The troubled crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital Ltd., otherwise known as 3AC, has filed for bankruptcy according to recent court filings. The court papers show 3AC is aiming for an ancillary Chapter 15 proceeding so liquidators and creditors cannot seize the firms U.S. assets.
3AC Files for Bankruptcy — ‘Tremors’ From the Crypto Market Fall ‘Continue to Reverberate,’ Says JPMorgan Analyst
Following the reports that Three Arrows Capital Ltd. (3AC) was reprimanded by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and faced liquidation from a court order stemming from the British Virgin Islands (BVI), 3AC has reportedly filed for bankruptcy.
Court filings were seen by Bloomberg‘s Jeremy Hill and the author published a report that summarized the situation. Hill says that 3AC has filed for a Chapter 15 bankruptcy, which allows proceedings to occur and protect insolvent firms in more than one country. Essentially, 3AC wants the bankruptcy recognized in the U.S., in order to protect the hedge fund’s assets located in America.
“Representatives for Three Arrows filed the bankruptcy petition in New York on Friday, court papers show,” Hill explained on Friday. The law firm Latham & Watkins is representing Three Arrows in the U.S. bankruptcy [case], the reporter added.
3AC‘s bankruptcy case was filed in the Southern District of New York in Manhattan. 3AC’s main headquarters are located in Singapore but the co-founder Su Zhu said last April it planned to move to Dubai. As far as the BVI court order against 3AC, the advisory firm Teneo is handling the liquidation proceedings in that jurisdiction.
According to JPMorgan analyst Nikolaos Panigirtzoglou, 3AC‘s billion-dollar failure “suggests that the tremors from this year’s crypto market fall continue to reverberate.” Panigirtzoglou continued to say in his investor‘s note that there’s many indicators highlighting deleveraged positions.
The JPMorgan executive added that “Indicators like our Net Leverage metric suggest that deleveraging is already well advanced. The fact that crypto entities with the stronger balance sheets are currently stepping in to help contain contagion.”
A cascade of liquidations at many different crypto lending and trading platforms has followed the high-profile unraveling of crypto firms such as Terraform Labs (of Terra and luna infamy), Celsius and Three Arrows Capital, aided by a plunge in the value of cryptocurrencies across the board.
The impact from Three Arrows Capital in particular has been felt widely. Crypto brokerage Voyager saw its stock plunge and was forced to limit withdrawals as it declared the hedge fund in default on loans worth around $670 million. Others, including BlockFi, are believed to be facing similar challenges.