Bankrupt crypto lending firm BlockFi has been granted court permission to pay staff bonuses worth nearly $10 million, according to dated filings. January 27th.
The filing does not use the word “bonus” per se. Instead, it refers to employee retention programs and describes additional payments on top of the base salary.
Under the program, BlockFi will pay up to $9.98 million to the few remaining employees. This amount will be distributed to employees in three installments. One that pays the employee 42.5% of the base salary and one that pays the employee 9% of the base salary.
Today’s filing further states that BlockFi is “approved but not directed” to enact this employee retention program. The company does not appear to have to pay all or some of its employees, but if it chooses to proceed with the retention plan, it must complete the last of the three payments within 12 months of court approval. there is.
Court filings did not specify the number of employees eligible for the bonus. However, according to recent reports, the company now has about 125 employees.
BlockFi initially justified its request by saying its employees would likely be hired elsewhere due to fierce competition. A statement from BlockFi’s legal representatives suggests that the company’s employees play an important role in returning assets to investors.
BlockFi’s decision to pay its employees will undoubtedly be controversial as it has yet to fully resume customer withdrawals. In December, the company began taking steps to reopen the court-required wallet withdrawals, but kept interest-bearing wallets closed. It seems to remain frozen as of the date.
BlockFi’s bankruptcy proceedings are being filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey. Judge Michael Kaplan is overseeing the case.
