Prime Trust
Nevada said the custodian could not meet customer withdrawals
A Las Vegas trust company, regulated in Nevada, that sold custody, fiat payment rails and compliance services through APIs to crypto exchanges, wallets and other fintech companies.
- Capital raised (announced)
- Estimated
Recorded announced backing; this is separate from cash received, customer deposits and money recovered.
- Customer cash owed vs held, June 2023
As stated in the Nevada regulator's receivership petition of June 2023 and reported by CoinDesk and The Nevada Independent. The petition itself was not retrieved.
Funding
| Round | Date | Announced | Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Series A | 2021 | ||
| Series B | 2022 |
Announced is what was said at the time. Cash actually received is rarely disclosed and is not assumed to match.
People
| Name | Role | Period | Now | Last checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scott Purcell | — | Founder & CEO, Qbit (since April 2025) | Oct 2026 | |
| Tom Pageler | Jan 2021 – end | Unknown | — | |
| Rodrigo Vicuna | — | Unknown | — |
Promises vs reality
Target
The announcement scheduled broader access, followed by general access in early autumn. The bounded follow-up did not establish whether those stages opened.
A bounded follow-up search did not establish execution; absence of a result does not establish failure.
A missed promise is a missed promise. It is not evidence of fraud, and this page does not treat it as any.
Timeline
2016
It described itself as a technology-driven trust company holding cash and non-cash assets, from crowdfunding escrow to cryptocurrencies.
28 January 2021
Founder Scott Purcell moved to run the new holding company, Prime Core Technologies.
28 July 2021
Prime Trust said it had passed a $100 million annual revenue run rate; that annualized figure is distinct from actual full-year revenue.
December 2021
As later set out in the regulator's receivership petition: the company found in December 2021 that it could not access a set of wallets holding customer crypto, and had not regained access by June 2023.
29 March 2022
The company said it was working with existing clients and accepting integrator applications. The API would handle onboarding, funding and crypto retirement investments; broader beta and general access were scheduled for later.
22 June 2022
The company planned crypto retirement accounts, tokenized assets and other products. It said it had nearly 700 fintech and digital-asset clients.
November 2022
January 2023
Days after the company stopped operating in Texas.
June 2023
Price undisclosed.
21 June 2023
The Financial Institutions Division's cease-and-desist order barred it from accepting fiat and crypto for custody from existing and new clients.
How it ended
Nevada's Financial Institutions Division ordered Prime Trust on 21 June 2023 to stop taking fiat and crypto from clients, saying it had a shortfall of customer funds and could not meet all withdrawals. BitGo called off its planned acquisition the next day. With the company's consent the regulator petitioned for receivership, a state court appointed a temporary receiver in July, and the parent company and three affiliates filed for Chapter 11 in Delaware on 14 August 2023.
What happened next
- Acquisition22 June 2023
Announced hours before the cease-and-desist order was published.
- Regulatory action26 June 2023
Filed in the Eighth Judicial District Court of Nevada, stating the Division's determination that the company was insolvent and operating unsafely. The company's board and interim chief executive consented.
- Court rulingJuly 2023
John Guedry, a former Nevada bank chief executive, was appointed receiver pending a hearing set for 22 August 2023.
- Insolvency proceeding14 August 2023
Prime Core Technologies and three affiliates filed voluntary petitions in the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, jointly administered as case 23-11161 before Judge J. Kate Stickles.
- Court rulingDecember 2023
- Court ruling18 July 2025
Judge Stickles held that the crypto and currency held in pooled wallets and accounts were property of the bankruptcy estates and could be distributed to creditors in dollars rather than in kind. Some customers had objected that their assets were held in trust.
Still alive
Open spot
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Sources
17 sources behind this page.
- 1Delaware Bankruptcy Court Rules Commingled Cryptocurrency Belongs to Debtors' Estates in Prime Core Case · Chapter11Cases (Stretto) · Jul 2025
- 2Crypto Custodian Prime Trust Has 'Shortfall of Customer Funds,' Nevada Regulator Says · CoinDesk · Jun 2023
- 3Crypto Custody Firm BitGo Cancels Acquisition of Rival Prime Trust · CoinDesk · Jun 2023
- 4Nevada Files to Place Crypto Custodian Prime Trust Into Receivership · CoinDesk · Jun 2023
- 5Prime Trust Raises $107M With Eyes on Crypto IRA, Tokenized Asset Products · CoinDesk · Jun 2022
- 6Prime Trust Changes: Tom Pageler Promoted to CEO; Scott Purcell Named CEO of Holding Company Prime Core Technologies · Crowdfund Insider · Jan 2021
- 7Crypto Custodian Prime Trust Files for Bankruptcy · Decrypt · Aug 2023
- 8Serial entrepreneur swears off crypto after rough ride in custody market · DL News · Jun 2024
- 9LinkedIn profile of Scott Purcell · LinkedIn (self-published profile, viewed by a person) · user-editable
- 10Court approves NFID petition to place Prime Trust LLC in receivership pending order to show cause hearing · Nevada Department of Business and Industry, Financial Institutions Division · Jul 2023
Show 7 moreShow fewer
- 11Nevada Financial Institutions Division files court petition to place Prime Trust LLC in receivership · Nevada Department of Business and Industry, Financial Institutions Division · Jun 2023
- 12Nevada Financial Institutions Division Statement Regarding Prime Trust LLC · Nevada Department of Business and Industry, Financial Institutions Division · Jun 2023
- 13Emerging Fintech Market Leader Prime Trust Raises over $100M in Series B Funding to Expand into New Offerings · PR Newswire (press release issued by Prime Trust) · Jun 2022
- 14Financial Infrastructure Innovator, Prime Trust Raises $64M in New Funding as Annual Revenue Run Rate Crossed $100M Mark · PR Newswire (press release issued by Prime Trust) · Jul 2021
- 15Prime Trust launches CryptoIRA beta program · Prime Trust via PR Newswire · Mar 2022
- 16Prime Core Technologies Inc., et al. (case information page) · Stretto (claims and noticing agent in the Chapter 11 case)
- 17Nevada court orders temporary receivership of Prime Trust crypto group · The Nevada Independent
Every figure above is clickable and opens the sources behind it. Copies were stored when each source was read, so a citation still resolves after the page it came from is gone.