Celsius Network

Last updated

Celsius Network
Company typePrivate
Industry Finance, Cryptocurrency
Founded2017;7 years ago (2017)
Founder
Headquarters Hoboken, New Jersey, U.S.
Key people
  • Alex Mashinsky (Chairman, former CEO)
  • Nuke Goldstein (CTO)
  • Rod Bolger (former CFO)
  • Aslihan Denizkurdu (COO)
Products Mobile app, website
Number of employees
~450 (July 2022) [1]
Website celsius.network

Celsius Network LLC was a cryptocurrency company. Headquartered in Hoboken, New Jersey, Celsius maintained offices in four countries and operated globally. Users could deposit a range of cryptocurrency digital assets, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, into a Celsius wallet to earn a percentage yield, and could take out loans by pledging their cryptocurrencies as security. As of May 2022, the company had lent out $8 billion to clients and had almost $12 billion in assets under management. [2]

Contents

In June 2022, the company gained notoriety when it indefinitely paused all transfers and withdrawals due to "extreme market conditions", [3] resulting in steep declines in the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. [4] [5] On July 13, 2022, Celsius filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. [6] The company announced on January 31, 2024, that it had exited bankruptcy as part of a restructuring plan that involved the distribution of assets, including a newly created bitcoin mining company, to its creditors. [7] Celsius intends to wind down its own operations as part of its emergence from bankruptcy. [8] It shut down its mobile and web apps on February 29, 2024. [9]

Business model

The company facilitated lending and borrowing for its users. [10] [11] Depositors earned interest by depositing qualifying cryptocurrencies, with the rate of interest dependent upon the cryptocurrency deposited (e.g., up to 6.2% interest on bitcoin). [12] The company paid the interest in cryptocurrencies, including in its own CEL token. [13] Borrowers paid between zero and 8.95% on bitcoin-backed loans, depending on the loan-to-value ratio. [12] Some of the money that Celsius used to fund the loans came from hedge funds that were looking for higher yields than banks pay. [12]

Celsius generated revenue from token sales, lending, bitcoin mining, and discretionary trading of cryptocurrencies. [13] Celsius claimed that up to 80% of its revenue was returned to its user community through interest payments on deposits made through its platform. [14] [15] The company did not charge any fees to its users. [16]

On July 7, 2022, former investment manager Jason Stone sued Celsius, alleging that the company ran a Ponzi scheme. [17] Arkham Intelligence estimated a loss of $350 million due to improper trading protocol, which was included in Stone's lawsuit filings against Celsius. [18] On August 23, Celsius sued Stone, alleging that he lost or stole tens of millions of US dollars' worth of cryptocurrency. [19] The independent examiner's report filed on January 31, 2023, as part of the bankruptcy filing, said that an insider at Celsius described aspects of the business model as "very ponzi like". [20] In an internal memo, coin deployment specialist Dean Tappen stated "that his title at Celsius should be 'Ponzi Consultant.'" [21]

History

Celsius was founded in 2017 by Alex Mashinsky, Daniel Leon, and Nuke Goldstein. [16] [22]

Growth

In March 2018, Celsius raised $50 million in its initial coin offering (ICO) of the CEL digital currency. [23] [24] In April 2018, the CEL cryptocurrency began trading on cryptocurrency exchanges. [25] In advance of the ICO, Celsius listed its currency as a security. [16] In June 2018, Celsius launched its mobile app. In 2019, Celsius completed a $24 million equity round at $140 million valuation. [25]

Celsius was a major buyer of its own token, buying CEL interest it owed to customers on the open market. Crypto analysis firm Arkham Intelligence estimated Celsius had spent $350 million on purchases since July 2019. [18]

In August 2020, Celsius raised $20 million via an equity crowdfunding to support its operations. [26] In the fall of 2020, the price of Celsius's currency climbed more than 230% in less than a month. [25]

In October 2020, the company reported that its CEO, Alex Mashinsky, sold $500,000 worth of CEL tokens in one transaction. In December 2021, Mashinsky tweeted, "All @CelsiusNetwork founders have made purchases of #CEL and are not sellers of the token." Based on public data, Arkham Intelligence estimates that Mashinsky sold $44 million worth of CEL through exchanges. [18]

In November 2020, Celsius said it had plans to open an office in Australia and to expand its office in Israel. [16]

