FTX exchange’s bankruptcy continues to show its effects in the bankruptcy claims market with Attestor Capital, one of FTX’s largest stakeholders, filing a lawsuit against a claim seller. Attestor is a London-based hedge fund focused on distressed assets and private equity. The firm emerged as one of the largest buyers of FTX’s bankruptcy assets, alongside Silver Point Capital and Diameter Capital Partners.
Legal Action Against FTX Claim Seller
Claims Market data indicates that as of February, Attestor had purchased at least $400 million worth of claims, making it the largest claimant of FTX. According to Bloomberg on March 18th, Attestor, which made a 200% profit from FTX assets, filed a lawsuit against Lemma Technologies, the seller of one of the largest FTX accounts they purchased.
According to Attestor, Lemma agreed to sell FTX claims to the company for $58 million in June 2023. The company then backed out of the deal in an environment where cryptocurrency prices were rising and Bitcoin had increased by about 130% from the previous year at the time the article was written.
While it is reported that Panama-based Lemma eventually decided to keep the claim for itself, Attestor claims in the lawsuit that this is a clear case of seller’s remorse. According to Bloomberg, Lemma has not publicly disclosed its side of the case and has not presented a defense against Attestor’s lawsuit in New York.
Noteworthy Details in the Legal Proceedings
Attestor lawyers stated in their application that Lemma would not proceed with transactions or fulfill transaction approvals unless legally compelled to do so. While Lemma faces a new lawsuit in New York, one of its key figures is also facing legal issues in South Korea.
Lemma’s chief investor, Junho Bang, is accused of stealing crypto assets from the bankrupt crypto lending firm Haru Invest and was charged by South Korean authorities after being arrested in January.
Haru Invest was operating a crypto yield platform that promised investors an annual return of 12% on their crypto deposits. The platform suddenly suspended withdrawal operations in June 2023, citing issues with service partners. South Korean prosecutors later arrested Haru Invest’s CEO and two other executives for stealing $830 million from thousands of customers.
