Exodus Says 'Show Me the Money': Sues W3C Over Alleged $175M Deal After CEO Reportedly Declined to Repay $10M Loan

Exodus Movement (EXOD) is dragging W3C and its CEO Garth Howat into the Delaware Court of Chancery, demanding they follow through on a $175 million acquisition deal that apparently looked better on paper than in practice.

The lawsuit, filed in the Delaware Court of Chancery, accuses Howat and W3C—the parent company of crypto card and payments specialists Baanx and Monovate—of running what it describes as a "blatant, reckless, and improper campaign to escape closing" the deal. Translation: someone got cold feet and forgot that signatures mean things in adult land.

According to the complaint, Howat and W3C accepted $80 million in loans from Exodus upon signing the Stock Purchase Agreement dated November 24, 2025. Of that amount, $10 million went directly to Howat personally, who subsequently declared the loans无需偿还—meaning they didn't need to be repaid. That's "no repayment needed" for the non-Mandarin speakers in the room.

The lawsuit also alleges the defendants attempted to pilfer millions from one of their own subsidiaries, falsely backdated documents filed with government authorities, and summarily dismissed entire boards of directors along with the CEO and CFO of their key operating entity—replacing them with their own picks despite being prohibited from doing so under the binding agreement. In other words, a classic "burn it all down and pretend we never signed anything" strategy.

W3C's subsidiaries Baanx and Monovate previously operated the Crypto Life digital asset cards business, working with Mastercard and MetaMask. The dream of diamond hands HODLing their way to Starbucks purchases lives on, apparently.

JP Richardson, CEO and Co-founder of Exodus, said: "We have a binding agreement with W3C and expect it to be fully honored. We're confident in the path forward and anticipate a swift resolution." Translation: we're not letting this one go quietly into the night.

Howat did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Radio silence—the most bullish indicator of all.