Bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi says it wants to make users who custodied crypto through non-interest accounts whole at the earliest.
In an email sent to clients on Monday, BlockFi said it was requesting authority from a U.S. bankruptcy court to reinstate withdrawals for BlockFi Wallet Accounts.
“It is our belief that clients unambiguously own the digital assets in their BlockFi Wallet Accounts,” said BlockFi in a statement.
BlockFi also plans to seek similar relief from the Supreme Court of Bermuda where BlockFi International is incorporated.
The motion is exclusive to BlockFi Wallet accounts, however, and withdrawals and transfers from BlockFi Interest accounts will remain paused, the firm said.
“We expect that our request will be heard by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court at our hearing currently scheduled for January 9, 2023, at 10:00 am ET,” added the firm. The crypto lender said it expects a similar request filed with the Supreme Court of Bermuda will likely be heard on Jan. 13 at 9:30 am ET.
In order to facilitate withdrawals, BlockFi requested permission to update its user interface so that they reflect transactions made on the platform as of 8:15 pm ET on Nov. 10 – the same time at which the firm announced it was halting withdrawals.
“We are shocked and dismayed by the news regarding FTX and Alameda. We, like the rest of the world, found out about this situation through Twitter,” said BlockFi at the time, despite contradicting statements from its founder and CEO Flori Marquez a day prior.
At the time, Marquez claimed that BlockFi was an independent entity from FTX and its operations would not be affected by the exchange’s collapse.
