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Bankrupt Crypto Lender Celsius Was Lax With Custody, Examiner Finds

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A new report by the examiner of bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network details shortfalls in controls and operations at two of the company’s product offerings related to digital assets it held in custody for customers, raising issues of whether and how these users can get reimbursed, Bloomberg News reported. The programs, Custody and Withhold, were similar, and allowed users to keep their digital coins in the lender while supposedly maintaining ownership of them. The programs’ users have been claiming that they shouldn’t be lumped together with other unsecured creditors and should be reimbursed in full. In her interim report, examiner Shoba Pillay found that Celsius launched the Custody program “without sufficient accounting and operational controls or technical infrastructure.” As a result, Custody wallets were overfunded through June 10, but then became underfunded by $50.5 million — a 24% shortfall — by June 24. With the Withhold program, “no effort was made to segregate or separately identify any assets” associated with the accounts, the report said. “As a result, customers now face uncertainty regarding which assets, if any, belonged to them as of the bankruptcy filing,” Pillay wrote in the report. The findings may complicate customers’ efforts at reimbursement.

FTX Disclosed Related-Party Transactions but Didn’t Name Names

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The saga of Sam Bankman-Fried‘s bankrupt crypto empire isn’t just about collapsing tokens, missing billions and sunny offshore tax havens; there were also red flags in its books, the Wall Street Journal reported. At the core of FTX Trading Ltd.’s financial statements was a series of related-party transactions. But the company didn’t say who those parties were. On its balance sheet, the largest asset as of Dec. 31 was a “related party receivable” valued at $1.2 billion, or 44% of its assets. Its liabilities included a $362 million “related party payable.” FTX Trading last year paid $250 million, or 25% of its revenue, to an unnamed related party for “software royalties,” as previously reported by The Wall Street Journal, which viewed the documents. As a closely held company, FTX Trading didn’t disclose its financial statements publicly, though they were shared with investors. In a footnote to the financial statements, the company said its “primary shareholder is also the primary shareholder of several related entities which do business with the company.” It didn’t say who the related parties were for any specific transaction it disclosed.

FTX Suggests Sam Bankman-Fried Transferred Assets to Bahamas Government Custody After Bankruptcy: Filing

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FTX in an emergency court filing yesterday said that evidence suggests Bahamian regulators directed former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to gain “unauthorized access” to FTX systems to obtain digital assets belonging to the company after it had filed for bankruptcy protection, CNBC.com reported. The filing said that Bankman-Fried transferred those assets to the custody of the Bahamian government. It cites an interview published by Vox on Wednesday where Bankman-Fried expresses serious disdain for regulators. “F--- regulators,” he said in the interview. “They make everything worse. They don’t protect customers at all.” “You know what was maybe my biggest single f----p?” he asked. “Chapter 11.” The accusations were made by FTX in a motion in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. In that motion, FTX said the alleged conduct puts “in serious question” a request by Bahamian regulators for recognition as liquidators in the bankruptcy.

Crypto Lender Genesis Had Sought Emergency Loan of $1 Billion

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Cryptocurrency lender Genesis was seeking an emergency loan of $1 billion from investors before it told clients it was suspending redemptions this week, as the shockwaves from FTX’s collapse continue to reverberate through the crypto industry, the Wall Street Journal reported. A confidential fundraising document viewed by The Wall Street Journal states that Genesis needed access to the credit facility by 10 a.m. Monday, citing a “liquidity crunch due to certain illiquid assets on its balance sheet.” The firm didn’t get the money. “There is an ongoing run on deposits driven mainly by retail programs and partners of Genesis (i.e., Gemini Earn) and institutional clients testing liquidity,” the document says. Gemini Earn is a yield-bearing product offered by Gemini, a cryptocurrency exchange. A spokeswoman for Genesis said that the document was prepared over the weekend and is no longer current. The firm is having “very positive conversations” with potential investors to shore up its liquidity, she added. “Genesis had been exploring all possible options amidst the liquidity crunch resulting from the FTX news,” the spokeswoman said. “After reviewing a number of options, we made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend redemptions and new loan originations in the lending business so that we can identify the best solution and outcome possible for clients."

Collapsed Crypto Exchange FTX Could Owe More than 1 Million Creditors

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Collapsed crypto exchange FTX and its related businesses could owe money to more than 1 million people and organizations, according to documents filed in bankruptcy court Monday, illustrating the scope of a corporate meltdown that has drained traders’ accounts and plunged the crypto industry into crisis, The Indian Express reported. In FTX’s first substantive court filing since it filed for bankruptcy Friday, the company’s lawyers offered few details about the state of the business. But they said FTX was in touch with “dozens” of federal, state and international regulators and law enforcement officials, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Justice Department and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Those investigations began last week after a run on deposits left FTX with an $8 billion shortfall. In a stunning corporate drama, a company once regarded as among the safest and most reliable corners of the freewheeling crypto industry collapsed practically overnight. The firm’s founder and CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, announced his resignation when the bankruptcy papers were filed Friday in federal bankruptcy court in Delaware. Bankman-Fried had agreed to step aside at around 4:30 a.m. that day, the new filing said, after consulting with his own legal team. He handed control to John J. Ray III, a veteran of corporate crises. Since then, Ray and other FTX officials have worked “around the clock” to get the company in order, according to the bankruptcy filing. The firm halted trading and responded to a “cyberattack” reported late Friday, the filing said.

