Exodus Movement, a publicly traded cryptocurrency company, has initiated legal proceedings against W3C, the parent company of Baanx and Monovate, and its CEO, Garth Howat, in an effort to finalize the acquisition of W3C for $175 million, as agreed upon in November of the previous year. The lawsuit, filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery, seeks to compel Howat to fulfill his obligations under the Stock Purchase Agreement dated November 24, 2025.
Upon signing the agreement, Howat and W3C received $80 million in loans from Exodus, with Howat personally receiving $10 million, which he later claimed did not need to be repaid, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that "Defendants Garth Howat and W3C are engaged in a blatant, reckless, and improper campaign to escape closing a transaction for the sale of W3C to Exodus that they had promised to complete in a binding agreement." The lawsuit further states that they "have attempted to misappropriate millions of dollars from one of their own subsidiaries, have falsely backdated documents filed with government authorities, and have purported to dismiss entire boards of directors, as well as the CEO and CFO of their key operating entity, and replace them with their preferred candidates, despite being prohibited from doing so by the binding agreement." Howat has not yet responded to a request for comment. W3C's subsidiaries, Baanx and Monovate, were involved in the Crypto Life digital asset cards business, which collaborated with major players such as Mastercard and MetaMask.
JP Richardson, CEO and Co-founder of Exodus, commented, "We have a binding agreement with W3C and expect it to be fully honored. We are confident in the path forward and anticipate a swift resolution."