On Sunday night, with crypto markets already in freefall, controversial crypto lender Celsius announced it was suddenly pausing all customer withdrawals, swaps, and transfers.
“We are taking this action today to put Celsius in a better position to honor, over time, its withdrawal obligations,” the company wrote in a blog post on Medium. “We are taking this necessary action for the benefit of our entire community in order to stabilize liquidity and operations while we take steps to preserve and protect assets. Furthermore, customers will continue to accrue rewards during the pause in line with our commitment to our customers.”
The company’s CEL token quickly reacted, dropping 70% in one hour from a prior high of $0.49 earlier on Sunday down to $0.15, according to CoinMarketCap.
Celsius (CEL) price action on Sunday (CoinMarketCap)
The rest of the crypto market was not having a good day either on Sunday when Celsius shared its news, though nothing compared to CEL’s dramatic drop. Bitcoin was down 9% on Sunday at the time of writing, Ethereum down 9%, BNB down 9%, Cardano down 11%, Solana down 12%, and Dogecoin down 9%.
Crypto lenders, exchanges, and custodians should have proof of reserves and public disclosures requirements on their lending books.
