Celsius becomes third major crypto firm in two weeks to file for bankruptcy Crypto lender Celsius Network has initiated bankruptcy proceedings, the company said Wednesday night, marking the third high-profile crypto firm to do so in the last two weeks.
The New Jersey-based firm filed bankruptcy under Chapter 11 with the Southern District of New York, stating it has $167 million in assets on hand to fund operations during restructuring.
“I am confident that when we look back at the history of Celsius, we will see this as a defining moment,” Alex Mashinsky, Celsius' co-founder and CEO, said in a release.
After the collapse of Terra’s algorithmic stablecoin UST, crypto lending and brokerage firms have faced solvency issues with common failings coming from directly investing in Terra coins (LUNA, UST), lending money to firms who did - such as now bankrupt hedge fund Three Arrows Capital - or simply losing out from other risky positions involving leverage.
The firm joins Three Arrows Capital as well as another lender, Voyager Digital, in the list of major crypto firms filing for bankruptcy protection.
Celsius, whose mantra has been “Unbank Yourself,” offered both retail and institutional customers high-yield interest savings accounts. The firm earned yield for customers by lending its assets out to hedge funds or depositing them in higher risk decentralized finance trades that relied on additional leverage.