In December 2020, Celsius had $3.31 billion in assets under management. [27] In January 2021, Celsius had more than $4.5 billion in assets. [28]

In October 2021, Celsius raised $400 million in new equity from investors. [13] [29] The funding round was led by WestCap, the fund led by former Airbnb executive Laurence Tosi, and CDPQ, Canada's second largest pension fund. [13] The funding round valued Celsius at $3 billion. [13] [30] At this time, Celsius's office in Israel employed 100 people. [31]

In November 2021, Celsius acquired the Israeli cybersecurity company GK8 for $115 million. [32] [33]

Controversies and regulatory scrutiny

On April 16, 2021, Celsius confirmed that a security breach had occurred in its systems; a third-party server with customer data had been compromised, resulting in a portion of the company's customer list being exfiltrated and a phishing email being sent to Celsius customers. [34]

In September 2021, authorities in a number of US states said that Celsius's interest-bearing cryptocurrency accounts constitute an unregistered securities offering. [35] [36] The attorney general of New Jersey ordered Celsius to stop issuing interest-bearing cryptocurrency products via a cease-and-desist order. [35] Texas state regulators filed a notice seeking a hearing in February 2022 to determine whether to take similar action. Kentucky's securities regulator told Celsius to cease and desist from offering its interest-paying accounts in the state. [37] Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky said he was "very confident" that none of Celsius's products in the United States were securities. [35] Celsius said it was working with US states in order to provide clarity about its business operations. [35]

On October 18, 2021, Celsius received a request for more information from New York Attorney General, Letitia James. [38] Earlier that month, Celsius had US$400 million in new equity funding from investors. [39]

On November 26, 2021, Celsius announced that one of its senior employees was the focus of an Israeli police probe associated with prior employment activities; the employee was later suspended. [40]

Decline

Celsius had been using the crypto custodian Prime Trust to store some customer assets since March 2020. This relationship ended in June 2021, when Prime Trust's risk team expressed concern about Celsius's strategy of "endlessly re-hypothecating assets ... lending the same assets over and over and over again to juice yields". Prime Trust founder Scott Purcell suggested that re-hypothecating "would be destined for failure as any sharp market movement in either direction would be catastrophic to such a ridiculously leveraged business model". [41] Celsius sued Prime Trust in August 2022, accusing the custodian of retaining $17 million worth of assets after the relationship ended. [42]

CNBC described Celsius as "one of the largest players in the crypto lending space" in the second quarter of 2022. The company had issued loans totaling more than $8 billion, and as of May, it had almost $12 billion in assets under management. In June 2022, Celsius said it had 1.7 million customers and that it offered yields as high as 17% per year. [43]

On June 7, in a blog post entitled "Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead", Celsius addressed rumors that the company had lost client funds by making poor investments and that it was facing a liquidity crisis. The company dismissed these rumors as the actions of "vocal actors ... spreading misinformation". The blog post denied claims that Celsius sustained significant losses as a result of the collapse of Luna in the preceding month. [44] [45]

On June 10, during his weekly "Ask Mashinsky Anything" session on YouTube, the CEO denied that Celsius was having problems with clients' access to their funds and he suggested that its critics were being paid by competitors. Mashinsky said on the live stream, "Celsius has billions in liquidity, right, and we provide immediate access to everybody". [46] [47] [48] Around this time, Mashinsky was questioning skeptical commenters on Twitter, accusing them of spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt about Celsius. [49]

On June 13, the company paused all customer withdrawals "in order to stabilize liquidity and operations", citing "extreme market conditions". [50] [51] After this announcement, the prices of bitcoin and Ethereum decreased by 12% and 14% respectively from the previous day. Celsius's own CEL token, which had been trading for almost $7 a year prior, was down by one-third after the withdrawal pause announcement, falling to $0.21. [4] The total market value of all cryptocurrencies fell to $983 billion, marking the first time since January 2021 that the cryptocurrency market was collectively worth less than $1 trillion. [52] The news also caused a 10% decline in the share price of Celsius Holdings, an unrelated beverage company, on June 13, due to investor confusion between the two companies' names. The beverage company's shares increased by about 5% the following day. [53]

