Exodus Movement, a publicly traded cryptocurrency company, has initiated legal proceedings against W3C, the parent company of cryptocurrency payment specialists Baanx and Monovate, and its CEO, Garth Howat, in an effort to finalize a $175 million acquisition 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 as outlined in the November 24, 2025 Stock Purchase Agreement.
Upon signing the deal, Howat and W3C received $80 million in loans from Exodus, with $10 million allocated directly to Howat, who subsequently claimed that repayment was not necessary, as alleged in the lawsuit. The lawsuit accuses Howat and W3C of engaging in a deliberate and improper attempt to evade completing the transaction, citing actions such as the misappropriation of millions of dollars from a subsidiary, falsification of documents filed with government authorities, and the unjustified dismissal and replacement of key personnel. Howat has not yet responded to requests for comment. The W3C subsidiaries, Baanx and Monovate, were instrumental in the development of the Crypto Life digital asset cards business, which collaborated with prominent partners such as Mastercard and MetaMask.
JP Richardson, CEO and Co-founder of Exodus, stated, 'We have a binding agreement in place with W3C and expect it to be fully honored. We are confident in our position and anticipate a prompt resolution.'