Zipmex Investor Reneges on 100% Payment, Now Seeks to Slash Buyout Deal

Zipmex’s rescue plan could face some challenges as the crypto exchange’s investor is now asking to pay a fraction of its debt, as against the pledge to make a 100% payment.

The distressed company is, meanwhile, planning to further extend its creditor protection to seek out new investors.

Buyout Proposal for Zipmex Takes a New Turn

Zipmex’s investor is proposing to pay the Thai crypto exchange’s creditors about 10 to 20 percent of the amount owed to them, as stated in a letter the firm wrote to the court in charge of its restructuring. The investor’s new proposal is significantly different from the original buyout proposal, which promised to make a full payment to creditors.

The letter, as seen by Bloomberg, said the investor was looking to slash the payment to creditors because Zipmex did not meet the conditions stated in the initial buyout proposal. While it does not mention the name of the investor, an anonymous source revealed that the unnamed entity was venture capital fund V Ventures.

As previously reported by CryptoPotato, V Ventures signed a deal with Zipmex in December 2022 to acquire 90% of the troubled crypto exchange for $100 million in cash and crypto tokens. The crypto part of the payment was supposed to be used to gradually unlock customers’ frozen wallets by April 2023.

However, Zipmex did not receive the fourth tranche of the payment from its investor that was due on March 23, 2023, worth $1.25 million. The payment was meant to be used to fund working capital.

In July 2022, Zipmex, which has branches in Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia, and Australia, halted withdrawals on its platform following its exposure to troubled crypto lenders Celsius and Babel Finance worth $53 million. Shortly after, Zipmex sought bankruptcy protection from creditors and was granted a three-month creditor protection by the Singapore High Court in August 2022 that enabled it to offer a debt restructuring plan.

Zipmex’s Plans to Further Extend Creditor Protection Window

Meanwhile, Zipmex’s latest extension of creditor protection is set to expire in a few days on April 23rd. With the latest development from its investor, the crypto exchange is looking to ask the court to grant another creditor extension to be able to seek alternative investors, as stated in the letter.

Amid Zipmex’s troubles, the Thai Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) reportedly began an investigation into the firm’s activities, which was probing to see if the crypto exchange violated any local laws.