BlockFi’s UCC claims former CEO Zac Prince ‘personally profited’ from company

BlockFi’s UCC wants to show who former CEO Zac Prince really is and what he and “his colleagues were doing…when no one was watching”

article-image

Formatoriginal/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

“It is time” for BlockFi creditors to know what BlockFi was and who former CEO “Zac Prince truly is,” BlockFi’s Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors said in a new court filing. 

The UCC is pushing for the court to either appoint a Chapter 11 trustee, terminate the exclusivity periods for the debtors or convert the cases to Chapter 7 proceedings. 

Voyager, Celsius and even FTX customers understand the majority of what happened to the respective companies through the collapses. However, the UCC argues, BlockFi customers do not yet have a clear understanding of what happened which is “facilitating case mischief.”

$16 million per month is being burned on BlockFi’s cases, according to the filing.

A Chapter 11 trustee is necessary, the UCC says, because “the Investigative Report reveals, in great detail, that BlockFi (Mr. Prince in particular) perpetrated a fraud on customers.”

Read More: How BlockFi Went From Tech Unicorn to Crypto Burnout

BlockFi’s debtors also “broke their own promises to customers by liquidating nearly $240 million in customers’ crypto.”

However, the Court could also open up the plan exclusivity. The UCC claims that BlockFi took too long to propose a plan — with the cases lasting seven months, with two plans “dead on arrival.”

The UCC also claims that the debtors “resorted to their illegal and utterly cockamamie solicitation (smear) campaign a month ago” which “spread lies” to the customer base — spanning over 600,000 investors — and skirted the UCC.

And, finally, the court could convert the case to a Chapter 7 case. 

A Chapter 7 would allow for the liquidation of a “debtor’s nonexempt property and the distribution of the proceeds to creditors,” according to the US courts. 

UCC says that mediations have now failed, and both the debtors and the UCC are “at a complete standstill” and the debtors “shill” for the insiders — which would include Prince.

This is not the first time that the debtors and creditors have had public disagreements. In February, debtors accused the creditors of being “divorced from reality” and the creditors accused the debtors of throwing a “temper tantrum.”

Last week, the SEC announced that it would “forego” the $30 million penalty from BlockFi until investors have been repaid. The bankrupt lender plans to open up customer withdrawals sometime this summer. 

BlockFi filed for bankruptcy in November of last year after FTX collapsed.


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

Tags

Upcoming Events

Salt Lake City, UT

WED - FRI, OCTOBER 9 - 11, 2024

Pack your bags, anon — we’re heading west! Join us in the beautiful Salt Lake City for the third installment of Permissionless. Come for the alpha, stay for the fresh air. Permissionless III promises unforgettable panels, killer networking opportunities, and mountains […]

recent research

Screen Shot 2024-05-16 at 14.53.45.png

Research

Loss-versus-rebalancing (LVR) is arguably Ethereum DeFi’s biggest problem, and thus reducing LVR is fundamental to the success of Ethereum. This report dives into the world of LVR. We uncover its importance for AMM designers, discuss the two major mechanism design categories and various projects developing solutions, and offer a higher level perspective on the importance of AMMs in general.

article-image

Yesterday saw Congress’ upper chamber side with the House on a measure aimed at overturning SAB 121

article-image

Oklahoma’s new crypto bill will go into effect in November of this year

article-image

The deposits hit a $20 million cap in just 45 minutes

article-image

Twelve Democratic Senators voted in favor to pass the resolution Thursday

article-image

Pump.fun is “aware” that bonding curve contracts on Pump.fun were exploited, and has since paused trading

article-image

Some investment pros are mulling crypto allocations between 1% and 10% and seeking ex-BTC exposure for interested clients