Zipmex’s investor is requesting to pay only a fraction of the crypto exchange’s debt, contradicting their previous pledge to make a full payment. This new proposal, which is between 10 to 20 percent of the owed amount, poses challenges for the company’s rescue plan. As a result, Zipmex is seeking to extend its creditor protection to attract new investors.
According to a letter sent to the crt overseeing Zipmex’s restructuring, the investor seeks to reduce the payment because the company failed to meet the conditions stated in the initial buyout proposal.
Although the letter does not identify the investor, an anonymous source revealed that it is venture capital fund V Ventures. The company had signed a deal in December 2022 to acquire 90% of Zipmex for $100 million in cash and crypto tokens, with the crypto part of the payment intended to gradually unlock customers’ frozen wallets by April 2023.
However, Zipmex did not receive the fourth tranche of the payment worth $1.25 million, which was due on March 23, 2023, and was intended for working capital.
Zipmex, which has branches in Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and Australia, halted withdrawals on its platform in July 2022 after being exposed to troubled crypto lenders Celsius and Babel Finance worth $53 million.
Following this, the company sought bankruptcy protection from creditors and was granted a three-month creditor protection by the Singapore High Court in August 2022, allowing it to offer a debt restructuring plan. However, Zipmex’s latest extension of creditor protection expires in a few days on April 23rd, and with the latest development from its investor, the crypto exchange is requesting the court to grant another creditor extension to enable it to seek alternative investors.
Meanwhile, the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) began investigating Zipmex’s activities to determine whether the crypto exchange violated any local laws amidst its ongoing financial struggles.
