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Celsius has now paid off more than $800 million of debt to DeFi apps

Quick Take

  • Celsius has paid off all of its debt taken on decentralized finance applications. 
  • Over the last month, the firm has returned over $800 million to Aave, Maker and Compound.

Celsius Network, the troubled crypto lender, has closed all of its debt owed to decentralized lending apps.

On Wednesday, the firm repaid nearly $50 million of its debt to Compound’s lending protocol across two transactions, thereby removing the last chunk of its remaining on-chain debt. 

According to on-chain records on wallets tied to Celsius, the firm has paid off more than an estimated $800 million of debt on Aave, MakerDAO and Compound since June 10.

Over the last month, Celsius has been winding down its positions to reclaim large amounts of its collateral staked on lending apps.

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Last week, the firm paid off all of its debt from MakerDAO and took out $440 million in wrapped bitcoin. Later, it also reclaimed $124 million in wrapped bitcoin and $417 million in staked ether from Aave. Today, it withdrew another $200 million in wrapped bitcoin from Compound.

On-chain data shows Celsius has been periodically transferring significant amounts of its collateral assets to centralized exchanges in order to — most likely — sell them and pay off its debt obligations.

Celsius has been grappling with insolvency triggered by sharp decline in the price of crypto assets. On 12 June, it froze withdrawals and transfers on its centralized lending service. 


© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

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About Author

Vishal Chawla is The Block’s crypto ecosystems editor and has spent over six years covering tech protocols, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and cloud computing. Vishal likes to delve deep into blockchain intricacies to ensure readers are well-informed about the continuously evolving crypto landscape. He is also a staunch advocate for rigorous security practices in the space. Before joining The Block, Vishal held positions at IDG ComputerWorld, CIO, and Crypto Briefing. He can be reached on Twitter at @vishal4c and via email at [email protected]