Blockchain payments company Ripple Labs (XRP) is considering buying assets from bankrupt crypto lending platform Celsius Network, according to a Reuters report, citing a company representative.
“We are interested in learning about Celsius and its assets, and whether any could be relevant to our business,” the spokesperson told the publication, while declining to comment on whether or not Ripple was interested in an outright Celsius acquisition.
The spokesperson however, noted that despite the crypto winter, Ripple has continued to grow at an increased pace and that the firm “is actively looking for M&A opportunities to strategically scale the company.”
New Jersey-based Celsius filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 13, 2022, a month after shutting off all withdrawals, Swap, and transfers between accounts. According to a court filing in the US Bankruptcy Court for Southern District of New York, Celsius listed estimated assets and liabilities on a consolidated basis ranging from $1 billion to $10 billion.
Among the assets are digital assets held in custody accounts, loans, the firm’s native token, CEL, as well as bank cash and cryptocurrencies. The filing comes a month after the firm ceased all withdrawals, citing “extreme” market conditions.
Users of Celsius, a company valued at more than $3 billion in November of last year, could deposit their Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), and Tether (USDT) and earn weekly interest payments. In fact, during the COVID-19 pandemic, crypto lenders were booming, drawing depositors with high interest rates and easy access to loans that were previously inaccessible to conventional banks. However, in recent months, they have tumbled owing to a plunge in cryptocurrency values and the failure of major token TerraUSD in May.
As per Reuters report, Ripple had already filed for representation in the proceedings of Celsius earlier this week. However, the blockchain-based company is not on the $1.19 billion creditors list of the cryptocurrency lending firm.
Ripple is of course the $19 billion market cap company that’s involved in litigation with the SEC regarding the sale of XRP securities.
The SEC alleges that Ripple has been selling its native token as an unregistered security, and that this violates US securities laws. Ripple denies these allegations, arguing that XRP is not a security.
It goes without saying that the outcome of this case could have major implications for Ripple, XRP, and the cryptocurrency industry as a whole.
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