Exodus Movement, a publicly traded cryptocurrency company, has initiated a lawsuit against W3C, the parent entity of cryptocurrency payment specialists Baanx and Monovate, and 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 fulfill his obligations as outlined in the November 24, 2025 Stock Purchase Agreement.
According to the lawsuit, 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. The lawsuit alleges that "Defendants Garth Howat and W3C are embarked on a flagrant, reckless, and improper campaign to evade completing the transaction for the sale of W3C to Exodus, as promised in a binding agreement." It further states, "They have attempted to misappropriate millions of dollars from one of their own subsidiaries, falsified documents submitted to government authorities, and purported to dismiss 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." Howat has yet to respond to a request for comment. W3C's subsidiaries, Baanx and Monovate, were instrumental in the development of the Crypto Life digital asset cards business, which collaborated with notable companies such as Mastercard and MetaMask. JP Richardson, CEO and Co-founder of Exodus, remarked, "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."