Troubled crypto lender Celsius Network has caught a break after the judge overseeing the firm’s bankruptcy case gave it permission to sell newly-mined Bitcoin, per a Law360 report.
Judge Martin Glenn of the Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York made the decision on Tuesday despite initial objections, including those related to the costs of Celsius’ Bitcoin mining operations.
Celsius Mining, a subsidiary of Celsius Network, joined its parent company in filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection proceedings last month. Before that, Celsius sold the Bitcoin it mined to fund the company’s operations, with the court’s approval now effectively greenlighting that to continue.
Celsius mined a total of 432.30 BTC (worth about $10.3 million at current prices) in July, according to a document filed ahead of the hearing. The company’s projected operational and capital costs exceeded that amount.
Although Celsius’ filing shows that its Bitcoin mining operations will initially run at a loss, judge Martin Glenn said he would let Celsius proceed with selling mined Bitcoin as he was inclined to believe the company’s business judgment that the move will ultimately provide value to its customers.
“It may turn out to be very wrong, but we’ll see,” he said.
Bitcoin mining as Celsius’ ‘core asset’
Celsius counsel Ross Kwasteniet, however, explained that the initial losses are due to the fact that the firm only began mining last year and is still in the…
