(Bloomberg) -- A Singapore court has withheld a decision on embattled crypto lender Babel Finance’s request for an extension of creditor protection, as it seeks more clarity on a proposed restructuring following objections raised by creditor Deribit, Babel’s co-founder and sole director Flex Yang said.
Hong Kong-based Babel, which also operates in Singapore, owes about $750 million to $800 million to creditors and its ongoing moratorium of protection against creditor action ends on April 5, said Flex, who stepped down from day-to-day operations late 2021 and has returned to oversee the company’s restructuring. It was among a string of crypto companies that fell into trouble during last year’s digital asset rout.
The court granted an interim moratorium until the next hearing date for Babel’s creditor protection plea on April 17, Flex said.
Babel’s proposed restructuring plan involves a new stablecoin. The plan proposes repaying debts owed to creditors with revenue generated by a new decentralized finance project minting so-called “Babel Recovery Coins.”
Deribit, the largest Bitcoin and Ether options exchange, has asked for Alvarez & Marsal to be appointed as an independent adviser to monitor the restructuring plan, Flex added. Deribit didn’t immediately respond to an email sent outside business hours.
Sequoia Capital China backed-Babel ran up massive losses while using customer funds for its own proprietary trading, forcing the crypto lender to freeze withdrawals in June 2022 as digital tokens plunged.
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