A multi-billion crypto lender just filed for bankruptcy

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The cryptopocalypse is bringing them down left, right and centre.

Image of a physical Bitcoin on a PCB.
(Image credit: Getty)

Celsius Network has filed for bankruptcy, one month after stopping customers from withdrawing funds. The crypto trading and loan company's filing shows liabilities of $5.5 billion but assets of $4.31 billion, a $1.19 billion dollar black hole. $4.7 billion of the $5.5 billion liabilities are attributed to Celsius users, whom the filing admits may face serious losses (thanks, Financial Times).

Throughout the process, the company will service existing loans though not issue any new ones. Withdrawals from the platform remain suspended, and "most account activity will be paused until further notice."

In an industry built on bravado it is perhaps unsurprising that the filing, which is the statement of Celsius co-founder and CEO Alex Mashinsky, has an element of defiance, which at times almost verges into farce. It blames what it calls the 'cryptopocalypse' on the media, "poor asset deployment decisions", and that Celsius got too big too fast

A hand holds a bitcoin over the US flag draped over a slate board.

(Image credit: Boris Zhitkov / SimpleImages)

There were lots of small investors, but plenty of big ones too, such as the huge Canadian pension fund, Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, which along with an investment firm made a $400 million investment in Celsius last year that valued the company at $3 billion.

Celsius is the third huge crypto company to go down in what is looking more and more like an unstoppable decline in the value of cryptocurrencies more widely. In the first week of July both broker Voyager Digital and hedge fund Three Arrows Capital filed for bankruptcy.

"This is the right decision for our community and company," Mashinsky wrote in a press release announcing the bankruptcy. "We have a strong and experienced team in place to lead Celsius through this process. I am confident that when we look back at the history of Celsius, we will see this as a defining moment, where acting with resolve and confidence served the community and strengthened the future of the company."

Rich Stanton
Rich Stanton
Senior Editor

Rich is a games journalist with 15 years' experience, beginning his career on Edge magazine before working for a wide range of outlets, including Ars Technica, Eurogamer, GamesRadar+, Gamespot, the Guardian, IGN, the New Statesman, Polygon, and Vice. He was the editor of Kotaku UK, the UK arm of Kotaku, for three years before joining PC Gamer. He is the author of a Brief History of Video Games, a full history of the medium, which the Midwest Book Review described as "[a] must-read for serious minded game historians and curious video game connoisseurs alike."