June 13, 2022
By Murtuza Merchant
Crypto lending platform Nexo has offered to buy the assets of its rival Celsius after the latter announced a pause on all withdrawals, swaps, and transfers between accounts due to “extreme market conditions.”
The offer to buy Celsius’s assets ends on June 20.
Nexo said it was in а solid liquidity and equity position to readily acquire any remaining qualifying assets of Celsius, mainly their collateralized loan portfolio and that yesterday, it reached out to the Celsius team to offer its support, but help was refused.
“The Nexo team has never cheered for the failure of any blockchain business but we have warned that operating a sustainable business model based on prudent risk management is what differentiates Nexo and allows us to maintain financial stability in any market circumstances,” the company stated on Twitter.
All Nexo products are operating normally – Borrow, Earn, Exchange, the Nexo Card.
As always – deposits and withdrawals are processed instantly so that all of you can make the necessary arrangements in this latest downturn in the markets. 1/
— Nexo (@Nexo) June 13, 2022
It further claimed Nexo was the first and only blockchain finance company to have a real-time audit of its custodial assets, showing that the company’s assets exceed its liabilities at all times.
The crypto lending firm has put together a formal Letter of Intent to acquire the remaining qualifying assets, mainly collateralized loan receivables secured by corresponding collateral assets, brand assets, and the customer database of the business.
The price of Celsius’s native Celsius token is currently down 50% to $0.20 per token, according to data from Coinmarketcap.
According to speculations on social media, Celsius has unstaked $247 million worth of Wrapped Bitcoin from AAVE and sent it to the FTX exchange. Also, large amounts of Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC), Ethereum, and other cryptocurrencies have been moved while simultaneously pausing withdrawals for users.
In unusual movements, cryptos from the mail DeFi wallet of Celsius began moving liquidity to FTX at 18:00 ET on June 12, as WBTC was removed from Celsius’s main AAVE staking and lending platform. The company had earned interest on its deposits stored in its DeFi wallet.
Users claim 9,500 WBTC tokens worth $247m have been moved from Aave to the FTX exchange. The movement of liquidity has been unknown and not specified by the Celsius network.
According to users, 9,500 WBTC tokens worth $247m have been moved from AAVE to the FTX exchange. Also, 54,749 Ethereum worth $74.5m has been moved to FTX.
While demanding answers for the funds’ movement, users further claim that the Celsius board is not transparent with their dealings.
The firm, overall, has been accused of moving $320m worth of liquidity to the FTX exchange.
About the author
Murtuza Merchant is a senior journalist and an avid follower of blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
