Bulletins

Goldman is raising capital to scoop up Celsius assets

The troubled crypto lender was caught in the market's downdraft.

Celsius logo

Goldman Sachs is jumping into the Celsius drama.

Image: Protocol

Goldman Sachs has joined efforts to assist the ailing crypto lending company Celsius, in what would be the biggest effort yet by a traditional financial institution to jump in amid a broad crypto crash. Several large crypto hedge funds, lending companies and brokerages have sought funding or credit amid a liquidity crunch in recent days.

Goldman is aiming to raise $2 billion to buy Celsius' distressed assets if there is a bankruptcy filing, according to CoinDesk. The investors could be crypto funds or more traditional asset managers or distressed investors.

Celsius has already brought in law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld and restructuring firm Alvarez & Marsal, the The Wall Street Journal reported, as well as Citigroup to advise on possible restructuring, per The Block. Citi and Akin Gump have recommended that Celsius file for bankruptcy, CoinDesk reported.

Celsius earlier this month stopped all withdrawals and transfers amid concerns about market conditions and liquidity issues, pushing the larger crypto market further down amid fears of contagion.

The lending company held an unknown amount of UST, the stablecoin that collapsed after losing its peg to the dollar, as well as staked ether, or stETH, which also has suffered from liquidity challenges amid a broader crypto crash.

Meanwhile, crypto lender BlockFi secured a $250 million line of credit from FTX. Publicly traded crypto broker Voyager Digital secured $485 million in loans from Alameda Research and limited customer withdrawals after announcing its exposure to another troubled hedge fund, Three Arrows Capital.

Tomio Geron

Tomio Geron ( @tomiogeron) is a San Francisco-based reporter covering fintech. He was previously a reporter and editor at The Wall Street Journal, covering venture capital and startups. He was also as a staff writer at Forbes covering social media and venture capital, and edited the Midas List of top tech investors. He can be reached at tgeron@protocol.com or tgeron@protonmail.com.
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