Storj Labs has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection after raising about $35 million through venture funding, grants and its 2017 STORJ token sale.
Summary
- Storj filed Chapter 11 to restructure legacy debt while maintaining its decentralized cloud storage services.
- The company plans to propose shared ownership for management, investors, community members, and STORJ holders.
- STORJ fell after the filing, while token utility and network operations remained unchanged, Storj said.
The company filed the case on July 26 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of West Virginia under case number 5:26-bk-00512.
According to Storj’s official restructuring announcement, the filing aims to address older financial obligations while allowing the decentralized cloud storage company to continue operating. Storj said customer services, its network and its main business would continue during the court process, subject to bankruptcy rules and court approval.
Storj seeks to address legacy debt
Storj described the Chapter 11 case as a restructuring rather than a shutdown. The company said it plans to continue normal operations while it works through debts linked to an earlier stage of the business. However, the announcement did not provide a full list of assets, liabilities or creditors.
Kaloyan Raev, Storj’s director of software engineering, said the business was “strong and right-sized” but remained held back by “legacy obligations from an earlier chapter.” The statement reflects the company’s position, but the bankruptcy court will still review its finances, creditor claims and any proposed reorganization plan.
Storj also said it has narrowed its focus to its core cloud business. It is disposing of earlier acquisitions and non-essential operations as part of that process. Inveniam supports the restructuring and said the company should return its attention to distributed storage, compute and file-access services.
Inveniam announced an agreement to acquire Storj in October 2025. The companies said Storj would remain a separate legal entity and operate as an Inveniam subsidiary. They also said existing customer, supplier and community relationships would remain in place.
Services expected to continue during Chapter 11
Storj said it “does not anticipate any interruptions” to customer services during the bankruptcy process. That wording expresses an expectation rather than a guarantee. The company must continue meeting its obligations under bankruptcy law, and some business decisions may require approval from the court.
The Storj network uses independent storage providers to supply unused storage capacity. Customers can access distributed cloud storage through tools designed to work with common business systems. The STORJ token supports payments across parts of the network, including compensation for node operators who provide storage and bandwidth.
The company’s official website continued to advertise cloud storage, file access and compute products after the filing. Storj has not announced changes to the token’s network role. Still, the bankruptcy concerns Storj Labs as a company, and the court process may shape its ownership, finances and business structure.
Before the filing, Storj had also adjusted parts of its cloud storage business. The company announced new storage and egress prices that took effect on July 1, 2026, while maintaining separate terms for some customers using older plans.
Token holders may join ownership proposal
Storj said management, community members, STORJ holders, current investors and possible new investors could share ownership of the reorganized company. The announcement described this as a plan, not a completed arrangement. It did not state how many token holders could qualify or how ownership would be allocated.
Any ownership proposal must appear in a formal Chapter 11 plan and receive the required creditor support and court approval. Storj has not disclosed conversion terms, eligibility rules, valuation details or a timetable. Therefore, holding STORJ does not currently give a confirmed right to shares in the reorganized business.
The proposed structure differs from the court-supervised asset-sale approach used by some other crypto companies. As crypto.news reported, Poolin entered Chapter 11 while pursuing a sale of its Texas bitcoin mining assets. The mining company reported about $173.1 million in obligations before filing.
Similarly, Movement Labs filed for Chapter 11 in July with liabilities that could reach $10 million. Meanwhile, a separate developer said work on the Movement blockchain would continue despite the original company’s bankruptcy case.
Storj raised about $35 million before filing
Storj completed a $30 million STORJ token sale in May 2017. The sale reached its target in seven days, although the company had initially scheduled it to remain open until June 19. Participants received STORJ tokens that they could use within the storage ecosystem.
The company also raised traditional funding before and around the token sale. Storj announced a$3 million seed round in February 2017 to support development of its distributed cloud storage platform. The round included investors linked to Qualcomm Ventures and Techstars.
CB Insights funding data places Storj’s total equity funding at about $5.05 million across six rounds. Combined with the token sale, the publicly reported amount reaches roughly $35 million.
Inveniam’s October 2025 acquisition announcement said Storj would retain its existing services, leadership and community relationships. It also said the STORJ token would remain part of the company’s decentralized infrastructure.
The bankruptcy filing came about nine months after that acquisition announcement. Storj has not yet released a full reorganization plan, detailed creditor schedule or final ownership terms. Future court filings should provide more information about its debts, available financing, asset sales and the proposed role for token holders.
