Embattled Zipmex files to extend creditor protection until April 2023

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Zipmex, the digital asset exchange that went bust in July due to its tie-ups with collapsed digital asset firms, is seeking to extend its creditor protection to April 2023.

The Singaporean exchange filed for five-month creditor protection in August under Section 64 of Singapore’s Insolvency, Restructuring and Dissolution Act 2018. However, a Singaporean judge cut it down to just under four months. This protection ends on December 2, and now Zipmex has filed to extend it by another four months.

“Each of the Zipmex companies have filed applications for the extension of their moratorium in Singapore, until 2 April 2023,” the exchange revealed in an update on its website.

The exchange operates five subsidiaries—Zipmex, Zipmex Australia, Zipmex Thailand, Zipmex Asia, and Zipmex Indonesia.

As CoinGeek reported, it all blew up for Zipmex after the collapse of Celsius Network, a digital lender which wiped out billions of dollars and filed for bankruptcy protection, and Babel Finance, the Hong Kong-based lender which lost over $280 million trading customer funds. Of the $280 million, $48 million belonged to Zipmex.

In July, Zipmex announced that it was halting withdrawals, and a month later, it filed for creditor protection at the Singapore High Court.

Since then, it has been scrambling to find investors to bail it out of the mess. Bloomberg reported earlier this month that the exchange was in advanced talks with V Ventures for a bailout. The venture capital firm, which is a subsidiary of one of Thailand’s largest investment firms, Thoresen Thai Agencies, was reportedly in discussions to acquire a majority stake in the firm. However, these negotiations hit a ‘hiccup’ that caused a delay.

The latest reports claim that a new deal is almost done, and the papers could be signed this week, citing a person familiar with the matter.

While the deal could save the exchange, the fate of the embattled CEO Marcus Lim remains uncertain. Since the collapse, investors who have been interested in rescuing the company have wanted Lim out first.

The latest is Chalermchai Mahagitsiri, who asked Lim to forfeit all his shares as a condition for his financial backing.

“We request the Zipmex Team to prepare a confirmation letter of your share forfeiture for you to sign and to take effect at closing. We look forward to moving on from this situation and receiving this confirmation letter,” Chalermchai, the son of Thai billionaire Prayudh Mahagitsiri, wrote to Lim.

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