BlockFi gets court nod to sell crypto mining assets

Bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi has been granted court approval to sell off its crypto mining equipment as part of ongoing efforts to repay its creditors.

A court order filed on Jan. 30 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of New Jersey granted approval for BlockFi to sell the assets, saying doing so was “fair, reasonable and appropriate under the circumstances.”

The court acknowledged that the sale of the assets is designed to maximize the recovery and “realizable value” of the company.

With the court giving BlockFi the green light, more bids are now expected to roll in for the crypto lender’s crypto mining assets.

The document stated “all qualified bids” must be sent to the parties specified in the bidding procedures by the Feb. 20 deadline.

The bids must be filed with the court by March 2 and the creditor’s representatives have until March 16 to object to the sale of the assets to the qualified bidders.

To participate in the bidding process, potential bidders must deliver a written proposal to each of the “co-counsel to the debtors.”

The proposal must include the proposed purchase price as well as the specific assets that the potential bidder is interested in acquiring and how they will finance the assets.

According to a Jan. 31 Bloomberg report, BlockFi’s tight deadline is an effort to get bids as quickly as possible to make the most of the current market conditions, which have seen most cryptocurrencies rally after months of sideways price action.

The report said that BlockFi’s lawyer, Francis Petrie, has told the court that the company has already received interest from bidders for various assets and expects more to come.

Related: Crypto Biz: A peek into BlockFi’s secret financials (it’s not pretty)

On Jan. 24, it was reported that BlockFi had been selling off $160 million in loans backed by approximately 68,000 Bitcoin (BTC) mining machines as part of the bankruptcy proceedings.

BlockFi started the process of selling off the loans last year, with some having already defaulted given the crypto market conditions.