Fetch.ai was bought back by a consortium of founders and plans to move operations to the UAE

Tech company Fetch.ai lost £16.7 million and wrote down its assets by £231 million as FET prices plummeted during the 2021-2022 crypto market rout. Even though FET prices recovered in 2023, the company was still being sued by former contractors. The Fetch.ai UK entity reached a settlement with the contractor, agreeing to pay it approximately $1 million, including interest, after the contractor claimed they were owed $750,000 in unpaid FET tokens. Fetch.ai has been facing "financial difficulties" and a court ordered the UK entity into administration in an effort to save its business. Receivership means that an independent third party takes over the company and in the process investigates the financial situation and then proposes a solution. After Fetch.ai formally filed for bankruptcy, executives from ReSolve were appointed to oversee the process. The company was put up for sale and eventually purchased by Assmbl.ai, a consortium of Fetch.ai founders, The Standard reported. According to ReSolve, the entity was sold back to the founder-owned consortium because they made the best offer. In an attempt to reassure investors worried about the company's future, Fetch.ai founder Humayun Sheikh said the company's operations were "business as usual." However, he explained that the company had "previously been borrowing money to operate" and therefore was unable to pay the court's settlement order. Sheikh explained that the company was merely selling "the company's intellectual property and assets" and was not trying to avoid the court order, and that "the money will be distributed to all creditors." He also said that there is still a gray area in cryptocurrency regulation in the UK, making it difficult to do business. “Even though the UK government keeps saying ‘come and operate here’, the local environment is not good.” The company is moving its operations to the UAE. (Bitcoinist)