Celsius billion-dollar Ethereum shift stirs speculation on creditor payback plans

Bankrupt crypto lending platform Celsius has shifted 459,561 Ethereum (ETH), valued at over $1 billion, to centralized exchanges, alongside with Coinbase, Paxos, and FalconX, within the past 24 hours, per on-chain records.

In part, bigger than 300,000 ETH, equivalent to $673 million, used to be despatched to Coinbase Top. The agency also moved 146,507 ETH, valued at round $323.3 million, to Paxos, and yet every other 7,800 ETH, value $17.2 million, were transferred to FalconX.

This newest switch follows a chain of identical fund actions by Celsius in newest days. On Jan. 24, blockchain investigator Lookonchain reported that the agency deposited 18,000 ETH, value $40 million, to Coinbase.

Meanwhile, the crypto analytical platform Space on Chain provided a extra in-depth diagnosis of the transfers. Constant with the agency, Celsius has deposited 740,321 ETH, value an estimated $1.69 billion, to centralized exchanges, alongside with FalconX, Coinbase, OKX, and Paxos, since November 2023.

On the opposite hand, regardless of those transactions, the agency smooth holds a sizeable amount of ETH. Its address retains 62,468 ETH, roughly $139 million as of press time.

Why is Celsius making these transfers?

Space On Chain’s diagnosis suggests the chance of an over-the-counter (OTC) transaction, as round 97.2% of the total deposited funds to Coinbase were withdrawn to 12 newly created wallets.

“We noticed that 12 unusual wallets hold withdrawn 296,835 $ETH (660M) from Coinbase rapidly after Celsius deposited $ETH to the CEX, accounting for ~97.2% of the total deposited amount. This is per chance an OTC deal,” the agency acknowledged.

Meanwhile, the motive within the encourage of the switch stays undisclosed. But it absolutely coincides with creditors’ anticipation of a doable reimbursement beginning in February.

On Jan. 25, the Celsius Newco Community urged that the agency had an efficient date of Jan. 31, with expectations of distributing liquid crypto to Set Collectors starting mid-February.

A Celsius distribution FAQ hints at Coinbase being the platform of resolution for creditor repayments in specific worldwide locations. Eighty-nine worldwide locations (with the exception of the US) are eligible for the Coinbase distribution.

The Celsius Collectors Community personnel on social media platform X (formerly Twitter) also entails a lot of creditors of the failed agency, who point to that they bought instructions to rearrange for their Celsius distribution via Coinbase.