BlockFi, a crypto finance company, files for bankruptcy after the fall of FTX

New Jersey’s bankruptcy filing lists Ankura Trust Company, which is listed as the largest creditor to the company, at $729 million. FTX USA, at $275 million, is next. SEC is number four on the list. It owes $30 million due to penalties that were imposed earlier in this year.

BlockFi says it currently has $256.9 million in cash on hand, which is “expected to provide sufficient liquidity” to keep the company up and running while it restructures its business. The firm’s going to focus on “recovering all obligations” owed to BlockFi by its counterparties, including FTX, although it expects this process to be delayed due to FTX’s collapse.

The afternoon is now complete. Financial TimesAccording to reports, Sam Bankman-Fried is being sued by FTX founder Sam Bankman for the 7.6 percent stake he holds in Robinhood. He claims it was pledged as collateral and used it to guarantee payments obligations.

According to A report from Decrypt, the company is also planning to lay off “a large portion” of its workers. The press release doesn’t directly mention layoffs but notes that BlockFi is looking to reduce expenses, “including labor costs.”

BlockFi’s platform allowed users to trade and lend cryptocurrency in the hopes of obtaining “yield,” or interest. The company Around 20 percent of the company’s workers were laid offIn June, they attributed the downturn of the crypto market and agreed to pay $100 million in Penalties to the SEC and other regulators based on its BlockFi Interest Accounts that were deemed to be unregistered securities and that BlockFi wasn’t properly registered as an investment company. 

On November 14, BlockFi stated that it had “significant exposure” to the exchange and its “associated corporate entities,” as FTX had given the company a $400 million credit facility and had the option to buy BlockFi. According to a report from, BlockFi had used the majority of that money. The Wall Street Journal, after Tell CNBC that it hadn’t touched it in July.

Now, FTX is in danger of collapse after a financial scandal that involved founder Sam Bankman Fried Customers funds reportedly usedAlameda Research, his other business, was rescued. Within days, estimates of Bankman-Fried’s personal assets went from $26 billion to zero.

An exchange as large and complex as FTX’s folding would have unintended consequences for the whole crypto industry. It could even trigger a push to regulate it further. BlockFi had promised that it had “the necessary liquidity to explore all options,” and this is apparently the only option left.

Updated November 28th at 6:40 PM ET Updated to note BlockFi’s lawsuit against Sam Bankman-Fried.