What We're Reading This Week [August 8, 2022]

Reuters reports that Coinbase's shares rose more than 16% last week after the cryptocurrency exchange announced its partnership with BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager. Under the agreement, Coinbase's institutional trading platform Prime, which services hedge funds, corporate treasuries and other financial institutions, will provide crypto trading and custody services to Coinbase's institutional clients using Aladdin, BlackRock's suite of software that helps institutional investors manage their portfolios. The announcement sparked a much needed upswing in Coinbase's shares, which were down over 60% this year due to the sharp drops in crypto asset prices as investors steered away from the asset class among recession concerns. [Reuters; August 4, 2022]

According to Law360, Whole Foods recently settled a lawsuit brought by an assignee for the benefit of creditors following a mediation held in late July 2022. Asset Recovery Associates LLC filed the breach of contract action as assignee for yogurt manufacturer AtlantaFresh Artisan Creamery LLC. The suit alleged that AtlantaFresh was driven into insolvency when the grocery giant terminated a seven-year contract to purchase 30,000 gallons of milk per week in 2017. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia previously declined to dismiss the case, disagreeing with Whole Foods' argument that Asset Recovery lacked standing under Georgia law as an assignee for the benefit of creditors of the limited liability company assignor. [Law360; August 2, 2022]

Per the Wall Street Journal, Voyager Digital Holdings Inc., a cryptocurrency brokerage firm, is set to return the $270 million cash-in-hand that it held when it filed for bankruptcy in July 2022. The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York ruled last week that Voyager had provided sufficient cause to amend the automatic stay to allow customers to access the custodial account holding their funds. The $270 million represents a small portion of investor assets. Voyager is one of several crypto companies that recently filed for chapter 11 after a "run on the bank" by customers requesting withdrawals en masse due to a massive dip in cryptocurrency prices. Voyager is currently undergoing a sale process, which it intends to conclude in September, and has already received several proposals. [WSJ; August 5, 2022]

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