Binance and Galaxy Digital are among the secret bidders for Celsius’s assets.
Secret bids fuel speculation of acquisition or merger for the crypto lending platform.
Binance, Bank to the Future, NovaWulf, Cumberland/DRW, and Galaxy Digital have reportedly submitted bids to purchase the assets of Celsius, a leading crypto lending platform. According to crypto blogger Tiffany Fong, the bids were submitted in secret in November 2022.
Binance offered $15 million, with $12 million going to the company and $3 million to be distributed to ‘migrated users on a pro-rata basis’. However, these bids are now mostly abandoned and the Celsius’s lawyer recently stated that the bids are not compelling enough, hence Fong revealed this information in her blog.
Fong stated that she is aware of five bids on Celsius Network’s crypto assets and that Binance is the biggest name among them. Furthermore, she highlighted that Novawulf’s bid is particularly noteworthy as it appears to resemble Celsius Network’s recently proposed restructuring plans.
Celsius filed for Bankruptcy in November 2022 due to a liquidity crunch after FTX fell. They were left to sell off some of their assets to pay back their creditors. The news of secret bids has fueled speculation for a potential acquisition or merger.
The 5 companies interested in acquiring Celsius’ assets have been expanding their presence in the crypto lending space. Binance, in particular, has been actively building out its lending and borrowing platform, Binance Lending, and the acquisition of Celsius would give the company a significant boost in this area.
Galaxy Digital, on the other hand, has been focusing on building out its institutional lending business. Celsius’s acquisition would give the company a significant foothold in the retail lending market.
Fong said that she was surprised to learn that most employees of the company, including upper-level management, were not aware of these secret bids. Fong believes that creditors and employees have the right to know more about the bids on assets they deposited on the platform and that they deserve more transparency.
The news has undoubtedly caught the attention of the crypto community and many are eagerly waiting to see how the situation unfolds for Celsius.