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

Blockchain.com executives face prosecution as court proceedings continue, with Companies House intensifying enforcement action.

British crypto provider Blockchain.com is facing legal action after two senior executives were accused of failing to timely report the company’s accounts, The Telegraph reported, citing court documents.

Co-founder and chairman Nicolas Cary, along with chief operating officer Al Turnbull, were summoned by Companies House in May. According to the report, court proceedings began at Cardiff Magistrates’ Court on 25 September and a new hearing is scheduled for 26 November.

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

Blockchain.com attributed the late filing to restructuring efforts and a “significant reduction in the broader group’s workforce,” which the company said took time to stabilize. The firm stated in its 2020 accounts that its directors had taken legal advice and were preparing to defend the charges. The Telegraph notes that a conviction for failure to file accounts could result in unlimited fines for the company’s directors.

Founded in 2011 by Peter Smith and Nicolas Cary, Blockchain.com reached a valuation of 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.

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