Deniz 
BlockFi, the lender of bankrupt cryptocurrency, has disclosed its intention to close its site in May as part of its wind-down of operations. For the sake of customer access and withdrawal facilitation, BlockFi has partnered up with Coinbase.
According to a blog post by the company, “eligible BlockFi Interest Accounts (BIA), retail loans, and private clients” would be able to withdraw their funds with the help of their partnership with Coinbase.
BlockFi was rendered bankrupt following the collapse of FTX in November 2022. By 2023, the company was closed, the recovery plan for the customers’ cryptocurrencies was announced, and the date for withdrawal requests was set for April 28, 2024.
On Thursday, May 9, the lender released a statement to clients stating that the deadline for withdrawals of digital assets from the current estate distribution had expired. For the withdrawal to be convenient, they will be provided with a guide on how to create a Coinbase account, whether they are already users or not.
In case you could not verify your identity by the May 10th withdrawal deadline, you are being provided with another opportunity to do it via the BlockFi platform. Assets could be liquidated and given to clients who cannot open an authorized Coinbase account.
BlockFi CEO Blames Bankman-Fried for Company’s Bankruptcy
Coinbase is the platform where the plan administrator takes the recovered FTX monies for future payout rounds.
BlockFi is explicit that it is not going to work with other platforms that distribute cryptocurrencies. Hence, investors should be careful not to be swayed by third-party fraudsters.
Before, BlockFi was a victim of fraud. The victims were sent phishing emails that appeared to be official company communication, offering them immediate withdrawal of the amount remaining.
During March, BlockFi and the estates of FTX and Alameda Research came to a provisional settlement of $875 million. The over $1 billion in claims that BlockFi had against FTX were settled in the settlement, and in addition, FTX also agreed to not pursue “millions of dollars of avoidance claims and other counterclaims” that BlockFi had against them.
In the criminal case of Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO of BlockFi Zac Prince said that the acts of the founder of FTX led directly to the bankruptcy of BlockFi.
The bankruptcy court allowed the Chapter 11 repayment plan to reach 10,000 of BlockFi’s creditors in September 2023. BlockFi’s more than 100,000 claim to the company’s assets, including the collapsed cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, is owed $220 million, and the top three creditors are each owed $1 billion.