Crypto lender Celsius converts almost 23,000 WBTC into bitcoin

Quick Take

  • Beleaguered crypto lender Celsius converted 22,962.8 WBTC into bitcoin on Feb. 28. 
  • The transaction occurred with the consent of the Celsius’ creditor committee, said a filing in the lender’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection proceedings on Friday.

Beleaguered crypto lender Celsius converted 22,962.8 WBTC into bitcoin on Feb. 28. 

The transaction occurred with the consent of the Celsius creditor committee, according to a filing in the lender's Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection proceedings on March 3. 

No reason was given as to why the exchange occurred. Wrapped bitcoin, or WBTC, is an ERC-2o token interoperable with the Ethereum blockchain. 

One of a number of crypto lenders to fall afoul of the bear market, Celsius entered into Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in July, when it revealed a $1.2 billion hole in its balance sheet. Since then, it's been working through a restructuring process and figuring how to pay creditors.

RELATED INDICES

In January, a court-appointed examiner report detailed multiple operational failures, dishonest public statements, market manipulation and Ponzi-like recycling of client assets.

Last month, it put forward plans for a sale to NovaWulf  Digital Management, an investment firm founded in 2021 by former Wall Street dealmakers. Those plans were supported by the Celsius creditor committee earlier this week. 


© 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.

About Author

Tom is a deals reporter at The Block covering venture capital, fundraises, fintech and M&A. Before joining, he was an editorial intern at the FT-backed platform Sifted where he reported on neobanks, payment firms and blockchain startups. You can reach him by email at [email protected] or Telegram @tommatsuda.

Editor

To contact the editor of this story:
Mike Millard at
[email protected]