Celsius, one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency lending platforms, is under attack amid the collapse of risk assets.
Wall Street has previously mentioned that under the Fed’s hawkish interest rate hike expectations, global risk assets collectively dived, and the currency bank Celsius suffered a liquidity depletion crisis similar to that of the old investment bank Bear Stearns.
On June 12, local time, Celsius announced that “due to extreme market conditions,” the platform would suspend all withdrawals, transactions, and transfers between accounts, sparking market concerns that sent cryptocurrency prices plummeting.
At this time, CoinDesk, citing two people familiar with the matter, said Goldman Sachs was seeking to raise $2 billion from investors as it prepared to dip into Celsius’ distressed assets.
The proposed deal would allow Goldman Sachs and its investors to buy Celsius’ assets at deep discounts if Celsius files for bankruptcy.
Celsius had previously hired restructuring advisers from consulting firm Alvarez & Marsal, and also consulted on the restructuring plan of law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP, people familiar with the matter said.
Goldman appears to be weighing interest and soliciting investment commitments from the Web3 cryptocurrency fund, funds that specialize in distressed assets, and traditional financial institutions with cash on hand, the people said.
Some analysts believe that Goldman Sachs’ bottom-hunting is likely to succeed in view of the cash-rich “industry bigwigs” such as the encrypted exchange FTX, who have come to the rescue and helped stabilize the currency price.
This can be described as “one stone stirred up a thousand waves”. As a Wall Street leader, if Goldman Sachs makes a move, will Celsius be able to come back to life after a thunderstorm? For now, Celsius stock is rebounding sharply after news spread that Goldman Sachs was interested in acquiring Celsius.