Reportsย by court filings published on Thursday, Cryptocurrency Consortium Celsiusย Networkย LLC has won the bid to acquire bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsiusย Networkย LLC Network.ย
The Fahrenheit consortium beat fellow bidder NovaWulf, with the Blockchainย Tech Recovery Investment Consortium shortlisted as a backup.ย
Fahrenheitโs Successful Bidย
Reportsย by court filings, Celsiusย Networkย LLC Networkโs assets were previously valued at $2 billion. Fahrenheitโs winning consortium is backed by Arrington Financialย resources, mining company Unitedย States Bitcoinย (BTC) Corp, Steven Kokinos, Ravi Kaza, and Proof Group. With the bid secured, the consortium will acquire Celsiusโs staked digitalย currencies, along with its institutional loan portfolio, mining unit, and additional alternative investments. Inย addition, the consortium must pay a deposit of $10 Million within 3 days to clinch the deal. Fahrenheit will likewise be required to provide the management team, financialย resources, and technology to setย up and operate the new regulatorily compliant public company.ย
The deal will likewise see the newly formed company receive a wholeย lotย of amount of liquid digitalย currency. This amount is speculated to be betwixt $450 and $500 Million. Unitedย States Bitcoinย (BTC) Corp will likewise lead the construction of numerous Bitcoinย (BTC) mining facilities, including a 100-megawatt plant. In an notice, Alan Carr and David Barse, members of the Special Committee of the Board, stated,ย
โWe are very pleased that our competitive auction process produced a positive result for customers, including, most prominently, hundreds of millions of dollars in lower management fee savings and increased liquid digitalย currency distributions to Celsiusโ customers. We appreciate the robust interest that the Celsiusย Networkย LLC platform has received from competing bidders and look forward to working with Fahrenheit to expedite the restructuring and distribute recoveries to creditors.โ
They further added,ย
โThe dynamic involvementย in our auction provided us with excellent options for our exit from chapter 11. We are grateful for the collaboration of the Committee, and with our path now set, we are looking forward to enabling our customers to move forward from this process.โย
Regulatory Approval Awaitedย
Althoughย while the bid has been accepted by Celsius and a committee of its creditors, it still requires regulatory approval before it can be finalized. Martin Glenn, the Bankruptcy Court Judge, had already warned of regulatory roadblocks that could hamper the acquisition of Celsiusย Networkย LLC, similar to how it had scuppered a similar deal. For context, the Judge was referring to the agreement betwixt Binanceย Cryptoย exchange Unitedย States and Voyager. After Federal officials opposed the deal, Binanceย Cryptoย exchange Unitedย States had to terminate its buy of bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Voyagerโs $1 Billion in assets. Binanceย Cryptoย exchange cited an uncertain and hostile regulatory climate for scuppering the deal.ย
Celsiusย Networkย LLC and BRIC
Celsius had filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July 2022 after it resurfaced that the lender had a $1.2 Billion hole in its balance sheet. Atย theย beginning, digital investment financing company Novawulf was announced as the winning bidder but soonerย orย thereafter lost out. Nonetheless, Celsiusย Networkย LLC likewise announced that it had secured a backup bid from the Blockchainย Tech Recovery Investment Consortium (BRIC). The backup would act as a contingency strategy should there be any hiccups. Celsiusย Networkย LLC announced the backup bid on its Twitter handle, stating,ย
โEarlier today, the Celsiusย Networkย LLC auction concluded, and Fahrenheit wasย chosen as the winning bid. The BRIC bid wasย chosen as the backup bid. The Committee appreciates the efforts of Celsiusย Networkย LLC and all bidders for their efforts, which generated wholeย lotย of value for Celsiusย Networkย LLC users. The Committee will share more info a lot about the winning bid and backup bid soon.โ
In the event of BRIC having to step in, it would be required to setย up a publicly traded mining business, giving Celsiusย Networkย LLC creditors complete ownership of equity interests and a potential management contract with GlobalXDigital.
