SwanBitcoin seeks subpoena Cantor Fitzgerald and former CEO in dispute with former employees

On March 26, Bitcoin financial services company SwanBitcoin submitted a unilateral application to subpoena CantorFitzgerald and former CEO Howard Lutnick to obtain evidence related to a failed mining project involving former employees. Swan sued several former employees in September 2024, accusing them of stealing confidential documents and leaving their jobs, and founded the "counterfeit competitor" company Proton Management just a few days later; it also persuaded Tether, one of Swan's financing partners at the time, to end cooperation with Swan and start business with them instead. The former employees allegedly called the plan the "Rain and Hellfire" plan. Swan's subpoena application filed in the Southern District Court of New York on Monday targeted CantorFitzgerald and Lutnik because Swan believed they held key documents related to the failed mining project 2040Energy, a partnership with the company and TEDA, as well as employee co-departures and suspected data theft incidents. The subpoena application against Lutnik comes as he becomes U.S. Commerce Secretary, and several Democratic senators, including Elizabeth Warren, continue to press him about potential conflicts of interest related to TEDA.