In 2022, the ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ and founder of Bitcoin.com, Roger Ver, filed suit against Smart Vega Holding Limited — Matrixport’s Seychelles subsidiary run by Jihan Wu. The case stems from the freezing of funds, The Block.
Ver, in a letter to the publication, clarified that he filed suit after, amid the industry crisis, he was unable to withdraw $8 million from bit.com. He said Wu blocked the withdrawal, allegedly blaming the ‘Bitcoin Jesus’ for personal losses at CoinFLEX.
“The reason my funds were unavailable for withdrawal was that Wu instructed the Defendant not to transfer them to me. Wu did this because he believed that I owed a certain amount to a third party that owed him a certain amount. His view was both false and inappropriate,” the lawsuit states.
However, Matrixport’s head of public relations and branding, Ross Gan, offered a different view:
“This matter relates to the results of an exchange investigation into Ver’s margin trading violations on bit.com, which found that he breached his contractual obligations. Provided the fines were paid, Ver would have had the right to withdraw his funds, but instead he challenged the fines due.”
The plaintiff also filed a motion for “forced closure (liquidation) of the company” in the Seychelles, citing the blocking of funds for personal reasons. He attached to the documents correspondence with Wu, in which he allegedly explained his position:
“I am a creditor of CoinFLEX, and CoinFLEX is your creditor. You simply send your USDC back to CoinFLEX to settle the debt there, and CoinFLEX transfers me USDC in the amount of $5 million.”
Gan called Ver’s claims unfounded.
“Not commenting on the specifics of the case, we understand that, on the basis of our solid legal grounds, Ver’s motion will be denied by the court,” he added.
On 24 June 2022, CoinFLEX suspended user withdrawals due to “extreme market conditions” and “uncertainty regarding counterparties”. To address the problems, the company announced the launch of the Recovery Value USD (rvUSD) token.
In July, the platform announced the resumption of withdrawals in a restricted mode and announced staff reductions to optimise costs.
In August the company filed for restructuring in court. According to the document, the exchange intends to raise $84m to repay debt.
CoinFLEX chief Mark Lamb clarified that the aforementioned counterparty is the Bitcoin.com founder Roger Ver, who owed the platform $47m. He was sent a default notice, and later the exchange turned to the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre to recover the funds.
In September, creditors supported the restructuring ahead of schedule. The plan itself envisions that debtors will receive 65% of the company’s shares.
In February 2023, CoinFLEX demanded Blockchain.com return $4.5 million, allegedly borrowed in FLEX tokens in 2022.