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Crypto Lender Celsius Network Says $70M Cash Relief Will Bolster Efforts to Survive the Year

Crypto Lender Celsius Network Says $70M Cash Relief Will Bolster Efforts to Survive the Year

Crypto Lender Celsius Network Says $70M Cash Relief Will Bolster Efforts to Survive the Year

The extra cash from loan repayments, previously believed to be in stablecoins, means a much needed boost for the cash-strapped lender.

The extra cash from loan repayments, previously believed to be in stablecoins, means a much needed boost for the cash-strapped lender.

The extra cash from loan repayments, previously believed to be in stablecoins, means a much needed boost for the cash-strapped lender.

AccessTimeIconSep 2, 2022, 4:59 PM
Updated May 11, 2023, 4:23 PM
Celsius Network CEO Alex Mashinsky (CoinDesk)
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Crypto lender Celsius Network, which is going through bankruptcy proceedings, said a freshly found $70 million pile of cash will likely help it continue operating through the end of 2022.

According to a document filed Thursday by Kirkland & Ellis, the law firm Celsius has hired to help it restructure, Celsius expects “approximately $70 million of proceeds from the repayment of USD denominated loans.”

During a hearing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday, a Kirkland & Ellis lawyer said the loans were mistakenly believed to be in dollar-pegged stablecoins, which the lender wouldn't have been able to use to finance its operations.

The updated cash-flow forecast reveals that Celsius' cash pile will barely last through the year. (Kirkland & Ellis)

The extra money means a much-needed boost to Celsius’ scarce liquidity and will extend its runway to pay its business and restructuring costs as it seeks to find a more durable solution to its cash crunch problem. The firm’s costs far exceed its proceeds from its unprofitable bitcoin mining operation.

Celsius expects to receive the majority of the repayment by Oct. 7. The forecast shows that its disposable cash balance will stand at $42 million by the end of November. Extrapolating its weekly net cash flow, the cash pile will barely last through the end of this year.

The company initially forecasted – without accounting for the loan repayments – that it would run out of cash by October. It later revised its forecast to say it would probably survive till the end of the year, citing $61 million in loans maturing. The document that contains the latest cash-flow forecast declared a slightly greater figure than that, $70 million.

The troubled lender found itself in the middle of a recent insolvency crisis in the crypto industry. The firm filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July and later revealed it was $2.8 billion short of crypto holdings that it owed to its customers.

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CoinDesk is an award-winning media outlet that covers the cryptocurrency industry. Its journalists abide by a strict set of editorial policies. In November 2023, CoinDesk was acquired by the Bullish group, owner of Bullish, a regulated, digital assets exchange. The Bullish group is majority-owned by Block.one; both companies have interests in a variety of blockchain and digital asset businesses and significant holdings of digital assets, including bitcoin. CoinDesk operates as an independent subsidiary with an editorial committee to protect journalistic independence. CoinDesk employees, including journalists, may receive options in the Bullish group as part of their compensation.

Krisztian Sandor is a reporter on the U.S. markets team focusing on stablecoins and institutional investment. He holds BTC and ETH.


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