Celsius Network, a now-defunct digital asset lender, has disclosed that it is requesting a grace period of one further month to allow its clients to make claims for debt due. Initially, Celsius had decided that January 3 was the cutoff date.
The lender warned in its application, granted last month by the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, that creditors who refused to submit their claims risked losing out on the distribution of the funds it was holding. But it just announced on social media that it wants a one-month extension.
Celsius is preparing to file a motion later this week requesting an extension of the bar date, which is the deadline to file a claim, from January 3, 2023, until early February.
— Celsius (@CelsiusNetwork) December 29, 2022
The New York Bankruptcy Court will consider the request for an extension on January 10, 2023, one week beyond the original deadline. However, until the motion is heard, the deadline is prolonged.
Celsius is among the most visible sufferers of this year’s digital asset market epidemic. Authorities had already scrutinized the bank’s interest-bearing accounts. When Terra’s LUNA and UST digital assets, which it had wagered heavily, crashed, it was struck a fatal blow. In July, it sought and was granted bankruptcy protection.
Since then, consumers have filed lawsuits to get their money back. The business has been emphatic that it has full legal title to all Earn digital assets and has only offered to return the $44 million now held in its custodial accounts.
According to a December 20 filing, over 30 parties have shown interest in purchasing Celsius’s assets since they went up for auction. Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Digital, a financial services business focusing on digital assets, acquired the GK8 self-custody technology and is one amongst them. Sources indicate Galaxy paid far less than Celsius did for the platform, which Celsius had bought in November 2021 for $115 million.
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