Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius is still exploring potential deals with alternative buyers besides NovaWulf.
Last month, Celsius agreed to a buyout plan by investment firm NovaWulf Digital Management, which would effectively bring its bankruptcy to a close. Under the terms of the deal, a new company would be created and managed by NovaWulf and liquid crypto assets would be distributed to account holders.
Despite the offer in hand, Celsius is still in the market for something better, according to statements made by the firm’s attorney Chris Koenig in a Wednesday hearing reported by Reuters.
Not only is Celsius open to “better offers,” its creditors committee met with a potential buyer two days ago to review an alternate proposal, said Koenig.
It is hardly surprising that Celsius is keeping its options open, given that its proposed plan includes retail clawbacks – something that NovaWulf is not in favor of.
Thanks for making my first Twitter Spaces a memorable one.
To quickly recap:
– We aren't in favor of retail clawbacks
– NewCo has nothing to do with my last name
– "ShareWulfers" was not intentional https://t.co/dxuZnGHIuV— Jason New (@JasonNewNW) February 28, 2023
So the @CelsiusUcc wants retail clawbacks.
But @NovaWulfDigital doesn't even want clawbacks.
I have a feeling this plan won't go through and it'll be voted down. https://t.co/Jr038MQwAG
— Aaron Bennett (@AaronDBennett) March 1, 2023
If Celsius ends up choosing an alternate bidder, it intends to offer NovaWulf up to $20 million in breakup fees.
“If there is a higher offer, it will be because of the floor set by NovaWulf,” said Koenig.
On Mar. 2, Celsius enabled withdrawals for certain customers with custody accounts for the first time since they were frozen in June 2022. Users with account balances of less than $7,575 reported successfully withdrawing the entirety of their funds.
According to a report from CoinDesk, citing Celsius’ interim CEO Chris Ferraro, $17.7 million had been withdrawn from these custody accounts as of Tuesday.
