Crypto lending platform, BlockFi, has announced that it is limiting operations, including clients' withdrawals. This is due to the ongoing crisis in FTX, the crypto exchange that initially gave them a $250M bailout loan in June 2022.
BlockFi made this known in a Twitter post, citing the lack of clarity surrounding FTX as the reason for its move.
— BlockFi (@BlockFi) November 11, 2022
Recall that a few days back, BlockFi founder and COO, Flori Marquez, announced that its products were fully operational regardless of the unpleasant happenings with FTX. The firm stated it would run as an independent entity until at least July 23.
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Even hours before the shocking announcement, BlockFi published a tweet, reassuring users of its operational capacity. BlockFi emphasized that it would remain fully operational, regardless of the November 11 Veterans’ Day federal holiday.
We recognize, given the current market conditions, that this delay is less than ideal.
— BlockFi (@BlockFi) November 10, 2022
BlockFi will remain fully operational on 11/11 and all crypto transactions, including withdrawals, will continue as normal.
As always, @BlockFiSupport is available to answer any questions.
However, the table turned sooner than later. With the daily developments in FTX, it is difficult to predict what might happen next for the exchange. Following BlockFi’s inability to gain clarity, it decided to limit its business activities until it could ascertain what was happening.
The firm advised clients to avoid making deposits into their BlockFi wallet or Interest Accounts.
After this announcement, Lookonchain analyzed BlockFi’s six wallets to determine the company remaining assets. The analysis shows that the firm has about $18 million worth of crypto.
Lookonchain’s breakdown shows that the company has 10,598 ETH, 478,180 USDT, and 229,398 BUSD. This is a huge downward swing for a company that was once a $3 billion unicorn.
Blockfi now suspends user withdrawals!
— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) November 11, 2022
Let's see how much money #BlockFi has left now.
We analyzed 6 wallets of @BlockFi on Ethereum and found that he has only $18.37M left.
Including:
10,598 $ETH($13.3M)
3M $USDC;
2.9M $BAT($762,567)
478,180 $USDT
48,598 $UNI($270,207)
pic.twitter.com/8Xj4g0jZiO
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Finally, this move by BlockFi didn’t go down well with most crypto users. Reacting to the news, Coffeezilla, an internet detective known for exposing scams, stated,
“BlockFi joins the long line of crypto projects that claimed, only hours before TOTALLY SHUTTING DOWN, that they will remain fully operational. These ppl need to be held criminally accountable for lying to investors.”
