Updates Log

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11/04/2024:

Evolve has started sending emails out to end users with the balance they're returning based on their reconciliation this morning.

Keep an eye out for an email from evolvebankandtrust@rcnotifications.com. Be careful with phishing scams. We encourage you not to click on any links in emails but instead go directly to https://www.reconciliationbyevolve.com/grpmgmt/achcheck/PageControl/Authentication to input the Claimant ID number and last four of your SSN directly.

After inputting your information to login, you will see an "Evolve Payment" figure as well as a "Synapse Ecosystem Balance" figure. If you believe either of these to be inaccurate, we encourage you to file an appeal here: https://reconciliationbyevolve.com/Appeal/PageControl/InformationPage as well as contact the Evolve customer support for reconciliation at 877-873-0008. Please also contact support@withyotta.com as we are here to do everything we can to help you get your entire balance rightfully returned to you.

It's worth remembering that Evolve's primary regulator is the St. Louis Fed. You can also contact the St. Louis Federal Reserve at 1-888-851-1920 to let them know the impact this is having on you and the urgency of the matter. You can follow the steps here to submit a complaint: https://forms.federalreserveconsumerhelp.gov/secure/complaint/complaintType.html.

If you want to contact the FDIC, the phone number for their complaint line is 1-877-275-3342.

To file an e-complaint follow the steps here: 

https://ask.fdic.gov/fdicinformationandsupportcenter/s/?language=en_US.

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10/24/2024:

An additional hearing in the SynapseFi bankruptcy case was held today where the Trustee discussed their most recent status report.

Evolve Bank created a website to provide more information regarding its reconciliation process.

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10/19/2024:

Evolve Bank posted an update today regarding its reconciliation process. We will provide additional updates as we get more information.

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10/18/2024:

We have reached out to Evolve Bank regarding the status of its reconciliation process, which they had informed the bankruptcy court was expected to be completed by October 18th. Evolve relayed to us that they will be providing additional information following the completion of the reconciliation. As soon as we hear more information from Evolve we will provide additional updates.

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9/27/2024:

An additional hearing in the SynapseFi bankruptcy case was held today where the Trustee discussed their most recent status report.

‍Evolve Bank stated that they expect its reconciliation to be complete by October 18.

The next hearing will take place on 10/23/2024.

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9/13/2024:

An additional hearing in the SynapseFi bankruptcy case was held today where the Trustee discussed their most recent status report.

‍Evolve Bank stated that they expect its reconciliation to be complete by October 18.

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9/12/2024:

There will be an additional hearing in the SynapseFi bankruptcy case tomorrow at 1PM ET, and the Trustee will file an additional status report beforehand.

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9/4/2024:

An additional hearing in the SynapseFi bankruptcy case was held on Friday where the Trustee discussed their most recent status report.

Evolve Bank has stated that they expect its reconciliation to take 8 weeks from August 23 when their data collection was completed.

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To date the following distributions have been made for FBO funds of end users of all fintech companies:

AMG National Trust: $109,270,681

Lineage Bank: $49,200,617

Evolve Bank & Trust: $0

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8/29/2024:

There will be an additional hearing in the SynapseFi bankruptcy case tomorrow at 1PM ET.

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8/19/2024:

AMG National Trust initiated the first batch of ACH disbursements for those who, according to the final Synapse Trial Balance Report, have funds with AMG and provided them with payment instructions.

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8/15/2024:

An additional hearing in the SynapseFi bankruptcy case was held today where the Trustee discussed their most recent status report.

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8/14/2024:

Today, AMG National Trust contacted the small number of customers with balances at AMG per the final Synapse Trial Balance Report.  Emails were sent from yottapayments@amgnational.com with instructions to begin the process of distributing funds.
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Additionally, there will be another hearing in the SynapseFi bankruptcy case tomorrow at 1PM ET.

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8/08/2024:

According to the final Synapse Trial Balance Report, AMG National Trust holds certain end customer funds. We sent an email out today to a small number of customers with funds at AMG according to the Trial Balance Report. AMG intends to contact such customers next week for instruction to begin the process of distributing funds.

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8/05/2024:

No updates today.

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7/31/2024:

The Trustee filed an additional status report tonight, with a hearing scheduled for tomorrow.

