Celsius Lost Potential $6B Bailout After Refusing To Show Financials, Investor Says
The company has kept its balance sheet private while paying down DeFi debts
Source: Shutterstock
key takeaways
- BnkToTheFuture CEO Simon Dixon advised Celsius to follow in Voyager’s footsteps by declaring bankruptcy and making its finances public
- Celsius has paid a large portion of its debts to DeFi protocols Maker, Aave and Compound
Simon Dixon, CEO of prominent Celsius investor BnkToTheFuture, said this morning that he secured up to $6 billion in investor liquidity to solve Celsius’ liquidity woes — only to watch the deal fall apart after Celsius refused to show its financial records to potential investors.
Dixon’s comments came in a YouTube interview where the early-bitcoin-adopter-turned-crypto-investor described his proposed recovery plans for Celsius, which the company declined to follow.
Dixon advised Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky to be transparent about the company’s financial situation and publicly outline a recovery plan. Mashinsky declined to make Celsius’ financial situation public.
“The only reason you wouldn’t pursue [a lucrative round of investment] is there’s something else going on,” Dixon opined.
Cash-strapped crypto lender Celsius has slowly worked to restore liquidity after pausing customer withdrawals in June. The firm has issued two statements in the past month, but neither of them indicated when withdrawals are expected to resume or how the company plans to further restore liquidity.
Dixon, whose company has tens of millions of dollars deposited in Celsius, said a potential multibillion-dollar bailout that he had proposed fell apart after Celsius refused to share its balance sheet with investors.
Critics have accused Dixon of plotting a hostile takeover of Celsius. Dixon denies the allegations, saying a takeover would ruin the trust his company has built in its various other crypto firm partnerships.
Celsius has been reclaiming collateral by paying down its debts to the Aave and Compound decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols in recent days. The company freed up $410 million in staked ether from Aave this morning after unlocking $172 million from the protocols on Monday.
In a phone call, a Celsius representative declined Blockworks’ request for comment and said all company statements can be found on Celsius’ blog.
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