Celsius Halts Withdrawals, Swap, and Transfers ‘due to Extreme Market Conditions’
Coinspeaker
Celsius Halts Withdrawals, Swap, and Transfers ‘due to Extreme Market Conditions’
Crypto lending service and staking service Celsius has suspended withdrawals on its platform due to “extreme market conditions.” The crypto lending platform announced the latest development in a memo to the members of the Celsius community on June 13th. In addition to pausing withdrawals, Celsius discontinued Swap and transfers between accounts. According to the blog post, the suspensions aim to help the network meet its withdrawal obligations.
Celsius Pauses Withdrawals
Celsius claims to be working in the interest of its community which is a top priority for the crypto lending service. Additionally, the crypto staking and lending platform have initiated a clause in its Term of Use to support the process. The service provider further explained:
“We are taking this necessary action for the benefit of our entire community in order to stabilize liquidity and operations while we take steps to preserve and protect assets. Furthermore, customers will continue to accrue rewards during the pause in line with our commitment to our customers.”
The network acknowledged that the suspension news is unpleasant to its users. However, Celsius said the withdrawal suspension and others are the “most responsible action” it can take to protect customers. It said its primary focus is protecting and preserving assets in meeting its obligations to consumers. Celsius promises to restore withdrawals and stabilize liquidity as soon as it can. Nevertheless, the network declared that the restoration and stability process may take time.
The Celsius team concluded the withdrawal pausing announcement by adding:
“We thank the incredible Celsius community for your support today. It is our pleasure to serve you. Our operations continue and we will continue to share information with the community as it becomes available.”
Celsius Bans Non-Accredited Investors from Earning Crypto Rewards
Meanwhile, Celsius also banned new transfers by nonaccredited investors from earning crypto rewards. The crypto lender said last month that only “accredited” US investors will have access to adding new assets and earning rewards on its platform. Notably, US accredited and nonaccredited US users will continue to earn rewards if they have had the coins in their Earn account before April 15th. Anyone who wants to transit to an accredited user must have at least $200,000 of minimum income or own net worth of more than $1 million.
Furthermore, Celsius appointed a new Chief Financial officer in April before the latest news on withdrawals. The company had to replace the former CFO, Yaron Shalem, who was arrested by Israeli police. Shalem was arrested in connection with an ongoing investigation into Israeli crypto mogul Moshe Hogeg.
There are also ongoing speculations that Celsius is moving massive amounts of funds. There are rumors that the platform unstaked $247 million worth of Wrapped Bitcoin from Aave and sent it to FTX crypto exchange. Reports revealed that the token movements started around 18:99 ET on June 12th. The transferring started with WBTC, and the platform has retrieved about 9,500 WBTC tokens worth $257 from Aave. Separately, Celsius may have sent 54,749 ETH to FTX.
Celsius Halts Withdrawals, Swap, and Transfers ‘due to Extreme Market Conditions’