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 agreed upon in November 2025. The lawsuit, filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery, seeks to compel Howat to fulfill his obligations as outlined in the Stock Purchase Agreement.
Upon signing the deal, Howat and W3C received $80 million in loans from Exodus, with $10 million allocated to Howat personally. However, the lawsuit claims that Howat has since asserted that these loans do not need to be repaid.
The lawsuit accuses Howat and W3C of engaging in a deliberate and improper campaign to avoid completing the transaction, citing attempts to misappropriate millions of dollars from a subsidiary, falsify documents, and unjustly dismiss key personnel. Exodus CEO and Co-founder JP Richardson stated, 'We have a binding agreement in place with W3C and expect it to be fully respected. We are confident in our position and anticipate a prompt resolution.'