CoinFLEX CEO Files Default Notice Against Bitcoiner Roger Ver

“We’ll do whatever it takes to get these funds back,” the company’s CEO said

article-image

CoinFLEX | Source: Shutterstock

share

key takeaways

  • After failing to receive $47 million in USDC funds from ​​“Bitcoin Jesus,” CoinFLEX has turned toward a “recovery” token
  • Recovery Value USD (rvUSD) will offer a 20% annual return for holders

After CoinFLEX’s chief executive accused early Bitcoin adopter Roger Ver of owing the company $47 million in the stablecoin USDC, the head of the exchange told Blockworks he’s shifted to focus on recovering the funds he says are owed. 

CEO Mark Lamb tweeted Tuesday that Ver — who is well-known for backing growing Bitcoin-focused startups — has been a longtime customer and failed to meet a recent margin call.

Ver has denied the claims instead alleging the company owes him money. 

Loading Tweet..

Ver told Blockworks via Telegram he still stands behind his tweet posted on Tuesday and that a statement from his lawyers would be issued sometime on Thursday.

CoinFLEX, an exchange incorporated in the Republic of Seychelles, halted customer withdrawals of funds last week and issued a token named Recovery Value USD (rvUSD) that offers a 20% annual return in hopes of raising funds to stabilize the business. 

“We are still speaking to [Ver], and we have filed a default notice,” Lamb said. 

“We’ll do whatever it takes to get these funds back.” 

Lamb is now speaking with a number of distressed debt funds and other institutional investors, saying “there is a large amount of precedent for these types of transactions.”

“Fast and swift transactions by this nature [are in] the best interest of our customers,” he said. “We want to get customers fully capitalized and withdraw their funds as quickly as possible,” Lamb said. “The amount of interest we’ve seen from that industry, debt credit and distressed debt is enormous. We are continuing to speak to various participants in that industry.”

Lamb and Ver first met some 10 ten years ago and have had what Lamb describes as a “personal recourse, non-liquidation relationship.”

The takeaway, from CoinFLEX’s perspective: the exchange is unable to get its lent money back and Ver is personally liable for any loans or assets he can’t repay soon.

Lamb declined to comment on whether the rvUSD token plan has been run by the Financial Services Authority Seychelles.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the Forward Guidance newsletter.

Get alpha directly in your inbox with the 0xResearch newsletter — market highlights, charts, degen trade ideas, governance updates, and more.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Javits Center North | 445 11th Ave

Tues - Thurs, March 18 - 20, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates (6).png

Research

In recent months, a number of highly accretive developments were implemented across the protocol to improve fee capture, expand product functionality, and ultimately drive value accrual to the RUNE token, with more upgrades on the immediate horizon. These developments include hiking the minimum swap fee parameter to increase revenue, adding a Burn System Income Lever to reduce the RUNE supply, the addition of COSM-WASM smart contracting and IBC to enable an application layer, new chain integrations, and more.

article-image

Former IRS agent and Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan will remain imprisoned in Nigeria’s Kuje prison

article-image

When Permissionless III wraps on Friday, there will be 26 days left until the 2024 presidential election

article-image

Plus, an update from the ground in Salt Lake City at Permissionless III

article-image

The US regulator accused the crypto market-making firm of acting as an unregistered dealer

article-image

Customers can pay merchants in USDC or USDP on Ethereum, Solana, and Polygon, while US-based merchants are paid in dollars