Bankrupt crypto lender Voyager’s CFO to step down months after appointment
Ashwin Prithipaul, CFO of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital Ltd, is expected to leave the company. The crypto firm said on Friday that the chief financial officer would step down after a “transitional period” to pursue other opportunities, and that CEO Stephen Ehrlich would take over the role in the meantime.
Prithipaul has served as CFO at the firm since May, according to his LinkedIn profile. Previously, he was CFO of crypto exchange DriveDigital for nine months, and before that he was CFO of crypto investment company Galaxy Digital.
Voyager Digital collapsed due to outstanding liquidity problems during the harsh winter period that started in May this year. As a result, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July to help contain the situation after suspending withdrawals on the platform.
The crypto winter triggered by the collapse of the algorithm Terra and its ecosystem led to the crash of almost all the cryptocurrencies and threw the entire industry into crisis.
Many crypto-related firms struggled to break even. Voyager became one of the highest profile crypto companies to go out of business amid this year’s market crash. The firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July with outstanding liabilities of as much as $10 billion.
The company’s downfall came shortly after one of its biggest debtors, Singapore-based crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), filed for bankruptcy in July, putting user funds at risk. 3AC owed Voyager more than $650 million in stablecoin USDC and Bitcoin.
Voyager began the process of selling its assets through auction earlier this month. The auction for the New York-based firm’s assets began on September 13.
Crypto exchanges Binance and FTX reportedly placed the top bids of approximately $50 million each for Voyager’s assets. But Binance’s current bid is considered slightly higher than that offered by FTX. Other bidders reportedly include digital asset investment manager Wave Financial and digital currency trading platform CrossTower.
The announcement of the winning bid is expected on September 29, although it could come earlier before that date.
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