Magnolia was the first user to speak about her experience during the Chapter 11 hearing.
Magnolia, who only disclosed her first name, said she had over $1 million trapped on the platform, which she intended to use for her children's college education. She said it took her 24 years to save, and that she sacrificed time with her kids to build that nest egg.
Magnolia feels that we are paying the ultimate price for them being fiscally irresponsible. They did not run the company well.
Magnolia wanted to know why the company borrowed money when it knew it was in trouble. She wanted to know if Stephen Ehrlich was still getting paid and getting a bonus.
A group of 3.5 million customers are desperate for answers more than a month after the company suspended all trading and filed for Chapter 11 reorganization. Retail investors were offered double-digit annual returns in exchange for parking their token with the platform.
The National Women's Soccer League, the Dallas Mavericks, and Mark Cuban, owner of the Mavericks, are just a few of the sports teams that have been sponsored by the company.
The risks that customers faced when they joined the platform weren't changed by those names. Their funds were not held in a safe.
The Federal Reserve rate hikes and investor rotation out of the riskiest assets caused a crash in the price of digital assets. A cascading effect was created when many of those firms default on loans.
In addition to the hearing in the Southern District of New York, customers of the company had the chance to voice their displeasure in a virtual town hall last week. They could make their case to theVoyager Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors at that location.
Lawyers from McDermott Will & Emery are part of the committee. The focus is on the return of the currency to the creditor.
The members of the committee gave an overview of the proceedings so far, estimated timelines to reimbursement and how to submit a claim. One committee member noted that the guidance they were providing was not legal advice and that it was strongly recommended that individual creditor retain counsel to assist with this process.
The recording of the town hall was viewed more than 4,000 times. Customers of the company were given the chance to submit questions prior to the event. A lot of people chimed in over the real-time chat on YouTube.
Cindy Wheeler wrote that she was a fool not to take her digital currency. I thought it was a safe exchange.
A participant named Ari Gurewitz mentioned Three Arrows Capital, a hedge fund that filed for bankruptcy and owes over $600 million to another company.
Gurewitz wrote that it was interesting that they didn't know what the impact of the 3AC bankruptcy would be. One wonders if this is a ploy to just restructure and remove a lot of their losses, at their customers expense.
The company said it has a lot of people's money. Many say they don't have much of a voice in the process of voting on the plan. Several customers are asking the judge for help.
Magnolia said at the hearing that she felt that the company had cheated its customers. It all went from boom to bust in less than a minute.
She said that the company was talking about how good they were. Mark Cuban is one of the people they have. The Dallas Mavericks Arena is adorned with the 'Buy Voyager' sign. They spend a lot of money on their marketing. The heads up on this were not found.
The customer who didn't share his name said at the hearing that he had been stuck on the app for seven figures.
He wants to be an owner and a depositor of his coin. Ten years of my life are frozen on a platform that I trusted.
This customer and others are having a difficult time with ownership. One of the main tenets of the coin is that rightful ownership comes through the custody of the private keys. Even though they viewed the funds as deposits, customers can't just demand their money back and expect to get it.
The customer said that he had always identified himself as the rightful owner of the coin. I want to know why I am being labeled a creditor, rather than the owner of my coin.
People are correct to be confused.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, which protects bank deposits, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System sent a letter to the company accusing them of making false and misleading statements.
In order to earn the attractive annual percentage yield that drew her to the platform, she had to convert her U.S. dollars toUSDC.
Little said that they weren't told that wasn't the same as cash. It had to be listed that way in order for us to get interest on the money that we put in there.
Magnolia said she thought that theUSDC was insured by FDIC.
During the hearing, Christine Okike said that the current effort is focused on cash and not USDC.
Okike said thatUSDC is a kind of coin. The release of cash that is being requested by the debtor is not being discussed.
A person declined to say anything.
Customers have sent letters to the judge.
According to Jacob Redburn, he deposited 100 ether at a price of $198,800 and a market peak of $480,000.
Redburn wrote on a yellow legal pad that he had spent years saving, investing, and tradingcryptocurrencies to build a life-changing amount of money that he would one day sell to help his family.
The CEO lied to us when he said that the company had no issues.
He wrote that this will ruin his future, his daughter's future, and cost the government hundreds of thousands of dollars in capital gains when he sells. I would like to request that we receive our token that we are owed, not worthless stock or token that is useless.
Christine Marcy is a newly retired senior citizen who lives in Florida. She said she tried to remove assets before the freeze.
A frozen account is holding my assets hostage. The expectation was that there would be some sense of accountability and responsibility to customers.
Donald A. said that losing his money with no end in sight has been intolerable for his family. He said that the company was not transparent with its customers about the risks it was taking.
He said he woke up most nights and wondered if this would ever end. It has been difficult for me to deal with my anxiety.
Customers in the town hall were told by the committee that the proof-of-claim forms would be sent to all of their debts.
The platform has over $1 billion in assets, $104 million in cash, and a claim against 3AC for over $600 million. The creditor has made claims of over $1 billion. When the schedules are filed, figures are expected to be updated.
The timing of the plan is subject to change, but the committee said it was able to negotiate a very aggressive plan timetable. In November, distributions to creditor would happen.
The committee said it is taking the unprecedented step of advocating for an interim distribution in order to provide some relief for the debtor.
Customers were supposed to be able to get some of their money back from the platform on the first day, but they were not allowed to.
The judge granted access to the cash held by the bank. Customers who have U.S. dollars in their account at the bank can now withdraw up to $100,000 in a single day, according to a report.
There are other users who can't touch their money.
The committee member said that many of the people were led to believe that their property was on the platform. For all of us, that isn't the legal test for determining whether or not the coin is your property in a bankruptcy.
CNBC contributed to this report.
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