Celsius to Pause Withdrawals due to Poor Market Conditions

Celsius--the crypto lending firm--said on Sunday that it would pause withdrawals on its platform, citing market conditions as the price of Ether and other cryptocurrencies tumbled. 

The firm, which sources said earlier in the week, only had a few more weeks of bandwidth to support customer withdrawals, took to Twitter to announce the suspension of withdrawals, transfers, and swaps, noting: 

"@CelsiusNetwork is pausing all withdrawals, Swap, and transfers between accounts. Acting in the interest of our community is our top priority. Our operations continue and we will continue to share information with the community."

Led by Alex Mashinsky, the firm reportedly had about $12 billion in customer assets as of May across 1.7 million users, according to reports

In a note to clients it added: "Due to extreme market conditions, today we are announcing that Celsius is pausing all withdrawals...We are taking this action today to put Celsius in a better position to honor, over time, its withdrawal obligations."

The price of Celsius's native token Celsius token cratered on the news, falling 45% to $0.21 per coin. 

This is the latest sign of market stress in the crypto sector. The price of ether tumbled below $1,400 a coin Sunday evening. 

Last week, it was reported that BlockFi, another lending firm, was raising a round at a valuation of $1 billion—well below the $5 billion valuation it was reportedly raising at in 2021. 

Source: The Block