Fahrenheit Wins Bidding War to Acquire Insolvent Crypto Lender Celsius’ Assets 

Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network LLC has chosen Fahrenheit’s proposal as the winning bid to manage a new entity to be owned by its creditors, directing itself out of bankruptcy. The acquisition involves Celsius assets previously valued at approximately $2 billion. 

Fahrenheit, a consortium that includes blockchain-based venture capital firm Arrington Capital and miner US Bitcoin Corp, will provide the capital, management team and technology to establish and operate the new company (NewCo), Celsius said. To seal the deal, the consortium must submit a $10 million deposit within three days. 

The new company will be led by Steven Kokinos, CEO and Joel Block, CFO. 

NewCo’s assets include Celsius’s institutional loan portfolio, staked cryptocurrencies, mining unit, DeFi cryptocurrency assets and $500 million in liquid digital assets. The bankrupt firm’s mining unit will be managed by US Bitcoin, which would further develop and operate a 100-megawatt Bitcoin mining facility. according to a court filing. 

Additionally, the company secured a backup bid with the Blockchain Recovery Investment Consortium, a holding company affiliated with the Winklevoss-owned Gemini Trust. If required, the backup bid would help to create a publicly traded mining business in which Celsius creditors would receive 100% of the equity interests. 

Following a significant decline in crypto prices, Celsius filed for bankruptcy in July 2022 due to a surge in withdrawals resembling a bank run, revealing underlying liquidity problems.