Rod Bolger, who joined Celsius as CFO in January 2022, resigned on June 30. Celsius appointed Chris Ferraro, its head of financial planning, analysis, and investor relations, to succeed Bolger. [54] Celsius Network laid off 150 employees, a quarter of its workforce, in early July. [1]

Bankruptcy

Celsius filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 13, 2022, one month after pausing withdrawals. [6] A declaration filed the following day reported a $1.2 billion deficit in the company’s balance sheet. Mashinsky said that the company had "made what, in hindsight, proved to be certain poor asset deployment decisions". [55] According to the bankruptcy filing, the company had $167 million in cash on hand, which it said would provide "ample liquidity" to support its operations during its bankruptcy. [56] Of Celsius's $5.5 billion in total liabilities at the time of its bankruptcy filing, the company owed $4.7 billion to its users, who were listed as unsecured creditors. [57] Celsius's choice of Chapter 11 bankruptcy would prioritize repayments to secured creditors first, then unsecured creditors, then equity holders. [41]

Mashinsky resigned as Celsius CEO on September 27, 2022. Chris Ferraro, the former CFO of Celsius, was appointed to replace him as interim CEO. [58]

After Celsius filed for bankruptcy in July 2022, Molly White tweeted a list of excerpts from customer letters to the bankruptcy court judge. Among the stories were concerns about how Celsius had frozen their funds and statements about the company's negative impact on customers' lives. [59] On its bankruptcy website, the company said that it intends to offer two options to customers, "... to recover either cash at a discount or remain 'long' crypto." [60]

On September 28, 2022, the court ordered Celsius to publish customer lists with financial details to create transparency. Celsius had argued that the customer list had resale value and should therefore be kept secret. The CelsiusNetworth website was created based on court documents that are in the public record. [61] According to CelsiusNetworth, the top three names lost $40.5 million, $38.2 million, and $26.4 million, respectively. Celsius owes users approximately $4.7 billion but lacks the funds to pay them. [62]

On December 2, 2022, Celsius announced the sale of GK8, a digital asset custody platform, to the Michael Novogratz-founded company Galaxy Digital Holdings. [63] According to a lawyer representing Celsius's creditors, the proceeds from the sale are expected to go to Celsius's legal fees and former customers. [64]

On December 7, 2022, a U.S. bankruptcy judge ordered Celsius to return cryptocurrency worth $50 million to users of its custody accounts. [65] In January 2023, the same judge ruled that about 600,000 customers had deposited cryptocurrency that, per the company's terms of use, belonged to Celsius, making the depositors into unsecured creditors. [66]

On July 13, 2023, the Federal Trade Commission announced a settlement that would ban Celsius Network from handling consumers' assets. Its founders, Alex Mashinsky, Daniel Leon, and Nuke Goldstein, face federal charges. [67] Celsius agreed to pay $4.7 billion, one of the largest settlement amounts in the FTC's history. Concurrently, the SEC announced charges of its own against Celsius and Mashinsky. [68]

Mashinsky faces trial in New York on seven criminal charges, including fraud, which could lead to a 115-year prison sentence if convicted. His trial began in September 2024. [69]

Restructuring

At a court hearing on February 15, 2023, Celsius stated that it had selected NovaWulf Digital Management to provide guidance for its path out of bankruptcy. The deal was subject to approval by a bankruptcy judge and by Celsius's creditors. [70] Some Celsius creditors objected to the terms of the NovaWulf deal, such as that creditors would need to take a haircut on the assets they had deposited. [71] The unsecured creditor committee (UCC), a recognized group of Celsius creditors, agreed that Celsius should proceed with the NovaWulf deal. [72] According to a bankruptcy filing filed on April 22, 2023, two new groups will compete with NovaWulf to take over Celsius's assets: Fahrenheit, backed by Michael Arrington, former Algorand CEO Steven Kokinos, investment banker Ravi Kaza, and U.S. Data Mining Group and Proof Group; and Blockchain Recovery Investment Committee, backed by the Winklevoss twins' Gemini Trust, fund manager VanEck, Abra and Global X Digital. Arrington had tweeted that Coinbase was part of the Fahrenheit coalition, but later deleted that tweet. [73]

