Cryptocurrency lender BlockFi stops withdrawals, citing FTX problems

11.11.2022

Cryptocurrency lender BlockFi Inc. said it is suspending withdrawals and limiting activity on its platform, becoming the latest victim of the sudden collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire.

BlockFi, based in Jersey City, N.J., received a financial lifeline from FTX last summer after a sharp drop in cryptocurrency prices caused a liquidity crisis that engulfed many lenders. FTX gave BlockFi a $400 million revolving line of credit in a deal that also gave the exchange the option to buy the lender.

FTX plunged into its own crisis this week after it was slammed with customer withdrawal requests over the weekend. The Wall Street Journal reported that the exchange lent billions of dollars in loans to fund Alameda’s risky trading bets, setting the stage for the bourse’s collapse.

On Tuesday, BlockFi founder and chief operating officer Flory Marquez said on Twitter that all of the company’s products were fully operational and that the lender was processing customer withdrawals.

In its latest message, the lender asked customers not to make deposits to their digital wallets or BlockFi accounts and promised further updates.

The exchange’s sudden difficulties created problems for other cryptocurrency players as well. Crypto.com, another major exchange, on Wednesday suspended deposits and withdrawals on two stablecoins, USDC and USDT, on the Solana blockchain. Its CEO, Chris Marszalek, tweeted that the exchange shut them down to minimize additional risk because FTX was an important platform for stablecoins based on that blockchain.