Bankrupt lending firm Celsius has transferred over $125 million worth of its Ether to crypto exchanges in the past week as part of its initiative to repay creditors.
The move follows that of FTX and Alameda Research, which also resumed funds transfer earlier this month.
$125 Million ETH Transfer
From January 8 to January 12, $95.5 million was moved to Coinbase and $29.7 million to FalconX, as reported by Arkham Intelligence. Despite these transfers, Celsius still possesses more than 550,000 ETH, roughly valued at $1.36 billion.
The latest development comes almost ten days after the firm announced the unstaking 206,300 ETH, worth around $407 million, as part of its preparations for “timely distributions to creditors.”
The lending firm, entangled in bankruptcy court proceedings since filing for Chapter 11 in July 2022, had then cited the need to guarantee sufficient liquidity for potential asset distributions.
Besides Celsius, FTX and Alameda Research also started the process of moving funds to centralized exchanges.
In the past week, the two failed ventures by Sam Bankman-Fried conducted transfers totaling $28.2 million in digital assets, which included 402.6 Wrapped Bitcoin, 3,200 Ether, 602,000 Pendle, and 9.03 million People. FTX and Alameda still hold around $1.2 billion in assets on the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM).
Celsius’ Audacious Bid to Recover Funds
Celsius had recently proposed a bold measure involving users who cashed out more than $100,000 in the 90 days leading to the bankruptcy declaration.
Represented by Kirkland & Ellis, Celsius demanded that these users “resolve their outstanding liability” or face litigation, deeming the act of pre-bankruptcy withdrawals as “avoidance actions” eligible for pursuit in court.
The notice requires affected creditors to return 27.5% of their withdrawn amount by January 31, 2024, or risk clawback. This move was part of Celsius’ plan to repay creditors in line with the restructuring agreement, potentially allowing users with trapped assets to receive their due share.
The success and potential influence of this unique clawback initiative, aimed at recovering funds from private investors, are uncertain. If it succeeds, it could be a precedent for other struggling platforms attempting similar fund recovery measures.
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Selling ETH for BTC: Leading Chinese Gaming Firm Converts
Boyaa Interactive, a leading Chinese gaming firm on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, has reallocated a significant portion of its crypto assets from Ethereum to Bitcoin.
As per a November 29 filing, the company reported converting 14,200 ETH into approximately 515 BTC in an open-market deal worth more than $49 million. The Ethereum had been acquired at an average cost of $2,777 per ETH, totaling $39.45 million.
Following the transaction, Boyaa now holds 3,183 BTC, with an average purchase price of $57,724 per coin.
The company emphasized that the move is in line with its strategy to expand its Bitcoin reserves, considering the market outlook for both Ethereum and Bitcoin. According to the board, converting existing Ether holdings into is a timely decision.
In March, Boyaa announced the approval of a $100 million initiative to allocate $45 million of corporate funds to Bitcoin, $45 million to Ethereum, and $10 million to stablecoins such as Tether’s USDT and Circle’s USDC.
The Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed firm disclosed a $1 million investment in the UTXO Management Bitcoin Ecosystem Fund in July. UTXO, interestingly, is the asset management partner of BTC Inc., a key player in the Bitcoin ecosystem that owns Bitcoin Magazine and hosts the Bitcoin Conference.
The latest development as Bitcoin gains traction in corporate investment portfolios, with Rumble, the renowned online streaming platform, revealing its decision to diversify its cash reserves by investing in Bitcoin.
The company’s Board of Directors has authorized an allocation of up to $20 million in BTC, allowing for flexible purchasing. Similarly, Jiva Technologies, a wellness and plant-based e-commerce company, has also committed to Bitcoin, securing approval for a strategy involving investments of up to $1 million.
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Huge Bitcoin Volatility, Ethereum Picks Up Speed, Ripple Bull Run Goes On: This Week’s Crypto Recap
It was a crazy week in the cryptocurrency industry, filled with a lot of volatility, a resurgance that the entire community was debating about, as well as the story of the underdog coming back at it. Let’s dive in.
First, we have Bitcoin. Its price tried to breach $100K last weekend on numerous occasions, but it turned out that the sell wall there was just too big for the bulls to overcome. That ultimately took its toll, and the price crashed, reaching almost $90K during the week. That’s when things started to get funny. The sentiment was completely from less than a week ago when BTC breached $90K for the first time.
Nevertheless, the price didn’t spend much time at these lows as the bulls were quick to regroup and started pushing forward. At the time of this writing, BTC is trading at around $97K and many are already calling for $100K to be breached this time around.
Another interesting turn is Ethereum’s performance throughout the past seven days. Now, you have to understand that many in the community have been making fun of ETH for being the slow runner throughout this bull run and failing to keep up. This week, however, it’s up by more than 8% and it appears that it’s looking at it’s next target at $3.7K.
But the best performer of them all throughout the past seven days was Ripple’s XRP. The cryptocurrency has been on an absolute tear throughout the past month, and it has even managed to flip BNB for the spot of the 5th largest coin by means of total market capitalization, albeit marginally as of yet.
It’s interesting to see how things will turn in the next couple of weeks, but it appears that the market remains as heated as ever.
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MARA Boosts BTC Holdings to $3.3 Billion Through $1B Convertible Note Offering. MARA, formerly known as Marathon Digital, has expanded its Bitcoin holdings to 34,797 BTC (valued at $3.3 billion) after purchasing 6,474 BTC in November using proceeds from a $1 billion convertible note offering. The mining company plans to issue an additional $700 million in convertible notes for further Bitcoin acquisitions and corporate purposes, mirroring MicroStrategy’s debt-fueled BTC buying strategy.
Global Stablecoin Supply Hits New All-Time High. The total market capitalization of the stablecoin sector has reached a record $191.6 billion, with Tether (USDT) dominating 69% of the market and USD Coin (USDC) accounting for 21%. The figure represents a 50% increase since January 2024, driven by growing demand and bullish sentiment in the broader crypto market.
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