On November 9, 2023, Celsius received U.S. bankruptcy court approval for a restructuring plan that will return cryptocurrency to customers and create a new Bitcoin mining firm owned by the Celsius creditors. [74] [75] The company announced on January 31, 2024, that it had emerged from bankruptcy protection and that it had begun distribution of over $3 billion worth of cryptocurrency and fiat currency to its creditors. Celsius also announced that its creditors will own Ionic Digital, a new bitcoin mining company that Celsius expects to trade publicly on a stock exchange.. [7] Ionic's mining operations will be managed by Hut 8 Corp., an existing mining company, under a four-year management agreement. Matt Prusak, Hut 8's chief commercial officer, is the CEO of Ionic Digital. [8]

Celsius, as part of its emergence from bankruptcy, will wind down its operations. [8] Its mobile and web apps were shut down on February 29, 2024. [9]

Reaction to collapse

Celsius's bankruptcy filing ascribed its $1.2 billion deficit to a modern version of a bank run, in which depositors, anxious about the security of their funds, try to withdraw their funds in great numbers. [55] One critic of Celsius told CBS News, "This was yet another bank run. You're not reinventing anything here. They were promoting their services as a better savings account but in the end you're just another unsecured lender." [52]

The sudden end to customer withdrawals and subsequent bankruptcy led some commentators to highlight the lack of deposit insurance in the cryptocurrency sector. Celsius's terms of use permitted the company to halt trading for its users. Without deposit insurance, no entity is obligated to compensate Celsius's users or to prioritize them more highly than its investors should the company enter liquidation. [52] Securities regulators in five U.S. states announced investigations into Celsius's withdrawal freeze within three days of the company's announcement. [76] Federal entities such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) had considered extending deposit insurance to stablecoin investors, but no FDIC protections for crypto investors existed at the time of Celsius's withdrawal freeze. [77]

Celsius's collapse exemplified what one commentator called a "pervasive problem in the crypto industry, where financial services that claim to be decentralized ... are actually centralized entities, with the power to control the flow of crypto assets." [78] The bankruptcies of centralized cryptocurrency financial institutions like Celsius led some investors to lose trust in centralized storage and to move their funds onto hardware cryptocurrency wallets. [79]

Related Research Articles

A cryptocurrency exchange, or a digital currency exchange (DCE), is a business that allows customers to trade cryptocurrencies or digital currencies for other assets, such as conventional fiat money or other digital currencies. Exchanges may accept credit card payments, wire transfers or other forms of payment in exchange for digital currencies or cryptocurrencies. A cryptocurrency exchange can be a market maker that typically takes the bid–ask spreads as a transaction commission for its service or, as a matching platform, simply charges fees.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cryptocurrency</span> Digital currency not reliant on a central authority

A cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or crypto is a digital currency designed to work through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank, to uphold or maintain it.

Coinbase Global, Inc., branded Coinbase, is an American publicly traded company that operates a cryptocurrency exchange platform. Coinbase is a distributed company; all employees operate via remote work. It is the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the United States in terms of trading volume. The company was founded in 2012 by Brian Armstrong and Fred Ehrsam. In May 2020, Coinbase announced it would shut its San Francisco, California, headquarters and change operations to remote-first, part of a wave of several major tech companies closing headquarters in San Francisco in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Blockchain.com is a cryptocurrency financial services company. The company began as the first Bitcoin blockchain explorer in 2011 and later created a cryptocurrency wallet that accounted for 28% of bitcoin transactions between 2012 and 2020. It also operates a cryptocurrency exchange and provides institutional markets lending business and data, charts, and analytics.

Kraken is a United States–based cryptocurrency exchange, founded in 2011. It was one of the first bitcoin exchanges to be listed on Bloomberg Terminal and was valued at US$3 billion in January 2024. The company has been the subject of several regulatory investigations since 2018, and has agreed to cumulative fines of over $30 million.

Gemini Trust Company, LLC (Gemini) is an American cryptocurrency exchange and custodian bank. It was founded in 2014 by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quadriga (company)</span> Former Canadian cryptocurrency company

Quadriga Fintech Solutions was the owner and operator of QuadrigaCX, which was believed to be Canada's largest cryptocurrency exchange at the time of its collapse in 2019, with the exchange ceasing operations and the company filing for bankruptcy with C$215.7 million in liabilities and about C$28 million in assets.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital Currency Group</span> American venture capital company

Digital Currency Group (DCG) is a venture capital company focusing on the digital currency market. It is located in Stamford, Connecticut. The company has the subsidiaries Foundry, Genesis, Grayscale Investments, and Luno. It also formerly owned CoinDesk.

