Blockchain.com execs face court over delayed financial disclosures: report

Blockchain.com executives face prosecution, with court proceedings underway as Companies House intensifies its enforcement measures.

British crypto provider Blockchain.com is facing legal action after two senior executives were charged over the company’s failure to file accounts on time, The Telegraph has learned, citing court documents.

Co-founder and president Nicolas Cary, along with operations executive Al Turnbull, were summoned by Companies House in May. According to the report, court proceedings commenced at Cardiff Magistrates Court on Sept. 25, with another hearing scheduled for Nov. 26.

The legal claims focus on the firm’s delayed filing of accounts for the year ending Dec. 2022, with the business submitting accounts for the year ending 2020 only in October, the report reads.

Blockchain.com attributed the late filing to a restructuring effort and a” significant reduction in the wider group’s workforce,” which the company said took time to stabilize. In its 2020 accounts, the firm stated that its directors had sought legal advice and were preparing to defend the charges. A conviction for failing to file accounts could result in an unlimited fine for the company’s directors, The Telegraph notes.

Established in 2011 by Peter Smith and Nicolas Cary, Blockchain.com reached a valuation at around $7 billion in November 2023, when it raised $110 million. Investors include firms such as Baillie Gifford, Google Ventures, and billionaire Yuri Milner’s DST Global.

However, sources told Bloomberg that the firm’s valuation has since dropped to less than half its prior $14 billion peak, after a tumultuous period that included exposure to the collapse of the hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, to which Blockchain.com had lent $270 million.

In a statement sent to crypto.news, the firm said: “Blockchain.com takes seriously our compliance with license and regulatory requirements around the world. We have sorted all necessary documents related to this entirely administrative matter, and are confident it will be closed quickly.”