter 11 process without “competitive compensation”, potentially adding to costs down the road. “The war for talent remains active, and the Participants …

According to new court filings, disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) will be subject to the forfeiture of roughly $700 million worth of assets if he were to be found guilty of fraud. In a court document filed on Jan 20, U.S. federal prosecutor Damian Williams outlined that the “government respectfully gives notice that the property subject to forfeiture” covers a long list of assets across fiat, shares and crypto. The filings state that most of the assets were seized by the government between Jan.4 and Jan. 19, while it is also looking to lay claim to “all monies and …

Three men reportedly drove their car into the metal barricade outside Sam Bankman-Fried’s parent’s home where he is currently under house arrest, SBF’s lawyers claim. In a filing to the federal court, the lawyers for the former FTX CEO said the three men got out of the car after hitting the barricade and told a security guard guarding the home: “You won’t be able to stop us.” The unidentified trio were then able to drive away before security guards could record the car’s license plate. According to a Reuters report, the incident was described in a Jan. 19 court filing …

A former FTX chief lawyer has accused the company's US general counsel of channeling business to Sullivan & Cromwell (S&C) — the firm currently serving FTX as bankruptcy counsel. Daniel Friedberg, who was the chief regulatory officer of FTX until he resigned on Nov. 8, made the allegations as part of a Jan 19. court filing. The filing was a declaration in support of an FTX creditor’s objection to FTX’s plan to continue using S&C as its lawyers throughout its bankruptcy case. In the declaration, Friedberg alleges that FTX.US lead counsel Ryne Miller, a former partner at S&C channeled business …

The CEO of crypto exchange FTX has rejected calls for its law firm Sullivan & Cromwell to be replaced as lead counsel in its bankruptcy case. John J. Ray III, who was appointed as the new FTX CEO on Nov. 11, filed a court motion on Jan. 17, arguing that Sullivan & Cromwell has been integral in taking control over the “dumpster fire” that was handed to him. Ray suggested that retaining their services is in the best interest of FTX creditors, arguing: “The advisors are not the villains in these cases. The villains are being pursued by the appropriate …

The ongoing saga of the South Korean cryptocurrency exchange Bithumb continues, this time with ruling from local courts. On Jan. 13 the South Korean Supreme Court finalized its ruling that the exchange must pay damages to investors over a 1.5-hour service outage on Nov. 12, 2017. According to a local news source, the damages are equivalent to $202, 400 - or 251.4 million in the regional currency won. Initially, a district ruled against the investors, though it was later overturned. The finalized ruling from the Supreme Court ordered damages to be paid ranging from as little as $6 to around …

Troubled cryptocurrency firm Nexo is planning to sue the Bulgarian government in the aftermath of massive raids at the company’s offices in Sofia. Nexo has complained about the actions of the law enforcement authorities in response to the investigation against the firm, the Bulgarian News Agency reported on Jan. 13. The company is reportedly preparing to file a lawsuit against the authorities to seek compensation for damages caused by the abrupt police interruption. One report suggested that investigators did not provide a search warrant for hours, while inspectors had never identified themselves. Nexo believes that the raids conducted in its …

Eight major media companies including Bloomberg, The Financial Times and Reuters have demanded public disclosure of the two individuals responsible for guaranteeing FTX former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried's $250 million bond. In a Jan. 12 letter addressed to New York District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan, attorneys from Davis Wright Tremaine LLP — acting on behalf of the media giants — argued that “the public’s right to know Bankman-Fried's guarantors outweighed their privacy and safety rights.” Media organizations looking to persuade the judge to unseal the identities of Bankman-Fried's guarantors include the Associated Press, Bloomberg, CNBC, Dow Jones, The Financial Times, Insider …

FTX’s bankruptcy judge has reportedly slammed the joint letter from four United States senators calling for an independent examiner in the FTX bankruptcy case. As reported by Cointelegraph, the senators sent a letter on Jan. 9 highlighting concerns about the ties between FTX and their legal representative, Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. However, in a Jan. 11 hearing, Judge John Dorsey of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware called the letter “inappropriate ex parte communication” which he would not take into account in his decision. “I will make my decisions on the matters based only upon admissible evidence …

The names of up to nine million FTX customers are set to remain confidential for at least three more months following the latest ruling in FTX bankruptcy proceedings. The decision was reportedly made by Judge John Dorsey in the Delaware-based bankruptcy court on Jan. 11 in response to a 168-page filing by FTX on Jan. 8 which requested the court to withhold confidential customer information. Judge Dorsey said that he remains “reluctant at this point” to disclose the confidential information, as it may put creditors “at risk,” despite increased pressure from several media outlets: "We're talking about individuals here who …

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has begun the process of getting a default judgment in its case against Ooki DAO after the latter missed the deadline to respond to the lawsuit. According to a Jan. 11 court filing, the regulator has requested the court for an "entry of default" against the decentralized autonomous organization (DAO), stating it had missed the deadline to "answer or otherwise defend" as instructed by the summons. If approved, the entry of default will establish Ooki DAO has failed to plead or defend itself in court and will no longer be able to answer or …

Bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital received initial court approval for its proposal to sell its assets to Binance.US for $1.02 billion amid a national security probe Voyager is seeking to speed up. On Jan. 10, United States Bankruptcy Judge Michael Wiles allowed Voyager to enter into the asset purchase agreement and seek creditor approval, but the sale will not become final until a future court hearing, according to a Jan. 11 Reuters report. It comes as Voyager wants to expedite a review of its proposal to sell assets to Binance.US which could result in the deal being blocked or delayed. …