Bitfinex is a cryptocurrency exchange owned and operated by iFinex Inc, and is registered in the British Virgin Islands. Bitfinex was founded in 2012. It was originally a peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange, and later added support for other cryptocurrencies.

A cryptocurrency bubble is a phenomenon where the market increasingly considers the going price of cryptocurrency assets to be inflated against their hypothetical value. The history of cryptocurrency has been marked by several speculative bubbles.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Mashinsky</span> Israeli-American businessman (born 1965)

Alexander Mashinsky is a Soviet-born Israeli-American entrepreneur, business executive and alleged fraudster. He is a cofounder and former CEO of Celsius Network, a bankrupt cryptocurrency lending platform.

Hodlnaut is a Singapore-based cryptocurrency lending and borrowing platform that lost 69% of the cryptocurrencies that users deposited onto the platform.

FTX Trading Ltd., commonly known as FTX, is a bankrupt company that formerly operated a cryptocurrency exchange and crypto hedge fund. The exchange was founded in 2019 by Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang and collapsed in 2022 after massive fraud perpetrated by Bankman-Fried and his partner Caroline Ellison forced the company to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Alameda Research was a cryptocurrency trading firm, co-founded in September 2017 by Sam Bankman-Fried and Tara MacAulay. In November 2022, FTX, Alameda's sister cryptocurrency exchange, experienced a solvency crisis, and both FTX and Alameda filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. That same month, anonymous sources told The Wall Street Journal that FTX had lent more than half of its customers' funds to Alameda, which was explicitly forbidden by FTX's terms-of-service.

Three Arrows Capital was a Singapore-based cryptocurrency hedge fund which was ordered to liquidate on 27 June 2022 by a court in the British Virgin Islands. It was founded in 2012 by Kyle Davies and Su Zhu. The company borrowed billions of dollars to fund its trading, and according to July 2022 bankruptcy filings, faces $3.5 billion in creditors' claims. The fund appears to have lost in excess of $3 billion over 2021 and 2022, making its collapse one of the largest hedge-fund trading losses of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BlockFi</span> Defunct digital asset lender

BlockFi was a digital asset lender founded by Zac Prince and Flori Marquez in 2017. It was based in Jersey City, New Jersey. It was once valued at $3 billion.

The bankruptcy of FTX, a Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange, began in November 2022. The collapse of FTX, caused by a spike in customer withdrawals that exposed an $8 billion hole in FTX's accounts, served as the impetus for its bankruptcy. Prior to its collapse, FTX was the third-largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume and had over one million users.

Silvergate Bank was a California bank founded in 1988. The company began providing services for cryptocurrency users in 2016, and conducted an IPO in 2019. In November 2022, concerns were raised about Silvergate's health, after a fall in cryptocurrency prices and the bankruptcy of FTX. In March 2023, the bank announced plans to wind down and liquidate. Its failure was one of the first in the 2023 United States banking crisis.

Genesis is a cryptocurrency intermediary for institutional investors, with Digital Currency Group (DCG) as its parent company.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arkham Intelligence</span>

Arkham Intelligence is a public data application that enables users to analyze blockchain and cryptocurrency activity. Founded by Miguel Morel in 2020, the company's platform utilizes AI to identify and catalog the owners of blockchain addresses. Its partners include various cryptocurrency and blockchain companies.

