Exodus Movement, a publicly traded cryptocurrency company, has initiated a lawsuit against W3C, the parent company of cryptocurrency payment and card specialists Baanx and Monovate, as well as its CEO Garth Howat, in an effort to finalize the $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 adhere to the obligations outlined in the November 24, 2025 Stock Purchase Agreement. Upon signing the agreement, Howat and W3C received loans totaling $80 million from Exodus, with Howat personally receiving $10 million, which he subsequently claimed did not need to be repaid, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that 'defendants Garth Howat and W3C are engaged in a flagrant, reckless, and improper campaign to evade completing a transaction for the sale of W3C to Exodus, as promised in a binding agreement.' 'It has come to our attention that they have attempted to misappropriate millions of dollars from one of their own subsidiaries, falsified documents submitted to government authorities, and summarily dismissed entire boards of directors, as well as the CEO and CFO of their key operating entity, replacing them with their preferred candidates, despite being prohibited from doing so by the binding agreement,' the lawsuit states.
Howat has not responded to requests for comment at this time. W3C's subsidiaries, Baanx and Monovate, were instrumental in the development of the Crypto Life digital asset cards business, which collaborated with prominent companies 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.'