Three Arrows liquidators asks U.S. court to force crypto founders to cooperate

Cryptocurrency mining facilities are seen in Pristina, Kosovo June 12, 2018. Picture taken June 12, 2018. REUTERS/Hazir Reka

Reuters – Representatives for Three Arrows Capital (3AC) have asked a U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan to force the cryptocurrency hedge fund’s founders to participate in the liquidation proceedings, saying they can’t be located and have blown off requests for necessary information.

The court scheduled an emergency hearing on Tuesday to address concerns raised by the company’s liquidators.

Singapore-based 3AC, which was reported to have $10 billion in cryptocurrency earlier in 2022, held $3 billion in assets as of April, according to the liquidators’ court filing. The company filed for bankruptcy in the British Virgin Islands in late June after being hammered by a sharp sell-off in digital currencies.

3AC’s insolvency has destabilized other crypto lenders like Voyager Digital, which filed for bankruptcy after 3AC failed to repay a loan of approximately $650 million in cryptocurrency, and Blockchain.com, which loaned $270 million to 3AC.

3AC’s liquidators Russell Crumpler and Christopher Farmer, said in a Friday court filing that they cannot locate 3AC’s founders, Zhu Su and Kyle Livingstone Davies. Crumpler and Farmer were appointed by a British Virgin Islands court to represent the company, wind down its operations and repay creditors. They filed a parallel bankruptcy case in New York in order to shield 3AC’s U.S. assets and gain international recognition of the liquidation proceedings.

The liquidators said Su and Davies have not yet begun to cooperate in the liquidation effort, and that they are not only concerned about delays to their work, but the “actual and imminent risk” that the founders or other parties will whisk away 3AC’s cryptocurrency assets.

They are demanding immediate access to 3AC’s Singapore offices and information about 3AC’s bank accounts and digital wallets.

The liquidators said they have had Zoom and email communications with a Singapore law firm purporting to represent Zhu and Davies, but they could not be sure they were actually reaching the founders. On a recent Zoom call, Su and Davies’ names appeared, but their video was turned off and they were on mute at all times. Neither answered direct questions on the call, according to the liquidators.

They also said they had stopped by 3AC’s Singapore office, but could not enter because the door was locked. Mail had piled up unanswered by the door, and neighbors said no one had been in the offices since late May or early June, according to the court filing.

Zhu is attempting to sell a Singapore mansion that could be worth tens of millions of dollars, according to the court filing.

The case is In re Three Arrows Capital, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, No. 22-10920.

For the liquidators: Adam J. Goldberg of Latham & Watkins.

Read more:

Crypto hedge fund Three Arrows files for Chapter 15 bankruptcy

Stablecoin Terra’s broken dollar peg hits wider crypto markets

Crypto broker Voyager Digital issues default notice to Three Arrows Capital

Crypto exchange Genesis discloses exposure to bankrupt Three Arrows Capital

Blockchain.com faces $270 million hit on loans to bankrupt Three Arrows

Crypto lender Voyager addresses customer anger in first bankruptcy hearing

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