On Wednesday, September 23, 2026, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware issued an order confirming an arbitration award and rejecting attempts by several outside companies to challenge it.
U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika ruled that the award, issued November 12, 2025, by arbitrator Daniel B. Garrie, will stand. The arbitration was conducted under an order from the Central District of California. It involved GIBF, Inc., Arshad Assofi, Assofi, Inc., Donald Basile, GIBF, Inc. doing business as Bitcoin Latinum, GIBF GP (Cayman Islands), Ltd., and Christopher Basile.
GIBF GP, Inc., one of the losing parties, filed a complaint on November 26, 2025, asking the court to vacate the award. It argued the arbitrator exceeded his powers, showed evident partiality, manifestly disregarded the law, and ran fundamentally unfair proceedings. Monsoon Blockchain Corporation, Ametrine Consulting, Inc. and Zultanite Consulting, Inc. were allowed to file intervenor complaints supporting that effort.
The court rejected each argument. Noreika wrote that federal law gives courts narrow authority to review arbitration awards, and that the review is highly deferential, with a strong presumption that awards are enforceable. Under the Federal Arbitration Act, courts must confirm an award unless one of the statute’s limited grounds for vacating it is met. Courts may not review the factual or legal merits of the decision.
The judge found that a reasonable person would not have to conclude the arbitrator favored one party. She found that all parties had notice and an opportunity to present evidence and arguments, that the award could be rationally derived from the materials submitted, and that the decision did not disregard clearly established legal precedent. No party alleged corruption, fraud, or undue means, and the court found no evidence of any.
The court also ruled that companies that were not parties to the arbitration cannot seek to vacate an award. Monsoon Blockchain Storage Inc. and JDLB Investments, Inc. had moved to intervene as plaintiffs, and both motions were denied for lack of standing.
The court granted a motion to dismiss the intervenor complaints filed by Ametrine, Zultanite, and Monsoon Blockchain Corporation, which it dismissed on the same grounds.
The court granted the motion by defendants and counter-claimants Assofi and Assofi, Inc. to confirm the award and enter judgment. It denied as moot a motion to strike that request, as well as an unopposed motion to expedite the strike motion, because confirmation resolved the challenges to the award.
Noreika gave Assofi and Assofi, Inc. seven days to file a proposed judgment consistent with the order.
Please contact BlockTribune for access to a copy of this filing.
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