Key Takeaways:
PCT Litigation Trust filed a 94-page suit against Swan Bitcoin on May 15, 2026, seeking $970 million in clawbacks.The complaint alleges a Prime Trust executive tipped off Swan CEO Cory Klippsten via encrypted chat on May 22, 2023, weeks before the collapse.Swan has not filed a formal response as of May 18, 2026; the case before Judge Stickles will turn on preference and fiduciary defenses.The complaint points to an encrypted, auto-deleting chat that began May 22, 2023, days before a critical Nevada Financial Institutions Division meeting on May 26. The trust alleges Swan used that information to accelerate withdrawals ahead of other creditors and customers. Swan is said to have moved client assets to Fortress and Bitgo well before the firm’s collapse, completing transfers weeks in advance in June 2023.
The company said at the time the moves were related to system upgrades. The trust also challenges the legal structure of how assets were held. Governing agreements between Swan and Prime, including Order Forms, an API Agreement, and a Custodial Agreement, explicitly disclaimed fiduciary duties and allowed Prime to commingle assets.
The complaint alleges that a ledger entry labeled “PT FBO Swan Customers” was created on May 25, 2023, to give the appearance of segregation, days after the alleged insider communication began. A July 18, 2025, ruling by Judge J. Kate Stickles determined that assets in Prime’s possession at the time of filing were part of the bankruptcy estate due to commingling and the contractual terms of its agreements.
That decision enabled the Plan Administrator to treat partner assets as estate property, with certain carve-outs reserved for parties including Swan during earlier proceedings. Swan, however, has pushed back against the claims. The company has stated that Prime Trust held customer property in individually owned trust accounts, and that the bankruptcy estate is now trying to claim assets it held as custodian from a party that never received them.
The PCT Litigation Trust has filed similar clawback actions against other former Prime partners, including Strike, Compass Mining, Fold, and Galaxy Digital. Each case centers on similar questions about asset segregation, commingling, and preference transfers in the months before Prime’s bankruptcy filing.
How courts rule on Swan’s fiduciary and preference defenses will likely shape outcomes across several related actions still working through the Delaware docket.
