FTX advisors billed the bankrupt firm for a whopping $103M in Q1

May 3, 2023 Coin Telegraph

FTX advisors billed the bankrupt firm for a whopping 3M in Q1

After Sullivan & Cromwell, Consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal billed the second largest invoice for its finance and accounting work.

The lawyers and consulting firms assisting cryptocurrency exchange FTX through its bankruptcy proceedings are set to cash in a total of $103 million over the first quarter.

March saw five firms — Sullivan & Cromwell, Alvarez & Marshal, AlixPartners, Quinn Emmanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Landis Rath & Cobb — bill FTX a combined $36.4 million according to several court filings between April 28 and May 2.

The invoices from March were slightly higher than January and February’s figures of $34.2 million and $32.5 million respectively.

New York-based law firm Sullivan & Cromwell again walked away with the biggest paycheck, billing $14.1 million in fees and expenses for March, adding to a total of $44.4 million over the first quarter.

*Sullivan & Cromwell billed FTX $14.1 million for March. Source: Kroll*

Partners at the firm took home $2,165 per hour while paralegals and legal analysts were paid $425 and $595 per hour for their contributions.

Consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal came in next, invoicing over $13.8 million in March for the tens of thousands of hours it collectively committed to avoidance actions, financial analysis and accounting procedures.

It was the third successive billing of over $10 million for the firm, which has served as FTX’s restructuring advisor since Sam Bankman-Fried’s former empire filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11.

*Alvarez & Marsal invoiced FTX $13.8 million for March. Source: Kroll*

Fellow law firms Quinn Emmanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Landis Rath & Cobb respectively billed FTX $3.19 million and $644,000 in March for respective totals of $7.3 million and $1.9 million over the first quarter.

As Landis Rath & Cobb serve as FTX’s special counsel, the firm has spent most of its hours in the courtroom attending court hearings and undergoing litigation procedures.

Over 180 lawyers from Sullivan & Cromwell, Quinn Emmanuel Urquhart & Sullivan and Landis Rath & Cobb have been assigned to work on the FTX case.

Forensics consulting firm AlixPartners invoiced its largest bill at $4.51 million in March, totaling $10.2 million over the quarter for the firm’s work in analyzing decentralized finance products and tokens in FTX’s possession.

Despite a severely troubled six months, FTX hasn’t put the nail in the coffin yet.

With $7.3 billion in assets recovered FTX’s legal team is eyeing a potential reboot of the trading platform as early as April 2024.

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Celsius changes legal team, pays off $20M in Aave debts

July 11, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Celsius

The embattled platform continues to wind down its debts to decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocols, having just paid off 20 million USDC to Aave.

Crypto lending platform Celsius has reportedly hired lawyers from Kirkland & Ellis LLP to advise on its restructuring options — the same firm that assisted Voyager Digital with its bankruptcy filing last week.

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal on July 10, the company has hired lawyers to advise on options, including a bankruptcy filing in place of the previously hired law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP describes itself as an international law firm that serves clients in private equity, M&A, and other corporate transactions, having been founded in 1909.

The law firm has also been tapped as general bankruptcy counsel for Voyager Digital in its bankruptcy proceedings, which it filed in the Southern District Court of New York on July 5, days after pausing trading, withdrawals, and deposits on liquidity issues.

Despite ongoing concerns that the crypto lender may follow a similar path, Celsius has continued to wind down its debts to decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocols, having just paid off 20 million in USD Coin (USDC) to Aave.

The latest loan repayment was picked up by blockchain analytics firm Peckshield on Sunday, July 10, sharing a screenshot of the 20 million USDC transfer from a Celsius wallet to Aave Protocol V2.

#PeckShieldAlert Celsius (0x8ace...130ee8) has repaid 20m $USDC on Aave pic.twitter.com/U7h1Lvyy5x
— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) July 11, 2022

Defi tracking platform Zapper shows that Celsius still owes approximately $130 million in USDC and $82,500 in Ren (REN) to Aave, along with $85.2 million in Dai (DAI) to the Compound protocol, with a total debt of $215 million.

Last week, the lending platform paid off its remaining $41.2 million debt to Maker protocol on July 7, freeing up more than $500 million in Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) collateral.

Paying down debt has been seen as a positive for Celsius’ depositors, who have not been able to access their crypto funds since withdrawals halted on June 13 and fear a loss of their funds if the company were to go bankrupt.

Last week, crypto lawyer Joni Pirovich told Cointelegraph that Celsius’ repayment of its loan position would ultimately assist its customers, as it would free up capital which could be used to meet customer withdrawal requests.

Pirovich added that even if Celsius files for bankruptcy, repaying its loan position and withdrawing collateral could improve the situation of its customers.

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