BlockFi Claims Against FTX, Alameda 'Largest Driver' of More Than $1B in Asset Recoveries, Firm Says

Fund recoveries for clients and creditors of bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi will depend heavily on the firm's claims against its commercial counterparties including FTX and Alameda, court filings from Friday show.

In its wind-down plan filed to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey, BlockFi said that "the success or failure" of litigation supporting these claims "will make a difference of in excess of $1 billion" to clients waiting for their money back.

The plan also set out a list of projected recoveries, including liquidation of around $1.06 billion in BlockFi Inc. Interest Account Claims, $216 million in BlockFi Lending LLC Private Client Account Claims and $371 million in BlockFi International Ltd. Private Client and Interest Account Claims – though recoveries eventually received by clients "may differ materially" from projected figures.

"While recoveries will be based on a number of factors, the largest driver of higher recoveries are our claims against Alameda and FTX," the firm tweeted on Friday.

BlockFi has around $355 million in crypto frozen on FTX and another $671 million in a loan to FTX's trading arm Alameda Research, which are also going through chapter 11 wind-down proceedings in Delaware.

Last week, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Kaplan in New Jersey ruled BlockFi custodial wallet users can be returned nearly $300 million in funds owed. The liquidation plan filed on Friday "provides for the return of non-estate digital assets held in client wallet accounts in connection with the Wallet Program in full, subject to applicable set offs," the firm tweeted.

A hearing on the plan is set for June 20.

Read more: BlockFi Customers Can Be Repaid $300M Held in Custodial Accounts, Judge Says