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7/26/2024:

No updates today.

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7/25/2024:

No updates today.

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7/24/2024:

No updates today.

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7/23/2024:

No updates today.

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7/22/2024:

No updates today.

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7/19/2024:

No updates today.

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7/18/2024:

Yesterday, an additional hearing was held in the SynapseFi case where the Trustee discussed their newly filed status report. The Trustee reported that reconciliation efforts amongst all partner banks and B. Riley Financial, Inc continues.

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7/17/2024:

No updates today.

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7/16/2024:

No updates today.

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7/15/2024:

No updates today.

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7/12/2024:

Evolve Bank & Trust, a bank involved in the SynapseFi case, posted an update to its website today regarding the bankruptcy proceedings and funds reconciliation.

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7/11/2024:

CNBC is reporting that Synapse partner banks have made substantial progress in completing a full reconciliation in recent days.  We will provide additional updates as we get them.

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7/9/2024:

During a US Senate Banking Committee hearing today, the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Sherrod Brown asked Jerome Powell, Chair of the Federal Reserve of the United States, about the ongoing Synapse case and what the Fed is doing to help impacted end users gain access to their funds. During his response Mr. Powell declared that the Fed is "strongly encouraging Evolve to do whatever it can to make money available to those depositors". Mr. Powell also highlighted recent enforcement actions taken by the Fed against Evolve. Senator Brown emphasized that they will continue the monitor the situation and urged the Fed to use its supervisory authority to help end users get access to their funds.

A video of the hearing can be found here.

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7/5/2024:

No updates today.

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7/3/2024:

The Trustee filed an additional status report yesterday and a supplemental report this morning. A hearing regarding the status reports was held today. The Trustee reported that reconciliation efforts amongst all partner banks continue and that B. Riley Financial, Inc. has been retained to help with forensic accounting and the management of the SynapseFi estate. Significant progress should be made regarding the reconciliation and release of customer funds through the help of the forensic accountant.

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7/2/2024:

No updates today.

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7/1/2024:

Today, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, along with Senators Ron Wyden, Tammy Baldwin, and John Fetterman sent letters to all parties involved in the SynapseFi case urging for a restoration of consumers’ access to all of their money. More information can be found here.

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6/28/2024:

We recently learned of a cybersecurity breach impacting one of Synapse's partner banks, Evolve Bank & Trust. This breach resulted in unauthorized access to and leakage of records, such as account numbers and other personal information related to their fintech programs.

We contacted Evolve Bank & Trust to obtain more information about the breach, its potential impact on Yotta platform's end users, and the remediation steps they are taking.

Evolve Bank & Trust has acknowledged these claims of a cyber incident and is investigating the situation. Evolve Bank & Trust further mentioned that they will provide us with detailed communication to share with end users. We will update you as soon as we have more information from them.

Please note that your Yotta account password was not exposed as we do not share this information. For more details, please visit the Evolve Bank & Trust cybersecurity incident page.

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6/27/2024:

No updates today.

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6/26/2024:

No updates today.

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6/25/2024:

No updates today.

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6/24/2024:

No updates today.

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6/21/2024:

We continue to be in contact with FINRA, the Trustee, the banks and multiple members of Congress. An additional status report hearing was held today where the Trustee discussed their most recent status report. All parties continue to work to help all consumers get access to their funds.

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6/17/2024:

We met with staff members of FINRA today and continue to be in contact with all relevant stakeholders.

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6/14/2024:

The Trustee filed an additional status report yesterday and a hearing regarding the status report was held today. The Trustee reported that reconciliation efforts amongst all parter banks continue and the Trustee hopes significant progress will be made in the next two weeks. Neither the Trustee nor the Judge in the case believe they have jurisdiction to compel any of the partner banks to distribute funds in a particular manner and are working with government agencies to try and do so.

In addition, we are meeting with staff members of FINRA on Monday (6/17) to try and expedite a resolution for customer access to funds.

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6/13/2024:

The Trustee is expected to file an additional status report with the court today to give an update on their progress over the last week. In addition, there is another court hearing tomorrow at 1:30 PM PT where the Trustee's report and the overall case will be discussed.

