The bankruptcy claims market is witnessing further developments in the FTX exchange collapse, as Attestor Capital, a prominent FTX claim holder, has filed a lawsuit against one of the claim sellers.
Attestor Capital is a London-based hedge fund specializing in distressed assets and private equity. Alongside Silver Point Capital and Diameter Capital Partners, the firm has emerged as one of the major buyers of FTX’s bankruptcy assets.
According to data from the Claims Market, as of February, Attestor was the leading buyer of FTX claims, having purchased claims worth at least $400 million.
After earning a 200% profit on its FTX claims portfolio, Attestor has taken legal action against Lemma Technologies, the seller of one of the largest FTX accounts it acquired. Bloomberg reported this development on March 18.
Attestor claims that in June 2023, Lemma agreed to sell FTX claims to the company for $58 million. However, Lemma backed out of the deal due to the skyrocketing cryptocurrency prices, with Bitcoin surging by nearly 130% in the past year at the time of the lawsuit.
Attestor alleges that Lemma, based in Panama, ultimately decided to retain the claim for itself, referring to it as a clear case of “seller’s remorse.”
Bloomberg noted that Lemma has not publicly provided its side of the story and has not filed a defense against Attestor’s lawsuit in New York.
Attestor’s lawyers stated in their filing that Lemma will not proceed with the transactions or honor the trade confirmations unless compelled by law to do so.
Cointelegraph reached out to both Attestor and Lemma for comment on the lawsuit but had not received a response at the time of publication.
In a related development, Lemma is facing another lawsuit in New York, while one of its key individuals is dealing with legal issues in South Korea.
Lemma’s principal investor, Junho Bang, has been accused of stealing digital assets from the collapsed crypto lending firm Haru Invest. Bang was arrested in January and reportedly indicted by South Korean authorities.
Haru Invest operated a cryptocurrency yield platform that promised investors a 12% annual return on cryptocurrency deposits. However, the platform abruptly suspended withdrawals in June 2023, citing issues with its service partners.
Following this, South Korean prosecutors arrested Haru Invest’s CEO and two other executives for allegedly embezzling $830 million from thousands of customers.
In other news, the Bitcoin Man, X Hall of Flame, predicts that China will intensify the Bitcoin bull run, with the cryptocurrency reaching $1 million by 2028.