Exodus Movement, a publicly traded cryptocurrency company, has initiated legal proceedings against W3C, the parent company of Baanx and Monovate, and its CEO Garth Howat, in an effort to finalize the $175 million acquisition of W3C agreed upon in November of the previous year. A lawsuit filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery aims 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 subsequently claimed did not need to be repaid, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit alleges that Howat and W3C are engaged in a deliberate campaign to evade completing the transaction, having attempted to misappropriate millions of dollars from a subsidiary, falsified documents filed with government authorities, and improperly dismissed and replaced 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 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 our path forward and anticipate a swift resolution.'