Exodus Movement, a publicly traded cryptocurrency company, has initiated a lawsuit against W3C, the parent company 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. 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 avoid completing the sale of W3C to Exodus, as promised in a binding agreement.
According to the lawsuit, they have attempted to misappropriate millions of dollars from one of their subsidiaries, falsified documents filed with government authorities, and improperly removed and replaced board members and key executives, despite being prohibited from doing so by the binding agreement. Howat has not responded to a request for comment. W3C's subsidiaries, Baanx and Monovate, were involved in the Crypto Life digital asset cards business, which collaborated with major companies like Mastercard and MetaMask.
JP Richardson, CEO and Co-founder of Exodus, stated, 'We have a binding agreement with W3C and expect it to be fully honored. We are confident in the outcome and anticipate a swift resolution.'