• A $10 million pay and bonus package for BlockFi staff was approved by New Jersey bankruptcy court Judge Michael Kaplan.
• The package is necessary to retain critical workers, argued counsel for BlockFi.
• The package applies to around 130 staff, and will be paid in three installments over a year.
The crypto lender BlockFi has been granted a $10 million pay and bonus package for its staff by New Jersey bankruptcy court Judge Michael Kaplan. This comes after court documents revealed executives from the crypto lender had received pay raises of as much as $275,000 each after the firm sought a bailout from crypto exchange FTX in June 2022.
BlockFi had requested the package in order to retain its critical workers, argued counsel for the firm, Rush Howell of law firm Kirkland & Ellis. “It’s essential that the debtors institute these retention programs to keep critical workers with the company,” he stated. The package would apply to around 130 staff, and would be paid in three installments over a year.
The package, which is worth $9.98 million, is seen as a way to secure value for former customers, which is why the judge approved it. Since BlockFi declared bankruptcy on Nov. 28, roughly 10% of staff had already left the firm. The pay and bonus package is seen as a way to incentivize and retain the staff that is still working for the firm.
The judge also noted that the package was an incentive for the staff to stay and work for BlockFi, as well as a way to reward them for the efforts they had already put in. The package is also seen as a way to attract and retain qualified individuals in the future and ensure that the company can continue to operate and move forward.
The package was obviously well received by the staff, who are now able to receive the much needed financial reward for the work they have been doing. It is likely to go some way in helping BlockFi to remain a viable and functioning company, which is what the judge was looking for when approving the package.