Embattled crypto lender Celsius Network is on track to run out of money by October, according to the firm’s latest Chapter 11 documents.
Filed on Aug. 14 to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court of the Southern District of New York, Celsius highlighted that it is expected to reach negative liquidity by October 2022 to approximately $34 million.
The lending platform, which held the trust of many across the world with life savings and retirement funds, was revealed to be in a much worse financial position than originally suggested in July.
Court documents revealed this week that Celsius’ three-month cash flow forecast, which shows steep declining liquidity, indicates the company will experience an approximate 80% drop in liquidity funds from August to September.
The forecast predicts Celsius will continue to report a negative cash flow and, by October, completely run out of money. Over the next three months, the company is expected to accumulate a negative net cash flow of $137.2 million.
Previous court documents revealed that Celsius “operates one of the largest mining enterprises in the United States” and prior to filing for bankruptcy, had expansion plans to “mine Bitcoin by acquiring and making operational additional mining rigs.”
Last week many got very upset with me as I said @CelsiusNetwork would run out of money & solutions needed to be acted upon faster. I was told I don’t understand Chapter 11. They have now confirmed they run out of money by October. https://t.co/CyzjgKpId7 pic.twitter.com/vBIRIGEmG2
— Simon Dixon (Beware Impersonators) (@SimonDixonTwitt) August 15, 2022
These findings come after Reuters reported last month that the struggling crypto lending platform was approved by U.S. Bankruptcy judge Martin Glenn to build a new Bitcoin mining facility using existing funds up to the amount of $3.7 million, with an additional amount of $1.5 million approved to be spent on “customs and duties on imported Bitcoin mining rigs.”
The document stated that Celsius is mining approximately 14.2 BTC per day, owning 80,850 mining rigs, in which 43,632 were operational. Despite the alarming numbers that their cash flow forecast suggests, the amount of Bitcoin the company predicts it will mine each year is more promising. Having mined a total of 3,114 BTC in 2021, Celsius projected mining more than 10,100 BTC in 2022, with a steady rise to 15,000 BTC in 2023.
Despite Celsius continuing their mining activities, it has ceased monetizing the Bitcoin generated upon filing Chapter 11 petitions, with the company now being “financially constrained.”
Celsius is yet to release a monthly statement on its website. The most recent statement the company released on July 13 was a disclosure that their “strong and experienced team” had voluntarily filed for a Chapter 11. The company kept the dire news positive, reasoning that it is “to provide the company with the opportunity to stabilize its business” to “maximize value for all stakeholders.”
The reaction on social media has been mixed, with some people on Twitter staying hopeful that the Celsius recovery plan “will be very attractive” to users and others suggesting that the price of CEL could hit $100. Some firmly believe that Celsius can recover, despite what the cash flow suggests, with one user stating that Celsius is earning $8.5 million monthly from Bitcoin, adding that Celsius will “return stronger.”
With many speculating on the future of Celsius and potential buyers, Reuters reported last week that Ripple Labs is “interested in potentially purchasing assets of bankrupt crypto lender Celsius network.”
Cointelegraph reached out to Ripple Labs to gain evidence on the claims. However, Ripple Labs only confirmed previous reports, noting that the company is “interested in learning about Celsius and its assets and whether any could be relevant to our business.”
While Ripple Labs didn’t disclose if it was going to be purchasing Celsius, the company highlighted the fact that it “has continued to grow exponentially through a market reset and is actively looking for M&A opportunities to scale the company strategically.”
Goldman Sachs is allegedly “considering” assisting an investor in raising the required capital to purchase the digital assets tied up with the struggling lender, according to a June 24 article.
However, a source stressed that Goldman has no intention of owning the digital assets but more so to act on behalf of the investor as the broker.
Source: Cointelegraph
