Exodus Movement, a publicly traded cryptocurrency company, has initiated legal action against W3C, the parent company of Baanx and Monovate, and its CEO Garth Howat, in an effort to finalize its $175 million acquisition of W3C, initially agreed upon in November last year. The lawsuit, filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery, seeks to compel Howat to fulfill his obligations under the November 24, 2025 Stock Purchase Agreement. Upon signing the deal, 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, as alleged in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit accuses Howat and W3C of engaging in a deliberate and improper campaign to evade completing the transaction, citing attempts to misappropriate millions of dollars from a subsidiary, falsify documents, and unjustly dismiss and replace key personnel. Howat has yet to respond to requests for comment. W3C's subsidiaries, Baanx and Monovate, were instrumental in the Crypto Life digital asset cards business, which collaborated with major players like Mastercard and MetaMask. Exodus CEO and Co-founder JP Richardson stated, '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.'