Crypto Custodian Prime Trust Agrees to Return $17M in Tokens to Bankrupt Lender Celsius

Crypto custodian Prime Trust agreed to return roughly $17 million in tokens to crypto lender Celsius Network in a bankruptcy court hearing on Thursday.

Celsius had sued Prime Trust in August, alleging that Prime Trust had improperly withheld the tokens when the two terminated their contract in June 2021. The assets, made up of 398 BTC, 196,268 CEL tokens, 3,740 ETH and 2.2 million USDC valued at roughly $17 million, were tied to Celsius’ yield product customers in Washington State and New York. Prime Trust held $119 million of Celsius’ assets at the time the contract was ended.

Celsius filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July.

The assets will be sent to a designated Celsius wallet, Prime Trust said Thursday. Next come orders from the court about how the money should be distributed.

DISCLOSURE

Please note that our privacy policy, terms of use, cookies, and do not sell my personal information has been updated.

The leader in news and information on cryptocurrency, digital assets and the future of money, CoinDesk is a media outlet that strives for the highest journalistic standards and abides by a strict set of editorial policies. CoinDesk is an independent operating subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which invests in cryptocurrencies and blockchain startups. As part of their compensation, certain CoinDesk employees, including editorial employees, may receive exposure to DCG equity in the form of stock appreciation rights, which vest over a multi-year period. CoinDesk journalists are not allowed to purchase stock outright in DCG.

Nelson Wang

Nelson Wang is CoinDesk's news editor for the East Coast. He holds BTC and ETH above CoinDesk's disclosure threshold of $1,000.

Follow @NelWang on Twitter

Learn more about Consensus 2024, CoinDesk’s longest-running and most influential event that brings together all sides of crypto, blockchain and Web3. Head to consensus.coindesk.com to register and buy your pass now.