Blockfills: Is this the start of a string of crypto bankruptcies?
Last Updated on 13 February 2026 by CryptoTips.eu
Blockfills, a Chicago-based crypto lender that turned over some $60 billion in 2025, casually posted on X (formerly Twitter) earlier this week that it had decided to freeze all outgoing transfers (i.e., you can no longer withdraw your funds). This is known as a “withdrawal freeze,” and given the history of the crypto world, the post immediately went viral.
The company appears to only serve larger institutional clients, so this won’t really affect small crypto investors, but we can’t help but wonder if this is another “Terra-Luna” moment.
BLOCKFILLS HALTS WITHDRAWALS AMID CRYPTO TURMOIL
— *Walter Bloomberg (@DeItaone) February 11, 2026
Susquehanna-backed crypto lender BlockFills has suspended client deposits and withdrawals, citing recent market volatility. The Chicago-based firm, which serves 2,000 institutional clients and handled $60 bn in 2025 trading,… pic.twitter.com/kK2BLQkE3t
Bear Stearns
In every bear market, there’s a moment you afterwards recognize, like Captain Hindsight, as the beginning of the end. During the 2007-2009 financial crisis (which led to the invention of Bitcoin), everyone talks about the fall of Lehman Brothers, the large American investment bank that went bankrupt and dragged the entire market down with it.
But many forget that six months earlier, another American investment bank, albeit much smaller, also went bankrupt, called Bear Stearns. That was the moment the crisis truly began.
FTX
In the crypto industry, so-called “withdrawal freeze” reports often raise serious concerns. In 2022, several well-known lenders, including Celsius, BlockFi, Voyager, and FTX, all stopped freezing withdrawals just days before filing for bankruptcy. The first domino to fall during the 2022 bear market was Terraform Labs, which issued the Terra and Luna tokens. This left a $40 billion hole.
BlockFills is far too small to leave a hole of that size, but it’s perhaps a sign of the times.