References

  1. 1 2 Orbach, Meir (July 3, 2022). "Ailing crypto lender Celsius to lay off a quarter of its employees". Ctech. Calcalist. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  2. Kharpal, Arjun; Browne, Ryan (June 13, 2022). "Crypto lender Celsius pauses withdrawals due to 'extreme market conditions'". CNBC. Archived from the original on June 13, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  3. "Crypto firm Celsius pauses all transfers, withdrawals as markets tumble". finance.yahoo.com. June 13, 2022. Archived from the original on June 15, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  4. 1 2 Lawler, Richard (June 13, 2022). "Bitcoin price plummets below $25K following Celsius freeze". The Verge . Archived from the original on June 15, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  5. Yaffe-Bellany, David (June 13, 2022). "Celsius Network Leads Crypto Markets into Another Free Fall". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 14, 2022. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  6. 1 2 Gladstone, Alexander; Ge Huang, Vicky; Biswas, Soma (July 14, 2022). "Crypto Crash Drags Lender Celsius Network Into Bankruptcy". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  7. 1 2 Glickman, Ben (January 31, 2024). "Celsius Network To Distribute $3 Billion To Creditors After Exiting Bankruptcy". Morningstar. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  8. 1 2 3 Fazelpoor, Matthew (February 1, 2024). "Celsius successfully exits Chapter 11 bankruptcy". NJBIZ. Retrieved February 10, 2024.
  9. 1 2 "Celsius Distribution FAQ". Celsius. Medium. February 29, 2024. Retrieved March 11, 2024.
  10. Vigna, Paul (January 7, 2021). "Bitcoin's Hot 2021 Continues With Move Above $40,000". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  11. Wilson, Tom; Howcroft, Elizabeth (June 13, 2022). "Bitcoin slides after crypto lender Celsius Network freezes withdrawals". Reuters. Archived from the original on June 13, 2022. Retrieved June 13, 2022.
  12. 1 2 3 Ensign, Rachel Louise (September 10, 2021). "Bitcoin to Bucks: Crypto Fans Borrow to Buy Homes, Cars—and More Crypto". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660. Archived from the original on December 23, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 Shubber, Kadhim; Oliver, Joshua (October 12, 2021). "Crypto lender Celsius Network raises $400m as regulatory pressure grows". Financial Times. Archived from the original on October 12, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  14. Katsiri, Roy (August 8, 2019). "צלזיוס מסירה מחסום בשימוש במטבע שלה להלוואות בארה"ב" [Celsius removes the barrier to using its digital currency for US loans]. Globes (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on March 7, 2021. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
  15. "This CEO says crypto doesn't need Elon Musk to trade higher". Yahoo Finance. June 4, 2021. Archived from the original on June 4, 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  16. 1 2 3 4 "Confident Celsius Network takes aim at the banks". Globes. April 11, 2020. Archived from the original on May 10, 2021. Retrieved June 14, 2022.
  17. Kharpal, Arjun (July 8, 2022). "Embattled crypto lender Celsius is a 'fraud' and 'Ponzi scheme,' lawsuit alleges". CNBC. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  18. 1 2 3 "Inside Celsius: how one of crypto's biggest lenders ground to a halt". Financial Times. July 13, 2022. Retrieved October 3, 2022.
  19. Stempel, Jonathan (August 23, 2022). "Celsius crypto lender, now bankrupt, sues ex-money manager over alleged theft". Reuters. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  20. Gerard, David (February 1, 2023). "Celsius Network: Final report from the examiner — lies, incompetence and Ponzi schemes". Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  21. Elder, Bryce (January 31, 2023). "Scenes from a Celsius bankruptcy report". Financial Times. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  22. Coffey, Lauren (May 10, 2021). "Exclusive: The co-founder of a crypto industry giant just moved to Tampa — and wants to open its next office here". Tampa Bay Business Journal. Archived from the original on June 15, 2022. Retrieved June 26, 2021.
  23. Katsiri, Roy (January 9, 2019). "מכירת החיסול בביטקוין תיגמר, והוא יחזור למחירו האמיתי" [The liquidation sale in bitcoin will end, and it will return to its real price]. Globes (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on November 20, 2020. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  24. "TECH TALK: Meet Alex Mashinsky, everyone's white knight". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. August 22, 2021. Archived from the original on August 29, 2021. Retrieved August 30, 2021.
