JERSEY CITY, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--BlockFi Inc. and certain of its affiliates (“BlockFi” or “the Company”) today announce that its Disclosure Statement was conditionally approved by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey (“the Court”) on August 2, 2023. BlockFi’s Chapter 11 Plan (“Plan”) maximizes recovery for clients and provides for the quickest possible distributions to clients. Both BlockFi and the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (the “Committee”) recommend that all parties entitled to vote should vote to accept the Plan by the September 11, 2023, voting deadline. The Plan will bring these chapter 11 cases to a fair and value‑maximizing conclusion that will return client funds as quickly as possible.
“BlockFi’s mission through this process has been to maximize recoveries for our creditors, and conditional approval of our Disclosure Statement moves us one step closer to accomplishing that goal,” said Mark Renzi of Berkeley Research Group, BlockFi’s Chief Restructuring Officer. “We are confident that our Plan provides the best path to expeditiously return crypto back to our clients and we strongly urge BlockFi’s clients to vote to accept it.”
BlockFi is working diligently to return digital assets held in BlockFi Wallet Accounts (“Wallet”) to clients. Now, through the Company’s Plan, BlockFi intends to safely and securely return non-Wallet assets to creditors, followed by a wind down of the Company’s affairs. The Plan offers releases to clients who do not opt out of a voluntary third-party release (“Third-Party Release”) from all claims and causes of action BlockFi may have against them, except those clients whose withdrawals from BlockFi Interest Accounts (“BIA”) or BlockFi Private Client Accounts (“BPC”) on and after November 2, 2022, are greater than $250,000. Under the Plan, BlockFi would not clawback amounts under $250,000 that clients properly transferred from BIA or BPC to Wallet and/or withdrew from Wallet before the Platform Pause on November 10, 2022. Clients with claims under $3,000, or clients electing to reduce their claim to $3,000, will be included in a Convenience Claim Class and will receive a one-time cash distribution from the BlockFi Estate. Creditors in the Convenience Class will receive a one-time distribution of 50% of their claim in cash.
If the Plan is confirmed, the Company will focus its efforts on pursuing claims and causes of action in the litigation against Alameda, FTX, 3AC, Emergent, Marex, and Core Scientific to maximize recoveries for clients, and defending against claims by third parties, which threaten to massively dilute clients. Success or failure in these matters will make a positive or negative difference to client recoveries of over $1 billion, which is an order of magnitude larger than any other issue facing BlockFi and its clients.
All of BlockFi’s creditors will receive a Solicitation Package from the Company’s claims, noticing, and solicitation agent, Kroll. BlockFi’s eligible creditors have the opportunity to vote in favor of the Plan and will receive BlockFi’s Disclosure Statement and Plan, detailed voting instructions, and additional important information. BlockFi’s creditors who are not eligible to vote on the Plan will receive, in place of voting instructions, information explaining their non-voting status. In order for a vote to be counted, it must be actually received by Kroll on or before September 11, 2023, at 4:00 p.m. prevailing Eastern Time. BlockFi encourages all clients—including clients who are not eligible to vote—to read the Disclosure Statement and other materials in their Solicitation Packages in full to learn more about the Plan and seek legal counsel where necessary.
With questions or for additional information about the Plan or how to vote, creditors can visit the Kroll website at https://restructuring.ra.kroll.com/blockfi. Creditors can also contact Kroll by email at blockfiinfo@ra.kroll.com.
Capitalized terms used that are not otherwise defined herein shall have the meanings given to them in the Plan and Disclosure Statement.
Advisors
Haynes and Boone LLP, Kirkland & Ellis LLP, and Cole Schotz P.C. are serving as legal counsel, Moelis & Company is serving as investment banker, and Berkeley Research Group is serving as financial advisor to the Company. C Street Advisory Group, LLC is serving as strategy and communications advisor to the Company.
Joel Edwards of EY Bermuda Ltd and Eleanor Fisher of EY Cayman Ltd are serving as Joint Provisional Liquidators of BlockFi International Ltd (a Bermuda-incorporated entity).
