Zipmex Faces Setback as V Ventures Scraps Proposed $100 Million Deal

Zipmex, a Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange, has been hit by a significant setback after V Ventures, its Thai buyout investor, cancelled a proposed deal worth $100 million to restore customer funds and save the company. V Ventures has demanded the return of the $4.6 million it had already invested in Zipmex, most of which was used for working capital. The company's 70,000 customer-creditors are left uncertain as they were hoping for a full recovery of their crypto assets still trapped on the platform.

Moreover, Zipmex is facing problems in paying salaries to its employees after V Ventures withheld a cash injection. Previously, V Ventures had proposed a revised scheme under which customers and vendors would receive only 10 to 20 cents on the dollar of their existing debt, rather than a full refund. However, this proposal is now off the table after V Ventures accused Zipmex of failing to fulfill its funding obligations, leading to the cancellation of the entire deal.

Zipmex currently has a court-sanctioned debt moratorium, which has been extended to June 30. Nevertheless, the withdrawal by V Ventures could complicate the exchange's efforts to find new investors. Following its emergence as a white knight for Zipmex, V Ventures was granted a super-priority claim over all other creditors on the assets of Zipmex Thailand and Zipmex Exchange Indonesia. The company is now considering taking legal action against V Ventures for breaking the deal, but any litigation would probably require the support of new investors.

Zipmex has identified at least two other potential investors in Thailand, as of April 13. The company may seek damages for being unable to secure rescue funding from other investors and for violating the court-sanctioned scheme of arrangement.

"Zipmex will rely on the fact that there have been other interested investors which it had rejected by choosing to enter into the share subscription agreement with your client," said Zipmex's lawyers Morgan Lewis Stamford LLC in a letter to Rajah and Tann, the law firm representing V Ventures.