According to statistics compiled by the analysis platform RootData, 96 companies focused on cryptocurrencies and blockchains declared bankruptcy in 2022. All of these projects were affected by the collapse of Terra and FTX. Among the 96 projects, 28 had received a whopping $3.605 billion in funding.
Besides FTX, its sister company Alameda research, and the Terra ecosystem, some of the major names in the list include crypto lender BlockFi, Three Arrows Capital, Celsius network, and Voyager.
Three Arrows Capital
The cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) filed for bankruptcy in 2022, the first major crypto firm to do so due to the May collapse of the Terra ecosystem. The crash shook cryptocurrency markets worldwide, destroying $42 billion in investor value and resulting in a South Korean arrest order for the cryptocurrency developers. The Singaporean firm, rumored to hold $10 billion in cryptocurrency earlier in 2022, had a bankruptcy petition filed against them in the British Virgin Islands in June.
Voyager
Voyager, a New Jersey-based lender, declared bankruptcy in July after 3AC defaulted on a crypto loan worth more than $650 million. The firm planned on selling its assets to FTX for $1.4 billion in cryptocurrencies in September, and the bankruptcy procedure in U.S. courts would be sped up. When FTX went down, Voyager abandoned the sale and began talking to other possible buyers, such as the cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
Celsius Network
One of the several cryptocurrency lenders hit hard by Terra’s demise is Celsius Network, which filed for bankruptcy in the United States on a shakier foundation than Voyager. Since then, Celsius has been mired in lawsuits over its investment in a new bitcoin mining facility and its handling of fraud investigations, unequal treatment of client accounts, safeguarding user privacy, and other issues.
BlockFi
The first cryptocurrency company to file for bankruptcy after the loss of FTX was crypto lending platform BlockFi, which did so about two weeks after FTX’s dissolution. BlockFi has several ties to FTX and had depended on a $400 million FTX loan line to keep solvent after rival crypto lenders Celsius Network, and Voyager Digital Ltd collapsed earlier in 2022 owing to market volatility.
