Filed for bankruptcy within 30 days after SEC lawsuit, Bittrex's largest creditors are regulatory agencies OFAC and FinCEN.
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Table of Contents
Bittrex Estimated Debt Between 5 to 10 Billion USD
On the evening of May 8th, Bittrex filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization in Delaware, USA. According to legal documents shared by Randall Reese, the founder of bankruptcy tracking agency Chapter 11 Dockets, Bittrex's assets and liabilities are estimated to be between 5 to 10 billion USD.
The number of creditor users exceeds 100,000.
The main entities that filed for bankruptcy include:
Seattle entity Bittrex, Inc
An affiliate entity Desolation Holdings LLC
- Bittrex Malta Ltd. and Bittrex Malta Holdings Ltd., both based in Malta
Bittrex bankruptcy filings list more than $500 million in both assets and liabilities, and more than 100,000 creditors pic.twitter.com/eBn2Q5yiem
— Randall G. Reese (@Chapter11Cases) May 8, 2023
Bittrex: Normal Operations Outside the US
A spokesperson for Bittrex Inc. told The Block that filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection will not affect Bittrex Global.
It was emphasized that Bittrex Inc. had already announced the suspension of all US operations starting from April 30, and that the bankruptcy protection filing will not impact Bittrex Global's ability to provide normal services to users outside the US.
US OFAC Becomes Bittrex's Largest Creditor
On April 18th of this year, the SEC charged Bittrex and co-founder and former CEO William Shihara with operating as an unregistered national securities exchange, broker-dealer, and clearing agency from 2017 to 2022, generating 1.3 billion USD in illicit revenue from trading fees.
Bittrex Sued in April: US SEC sues veteran exchange Bittrex for violating orders with overseas subsidiaries
The SEC fine is yet to be determined, but last October, Bittrex was also charged by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) for violating the Bank Secrecy Act, agreeing to pay around 29 million USD in settlements.
According to legal documents from Cointelegraph, OFAC is Bittrex's largest creditor in the bankruptcy filing, with a claim amount of 24.2 million USD ranking first; FinCEN is also among the top 50 creditors, with a claim amount of 3.5 million USD.
