Crypto Exchange Blockchain.com Faces $270M Hit on Loans to Three Arrows Capital

Cryptocurrency exchange Blockchain.com stands to lose $270 million from lending to Three Arrows Capital, the over-leveraged hedge fund now the subject to a liquidation order in the British Virgin Islands.

“Three Arrows is rapidly becoming insolvent and the default impact is approximately $270 million worth of cryptocurrency and U.S. dollar loans from Blockchain.com,” Peter Smith, Blockchain.com’s CEO, wrote in a letter to shareholders, reviewed by CoinDesk.

Three Arrows Capital, which boasted billions of dollars in assets under management earlier this year, has imploded thanks to a combination of plummeting crypto prices and poor risk management, with many crypto lending businesses becoming exposed.

Smith pointed out that Three Arrows has borrowed and repaid over $700 million worth of cryptocurrency in the four years that the firm has been a counterparty of Blockchain.com. Smith also emphasized that Blockchain.com “remains liquid, solvent and our customers will not be impacted,” in the letter dated June 24.

About a week ago, Blockchain.com and derivatives exchange Deribit were reported to be among the creditors that pushed for the liquidation of Three Arrows, also known as 3AC. In a Bloomberg News report, Smith said 3AC had “defrauded the crypto industry,” adding that this company intended “to hold them accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

A person familiar with Blockchain.com’s finances told CoinDesk the company was in good shape to weather the losses.

“We are not getting the sense there is any kind of stress on the organization,” the person said.

Founded in 2011, Blockchain.com is one of the longest-running startups in the cryptocurrency industry and developed one of the earliest blockchain explorers and one of the earliest web browser wallets. This year, the Luxembourg-based firm became the first crypto-related sponsor of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League in the U.S.