We also continue to be in touch with multiple members of Congress to try and expedite a resolution for customer access to funds.

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6/8/2024:

During the hearing, the Trustee updated the court on the status of their work. The Trustee is making meaningful progress towards their number one priority of restoring customers' access to their funds.

We will provide additional updates as the Trustee continues their work. Additionally, we are meeting with the staff of a United States Senator on Monday to try and help add resources to expedite a resolution for customer access to funds.

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6/6/2024:

The Trustee filed an initial status report in the SynapseFi bankruptcy case today outlining the steps they have taken since being appointed the Trustee on this case. The report stated "Since the appointment, the Trustee and proposed counsel have been working around the clock to investigate the events that led to the reconciliation issues and freezing of end user accounts and identify a path to unfreezing customer accounts as soon as possible."

The Trustee proposed multiple potential paths forward in the report. There is a court hearing tomorrow at 1:30 PM PT where the Trustee's report and proposed initial recommendations will be discussed. We will provide another update as soon as the hearing concludes.

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6/5/2024:

On Friday (6/7) we will be meeting with a member of the United States House Committee on Financial Services to try and help expedite a resolution.

Additionally, the first status report will be filed by the Trustee no later than 6:00PM PT tomorrow (6/6).

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6/4/2024:

We are working to schedule meetings with relevant members of Congress later this week to try and help expedite a resolution.

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6/3/2024:

On Friday (5/31), documents were filed in the SynapseFi bankruptcy case that allows information amongst all parties to be shared more easily to help come to a resolution.

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5/30/2024:

Pending in app withdrawals have been canceled to help bank partners better facilitate access to funds.

We previously reported that the Chapter 11 Trustee would be giving an update today, however, we were notified that the first update will occur on June 6th and then weekly thereafter. We are aware that the Trustee is working hard to help resolve this matter.

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5/29/2024:

Correction: The Chapter 11 Trustee is expected to release a status update no later than Thursday, June 6 by 6:00 PT on their progress, not on May 30th as we were first told by the US Trustee on the case.

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5/24/2024:

A Chapter 11 Trustee, Jelena McWilliams, was appointed in the SynapseFi case today who will work to help restore payment processing.

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5/23/2024:

There is an important court hearing tomorrow at 11:00AM ET regarding SynapseFi where resolutions about payment processing are expected to be discussed.

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5/22/2024:

Major news networks, including CNBC, are starting to cover this issue, which should help push SynapseFi and its partner banks to come to a resolution.

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5/21/2024:

We are continuing to speak with all parties and regulators to help reach a solution.

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5/20/2024:

SynapseFi, Evolve Bank & Trust and Lineage Bank are meeting with a mediator today in order to try and come to a mutual resolution regarding their disagreements so that payment processing can be restored.

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5/19/2024:

We are experiencing payment processing failures on ACHs, Wires and debit and credit cards due to an outage with Synapse Brokerage's banking processors.

We are actively working on a resolution and will let you know once it's resolved. We apologize and understand that this is not acceptable and is a massive disruption to your daily lives.

What happened?

On May 7th, we were notified that Lineage Bank, member FDIC, halted ACH processing for all Synapse Brokerage accounts, and that Evolve Bank & Trust, member FDIC, would begin to process ACH transactions on behalf of Synapse Brokerage. Yotta customers hold accounts with Synapse Brokerage.

On the evening of May 11th, we were notified by Evolve that they never agreed to take on ACH processing and would be halting all payment processing that they are involved with, effective immediately.

These events have left Synapse Brokerage without an ACH processor, and Evolve’s decision to freeze cards is causing all card transactions to fail.

How does this impact me?

Customer funds in the Synapse Brokerage Program are swept (deposited) into accounts at a network of member FDIC banks. Funds held in these accounts are eligible for FDIC insurance.

All programs that work with Synapse are impacted by this. ACH transfers and card transactions will not go through until banks restore their services.

What we are doing about it

We understand the importance of this matter and are working around the clock to get ACH and card processing restored, which will enable customers to transact.

Ultimately, it is up to Evolve to restore card services, and Lineage or Evolve or another processing bank to provide ACH services.

We are in contact with regulators to expedite a resolution, since this is unacceptable.

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