Exodus Movement, a publicly traded cryptocurrency company, has filed a lawsuit against W3C, the parent company of cryptocurrency payment specialists Baanx and Monovate, and its CEO Garth Howat, in an effort to complete 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 under 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 personally 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 campaign to evade completing the transaction. According to the lawsuit, they have attempted to misappropriate millions of dollars from a subsidiary, falsified documents filed with government authorities, and unjustly dismissed boards of directors and key executives, replacing them with their preferred candidates, in contravention of the binding agreement. Howat has not responded to requests for comment.
W3C subsidiaries Baanx and Monovate were involved in the Crypto Life digital asset cards business, which collaborated with prominent companies such as 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.'