Dive Brief:

• Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange platform Voyager Digital CFO Ashwin Prithipaul is resigning in order to “pursue other opportunities” according to a Sept. 23 company press release.
• Prithipaul, who served in the position for just five months, is departing as the crypto exchange moves to finalize Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings begun in July. Voyager CEO Stephen Ehrlich will assume financial duties for the company in the meantime following Prithipaul’s departure, which is set to occur after a transition period, according to the platform’s announcement.
• “On behalf of the Board of Directors and the executive leadership team, I want to extend our sincerest gratitude to Ashwin for his many valuable contributions, especially for his efforts during Voyager’s restructuring process,” Ehrlich said in a statement included in the Friday announcement.

Dive Insight:

Prithipaul, a cryptocurrency veteran who has held previous CFO roles for digital asset firm Galaxy Digital, served in Voyager’s top financial seat for five months beginning in May, according to an announcement made during the company’s May 16 earnings report.

Prior to joining the crypto exchange, Prithipaul served as CFO for DriveDigital LLC, a financial brokerage firm. He has also held senior manager and manager positions at PricewaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte, according to his LinkedIn profile. He served as the chief accounting office for Galaxy Digital before moving to take the company’s financial helm in October 2021.

Voyager is one among several cryptocurrency exchanges which have declared bankruptcy in recent months, filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 6, approximately two months after Prithipaul’s CFO appointment. 

The company — whose financial woes were due in part to a defaulted loan by cryptocurrency hedge fund Three Arrows Capital — had 100,000 creditors at the time of its filing. Following Voyager’s filing, Three Arrows Capital later filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy.

The two were joined by fellow cryptocurrency exchange Celsius, which also filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 13, a move that, similar to Voyager, left its investors without access to their digital assets, which were held by the platform.  

Celsius made an unsuccessful bid to tap its former CFO Rod Bolger, a Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) alum as a bankruptcy advisor before withdrawing the motion following investor protests. Bolger, like Prithipaul, only served as the crypto firm’s CFO for a five-month stint.

While Prithipaul’s departure comes as Voyager moves to finalize its own bankruptcy proceedings, the company has also faced criticism from its creditors throughout the process.

The crypto exchange clashed with creditors over an employee retention plan proposed by the firm in early August, with the company seeking to shell out nearly $2 million in retention payments to 38 employees deemed critical non-insiders.

Voyager creditors, however, rallied against the proposal, with the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors noting in their objection that the company was seeking to pay such bonuses “at a time when thousands of creditors struggle to pay basic personal expenses due to the Debtors’ flawed business model” and that Voyager had not taking any steps to reduce its headcount.

The cryptocurrency firm is set to liquidate its remaining assets following the results of an auction which are set to be released Sept. 29, according to a Sept. 6 legal filing by Voyager’s attorneys.

Voyager Digital declined to provide additional comment beyond the details it included in its Sept. 23 announcement.