FTX Management, Bahamas Gear Up for Fight over Control of Bankruptcy

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Securities regulators in the Bahamas are seeking to control FTX bankruptcy proceedings through the crypto exchange’s locally based subsidiary, challenging the company’s chapter 11 filing in Delaware and setting the stage for a possible venue dispute with its new U.S. management, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. FTX Digital Markets Ltd., the crypto company’s subsidiary based in the Bahamas, filed for chapter 15 in New York bankruptcy court on Tuesday to seek U.S. recognition of Bahamian liquidation proceedings. The action, if successful, could move at least a portion of the legal proceedings over the collapse of FTX from the U.S. bankruptcy courts to local courts in the Bahamas. FTX’s management is likely to fight to keep the case in the U.S., according to people with knowledge of the matter. The Securities Commission of the Bahamas tapped lawyer Brian Simms KC to oversee FTX Digital Markets’ liquidation. A Bahamian court approved Mr. Simms’s appointment on Thursday. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried resigned as chief executive and the company appointed John J. Ray III as new CEO on Friday. FTX and more than 130 corporate affiliates filed for chapter 11 in Delaware the same day. The Securities Commission said when it named Mr. Simms provisional liquidator that it needed to take swift action to protect the platform’s customers, creditors and other stakeholders. The commission said it is the sole authority in the Bahamas investigating FTX and that it expected to speak with authorities in other countries in the coming days and weeks.

California Trucking Company Files for Bankruptcy

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Freon Logistics, a Bakersfield, Calif.-based trucking company, has filed for bankruptcy, and some employees protested recently to demand unpaid wages, FreightWaves reported. Documents filed Nov. 8 in Eastern District of California U.S. Bankruptcy Court show that the company, which according to its website provides truckload, less-than-truckload, intermodal, repair and maintenance and warehousing services, is seeking chapter 11 protection; the documents were signed by CEO Hardeep Singh. Freon Logistics employs about 500 people, including truck drivers, administrative personnel and others, according to court records. It’s unclear whether Freon’s associated companies — Freon Group, Freon Trucking, Freon Cold Storage or Freon Garage — are impacted by the filing. Some employees told KGET that the company promised to pay workers on Monday but went back on its word, claiming the bank had frozen the company’s accounts. In a new court filing Monday, the company asked the court to allow it to pay administrative costs and employees.

Bankrupt Catholic Dioceses’ Victim Payout Deals Spurn Insurers

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Bankrupt Catholic dioceses are buckling to child sex abuse victims’ payout demands by offering them valuable rights to directly sue church insurers, riling up questions about the legality of such deals, Bloomberg Law reported. Catholic dioceses in the last 20 years have struck nearly two dozen victim settlements with their insurers’ cooperation in trying to exit bankruptcy proceedings. But growing disputes over the value and validity of many legacy sex abuse claims have created a rift among the parties. The rift has forced some dioceses to negotiate with either victims or insurers instead of both, together. As a result, the dioceses’ insurers could be forced to shell out far more to sex abuse victims than they believe should be on the hook for. In two large cases this year, Catholic bishops have abandoned settlements with insurance companies when abuse survivors rejected the financial terms. In stunning reversals, the dioceses in Rochester, New York and Camden, New Jersey cut new agreements with victim groups, offering cash and valuable insurance rights, instead of a lump sum payment that includes contributions from church coffers and insurers. Insurers are waging fierce legal battles over what they say is a violation of their contract rights. But victims’ attorneys believe the settlement technique is supported by the law and could show other dioceses how to expedite bankruptcies when insurance companies refuse to budge.

Bankruptcy Hearing Held for Pink Energy

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Pink Energy, formerly PowerHome Solar, shut down unexpectedly last month, leaving tens of thousands of customers with nowhere to turn, WSOC-TV reported. A bankruptcy hearing was held in federal court yesterday. At the hearing, some customers said their panels did not work or that they didn’t see the savings the company promised them. Many of them said they spent tens of thousands of dollars and will have to pay off loans for years to come. “Probably the worst experience of my life,” said customer Phoenix Riesing. “I really, truly do regret it. If I could turn back time, I would stop myself from ever having signed up for solar.” Customers were upset when they heard in court that some of Pink Energy’s executives, such as CEO Jason Waller, made more than $1 million per year and drove high-end company cars. Waller blames the company’s downfall on one of its parts suppliers, Generac. He says a fight with that supplier used Pink Energy’s resources and that the company “bled to death.”