BlockFi Announces Coinbase as Distribution Partner to Enable Crypto Withdrawals

BlockFi, the troubled crypto platform, has announced a partnership with Coinbase to ensure the distribution of crypto withdrawals to affected customers. The latest development is part of the firm’s effort to make customers whole after it emerged from bankruptcy in October 2023.

BlockFi is pleased to announce Coinbase as our distribution partner to ensure continuity of crypto withdrawals available to our eligible BlockFi Interest Account (BIA), Retail Loan, and Private clients.

— BlockFi (@BlockFi) May 9, 2024

Details of BlockFi’s Partnership with Coinbase to Reimburse Clients 

Per the recent tweet, BlockFi said it will work closely with Coinbase to ensure that customers will be provided with further important details including the instructions necessary to create an account on Coinbase via account email on file. The company warned clients about third-party actors, stating it will not partner with any other providers for crypto distributions so customers should be vigilant to avoid falling prey to scammers. 

BlockFi made an announcement last month, giving affected clients a deadline of April 28th to submit their withdrawal requests for their funds. Regarding this, the firm said that customers who fail to withdraw their digital assets distribution from the platform by the deadline will have funds made available and can withdraw if they create or have an open and approved Coinbase account. Notably, these instructions also apply to those who did not complete an identity verification request by the deadline of May 10, 2024, at 11:59 UTC.

However, eligible customers who fail to meet the withdrawal deadline including those who did not create an approved Coinbase account might have their in-kind distribution liquidated to cash and distributed in cash, according to the Plan. The company added:

“The Plan Administrator will have the ability to use Coinbase for future rounds of distributions, including distributions based on funds recovered from FTX.  Absent this capability, under the Plan the Plan Administrator would only be able to make distributions in cash for subsequent distributions. For BlockFi clients who are unable to open a Coinbase account, all distributions will be made in cash, pursuant to the provisions of the Plan that require cash distributions where crypto distributions are not feasible”. 

BlockFi Platform to Shut Down

Furthermore, the crypto lender announced the decision to shut down the platform in May 2024, adding that the specific date is still in discussion. According to BlockFi, clients should expect that more details will be communicated over the coming weeks and the platform will no longer be accessible after the date.

Therefore, customers are urged to download their important data from the platform such as transaction history, and tax forms before the shutdown date.