Celsius Enlists More Advisors to Help With Potential Bankruptcy: Report

Cryptocurrency lending company Celsius may be on the brink of bankruptcy, preparing for an upcoming filing by hiring more advisers, according to a report today from the Wall Street Journal, citing unnamed sources.

Celsius has hired restructuring advisers from the firm Alvarez & Marsal to help the embattled crypto lender prepare for a forthcoming bankruptcy filing, the Journal reported today.

Just 12 days ago, the company abruptly froze its clients’ accounts, suspending all withdrawals, swaps, and transfers on its platform in an apparent liquidity crisis as the crypto market crashed. At the time, Celsius cited “extreme market conditions” for the suspension of withdrawals but has since offered its customers next to nothing in terms of a way forward. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the crypto lender had sought assistance from the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP for its financial restructuring.

Prior to freezing customer accounts, Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky had just one day earlier dismissed rumors of the company’s insolvency as “FUD,” shorthand for “fear, uncertainty, and doubt” and often used within crypto circles to imply deliberate misinformation.

Mashinsky went radio silent after that, only to resurface on Twitter three days later to at last acknowledge the situation: “This is a difficult moment; your patience and support mean the world to us,” he said.