  25. 1 2 3 Katsiri, Roy (April 11, 2020). "Confident Celsius Network takes aim at the banks". Globes. Archived from the original on December 14, 2020. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  26. Sozzi, Brian (December 17, 2020). "Will bitcoin price hit $500,000?". Yahoo Finance. Archived from the original on December 20, 2020. Retrieved December 23, 2020.
  27. Hyde, Caroline; Bostick, Romaine; Weisenthal, Joe (December 9, 2020). "There Are Many 'On-Ramps' Now for Bitcoin: Celsius Network Founder". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on September 23, 2021.
  28. Vigna, Paul (January 7, 2021). "Bitcoin's Hot 2021 Continues With Move Above $40,000". Wall Street Journal. ISSN   0099-9660. Archived from the original on January 7, 2021. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  29. Lee, Isabelle (October 12, 2021). "Crypto lender Celsius Network's valuation soars 2,400% in latest fundraising round". Business Insider. Archived from the original on October 13, 2021. Retrieved October 13, 2021.
  30. Oliver, Joshua; Shubber, Kadhim (October 13, 2021). "Celsius investment shows 'conviction' in blockchain, says CDPQ". Financial Times. Archived from the original on October 13, 2021. Retrieved October 14, 2021.
  31. Shulman, Sophie (October 25, 2021). "Is Celsius the bank of the future or just a $3 billion-pyramid scheme?". CTECH - www.calcalistech.com. Archived from the original on December 17, 2021. Retrieved December 17, 2021.
  32. Orbach, Meir (November 1, 2021). "Crypto powerhouse Celsius acquiring Israeli startup GK8 for $115 million". Calcalist. Archived from the original on November 4, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  33. Stub, Zev (November 5, 2021). "Tech Buzz: HoneyBook and Autobrains continue funding momentum". Jerusalem Post. Archived from the original on November 5, 2021. Retrieved November 5, 2021.
  34. "Celsius Network Confirms Email System Breach & Phishing Attacks On Customers". Cyber Intel Magazine. April 16, 2021. Archived from the original on January 3, 2022. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  35. 1 2 3 4 Oliver, Joshua; Murphy, Hannah (September 17, 2021). "US states clamp down on crypto yield products from Celsius Network". Financial Times. Archived from the original on October 11, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  36. "States Act Against Celsius Network for Unregistered Products". Bloomberg.com. September 17, 2021. Archived from the original on October 10, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  37. "Crypto Lender Celsius Told to Stop Offering Accounts in Kentucky". Bloomberg.com. September 23, 2021. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved October 12, 2021.
  38. Joe Light; Tina Davis (October 18, 2021). "Two Crypto-Lending Firms Ordered Shut by New York's James". Bloomberg. Archived from the original on January 3, 2022. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  39. Kadhim Shubber; Joshua Oliver (October 12, 2021). "Crypto lender Celsius Network raises $400m as regulatory pressure grows". Financial Times. Archived from the original on December 20, 2021. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  40. Simona Weinglass (December 15, 2021). "Celsius suspends official under probe; 2nd staffer founded firm with money launderer". Times of Israel. Archived from the original on January 3, 2022. Retrieved January 3, 2022.
  41. 1 2 Lennon, Hailey (August 1, 2022). "Bankrupt Crypto Lender Celsius Could Leave Customers Last In Line To Get Paid". Forbes. Retrieved August 6, 2022.
  42. Kim, Crystal (August 24, 2022). "Crypto lender Celsius files lawsuits in attempt to recover funds". Axios. Retrieved August 28, 2022.
  43. Rooney, Kate; Tortorelli, Paige (July 13, 2022). "Embattled crypto lender Celsius files for bankruptcy protection". CNBC. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  44. Celsius (June 10, 2022). "Damn the Torpedoes, Full Speed Ahead". Medium. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  45. Brodkin, Jon (July 14, 2022). "Crypto lender Celsius files for bankruptcy, still won't let users withdraw funds". Ars Technica. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  46. Celsius AMA June 10 2022 , retrieved July 14, 2022
  47. Faux, Zeke (June 15, 2022). "The Crisis at Celsius Is Rocking DeFi and Crypto". Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  48. Light, Joe (June 17, 2022). "'Crypto Winter' Could Become 'Crypto Hell'". Barron's. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  49. Singh, Manish (July 13, 2022). "Big crypto lender Celsius files for bankruptcy". TechCrunch. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  50. Celsius (June 13, 2022). "A Memo to the Celsius Community". Medium. Retrieved July 14, 2022.
