Embattled crypto lender Celsius has transferred over $125 million worth of Ether to various cryptocurrency exchanges as part of its plan to initiate repayments to its creditors.
According to data sourced from Arkham Intelligence, $95.5 million of Ethereum was shifted to Coinbase, while $29.7 million found its way to FalconX between January 8 and January 12.
Despite these sizable transfers, Celsius still maintains a substantial stash of over 550,000 ETH on its balance sheet, equating to an eye-popping $1.36 billion at the time of this report.
Looks like Celsius took the opportunity to unload >$125M of ETH over ETF Week.
In the past week, they’ve deposited $95.5M to Coinbase and sent $29.73M to FalconX.
They still have $1.4 billion (540K ETH) remaining.https://t.co/jp1PJbN46r pic.twitter.com/xgfX6yU5Ye
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) January 13, 2024
The move to reduce its Ether holdings follows the company’s decision to unstake a whopping 206,300 ETH valued at $407 million.
At the time, the lender clarified that these newly-liberated Ether assets would be used to cover expenses incurred during its ongoing restructuring process and to prepare for creditor repayments.
Celsius has previously committed to distributing Bitcoin and Ethereum to its creditors as part of its recovery plan.
However, it has yet to specify a concrete date for when creditors can anticipate receiving these funds.
For more than 18 months, Celsius’s creditors have been patiently awaiting the release of their funds, which have been tied up in the platform since the firm’s initial declaration of bankruptcy in July 2022.
FTX and Alameda Research Start Crypto Transfers
Celsius is not the sole distressed cryptocurrency firm making significant moves involving its digital asset holdings.
On January 14, the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX and its defunct trading arm, Alameda Research, executed their own transfers, sending $28 million worth of cryptocurrency to various exchanges.
The breakdown of these transfers included $18.7 million in Wrapped Bitcoin, $8 million in Ethereum, and $1 million in Pendle (PENDLE) tokens to Coinbase and Binance.
These moves by FTX and Alameda Research are part of their efforts to secure funds for creditor repayment.
Administrators overseeing FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings have successfully recovered approximately $7 billion in assets, with a substantial $3.4 billion in cryptocurrency.
The market’s response to FTX creditor claims has been positive, with some claims trading as high as $0.50 on the dollar in October 2023.
While a specific repayment date for FTX customers remains elusive, the current plan estimates that repayments should commence some time in 2024.
Celsius Shifts Focus to Crypto Mining
Last month, Judge Martin Glenn granted Celsius the permission to proceed with a second alternative previously approved by Celsius’ creditors, which involves the creation of a public company dedicated solely to Bitcoin mining.
According to the new arrangement, creditors will receive a portion of their recovery through shares in the upcoming Bitcoin mining company, which allows the creditors to benefit from the success and growth of the mining operations.
Furthermore, this plan unlocks $225 million in crypto assets that were initially intended to finance new ventures but were rejected by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
The newly formed entity, known as MiningCo, will be operated by Hut 8 under a four-year mining management contract.
This agreement entails the supervision of five mining locations in Texas, which collectively possess a computing capacity of approximately 12 EH/s (equivalent to 122,000 miners) and over 300 MW of power.
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