Crypto lender Celsius needs more time to stabilize liquidity after withdrawal freeze

Embattled Celsius Network Ltd. will need more time to stabilize its liquidity and operations, the crypto lending platform said in a blog post after it froze deposits last week.

Celsius, one of the biggest crypto lenders, has been struggling to raise funds in a fragile digital-assets market hit by tightening interest rates, liquidity and the collapse of the Terra blockchain last month.  

“We want our community to know that our objective continues to be stabilizing our liquidity and operations,” Celsius said in its blog on Monday. “This process will take time.”

The firm has also paused Twitter Spaces and Ask Me Anything, also known as AMAs, in crypto jargon “to focus on navigating these unprecedented challenges,” Celsius said in the post.

The rout in crypto markets, which has washed 70% off the largest tokens by market value, Bitcoin and Ether, was accelerated by the crisis at Celsius as investors panicked about liquidations and a cash crunch. 

Crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital suffered large losses while another lender, Babel Finance, also paused withdrawals. On Sunday, token holders of Solend, a lending app on the Solana blockchain, voted to temporarily take over the account of a large user who faced the threat of a large liquidation.

Cryptocurrency lending firm Celsius Network last week paused withdrawals and transfers between accounts due to "extreme market conditions". “We are taking this action today to put Celsius in a better position to honor, over time, its withdrawal obligations," the platform said in a memo on its website, adding that users will continue to accrue rewards during the pause.

Celsius Network, which raised $750 million in funding late last year, is a significant player in crypto lending. It offers interest-bearing products to customers who deposit their cryptocurrencies with the company, and lends out crypto currencies to earn a return.

The sector has come under regulatory scrutiny however, particularly in the crypto markets have been under pressure in recent months, falling alongside other so-called risk assets as interest rates have risen around the world. The record-setting rout in cryptocurrencies has put a slew of decentralized-finance applications and their communities in a race to protect themselves against a cascade of liquidations.