  51. Wilson, Tom; Lang, Hannah; Howcroft, Elizabeth (June 14, 2022). "Crypto contagion fears spread after Celsius Network freezes withdrawals". Reuters via www.reuters.com.
  52. 1 2 3 Brooks, Khristopher L. (June 13, 2022). "Cryptocurrency prices plunge as major exchanges halt trading". CBS News. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  53. Katje, Chris (June 14, 2022). "Mistaken Identity? Drink Maker Celsius Falls 10% On Monday". Benzinga. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  54. Sigalos, MacKenzie (August 2, 2022). "Bankrupt crypto lending platform Celsius is trying to hire its CFO back at $92,000 a month, filings say". CNBC. Retrieved August 5, 2022.
  55. 1 2 "Celsius Network: crypto firm reveals $1.2bn deficit in bankruptcy filing". the Guardian. July 15, 2022. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  56. Sigalos, MacKenzie (July 17, 2022). "From $25 billion to $167 million: How a major crypto lender collapsed and dragged many investors down with it". CNBC. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  57. Biswas, Soma; Huang, Vicky Ge (July 15, 2022). "Celsius Owes Users More Than $4.7 Billion". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved July 15, 2022.
  58. Capoot, Ashley; Rooney, Kate; Tortorelli, Paige (September 27, 2022). "Celsius CEO resigns in the middle of bankruptcy proceedings". CNBC. Retrieved September 27, 2022.
  59. Shugerman, Emily (July 22, 2022). "She Sent Her Baby Ultrasound to Beg for Her Crypto Back". The Daily Beast. Retrieved July 24, 2022.
  60. Yue, Frances (July 25, 2022). "Celsius customers write pleas to bankruptcy court to get crypto back: 'This is an emergency situation, simply to keep a roof over my family and food on their table.'". MarketWatch. Retrieved July 25, 2022.
  61. "celsiusnetworth.com". Blockchain - tecnología del futuro (in Spanish). Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  62. "The Celsius Crypto Collapse Explained: How Much Did Users Lose?". MSN. Retrieved December 17, 2022.
  63. Yasmin, Mehnaz (December 2, 2022). "Galaxy wins bid for collapsed crypto lender Celsius' GK8 unit". Reuters. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  64. Tortorelli, Paige; Rooney, Kate (December 3, 2022). "Celsius clients with collateral stuck on failed crypto platform turn to bankruptcy process for relief". CNBC. Retrieved December 3, 2022.
  65. Hill, Jeremy (December 7, 2022). "Celsius Judge Orders Return of User Crypto Worth $50 Million". Bloomberg. Retrieved December 10, 2022.
  66. Zeitchik, Steven (January 6, 2023). "Bad news for thousands of crypto investors: They don't own their accounts". washingtonpost. Retrieved January 6, 2023.
  67. Gruenwald Henderson, Juliana (July 13, 2023). "FTC Reaches Settlement with Crypto Platform Celsius Network; Charges Former Executives with Duping Consumers into Transferring Cryptocurrency into their Platform and then Squandering Billions in User Deposits". Federal Trade Commission (Press release).
  68. Goswami, Rohan (July 13, 2023). "Former Celsius CEO arrested, company agrees to pay $4.7 billion settlement". CNBC. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  69. https://crypto.news/celsius-founder-alex-mashinsky-loses-bid-to-dismiss-charges/
  70. Knauth, Dietrich (February 15, 2023). "Celsius Network chooses NovaWulf bid for bankruptcy exit". Reuters. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  71. Biswas, Soma (February 23, 2023). "Celsius Retail Borrowers Criticize Bankruptcy Deal With NovaWulf". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  72. Gapusan, Jeff (February 27, 2023). "Figure Speeds Tokenization Of Public Securities Under Celsius Plan". Forbes. Retrieved March 5, 2023.
  73. Lawler, Ryan (April 24, 2023). "Celsius draws interest from new bidders". Axios. Retrieved April 24, 2023.
  74. "Failed Crypto Lender Celsius Network Cleared to Exit Bankruptcy". Bloomberg.com. November 9, 2023. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  75. Knauth, Dietrich (November 10, 2023). "Crypto lender Celsius Network cleared to exit bankruptcy". Reuters. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  76. Lang, Hannah (June 16, 2022). "EXCLUSIVE State securities regulators investigating Celsius accounts freeze". Reuters. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  77. Heilweil, Rebecca (June 17, 2022). "The nebulous state of crypto insurance". Vox. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  78. Pires, Francisco (July 14, 2022). "Celsius Blockchain DeFi Lender Files for Bankruptcy". Tom's Hardware. Retrieved July 17, 2022.
  79. Yue, Frances (July 14, 2022). "'I just wake up and cry': Voyager and Celsius bankruptcies have destroyed some crypto investors' confidence in centralized platforms". MarketWatch. Retrieved July 25, 2022.