Cryptocurrency company Celsius Network says it will take time to normalize operations after stopping withdrawals and transfers from customers a week ago. DADO RUVIC / Reuters
Regulators in several U.S. jurisdictions are investigating Celsius Network Ltd., which last week halted all transactions and withdrawals for its nearly two million customers, sending cryptocurrencies into global circulation.
In a blog post Monday, Celsius said it would “take time” to normalize operations as it works with officials to come up with a solution to its self-described pause in lending and cryptocurrency services. This means that customers around the world are still unable to withdraw their money from the New Jersey-based platform, while the wider industry is sending digital assets and tokens such as bitcoin, falling to low levels unseen since 2020.
Securities regulators in Kentucky, New Jersey, Texas, Alabama and Washington have confirmed to The Globe and Mail that they are now investigating. Officials said the investigation is at an early stage, but could not provide further details as it is active.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission declined to comment.
Celsius has long been touted as “the world’s leading platform for earning and lending” and has assets of more than $ 11 billion last month, before abruptly shutting down services on June 13, citing “extreme market conditions.” Among the world’s major investors is the Canadian pension fund Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, which invested $ 400 million in Celsius as part of a round of financing at the end of last year.
Celsius did not respond to The Globe’s requests for comment.
On Friday, Celsius CEO Alex Maszynski canceled his appearance at Collision, the global technology conference that kicks off in Toronto this week. Also that day, Mr. Machinski canceled the Ask Me Anything (AMA) YouTube session just minutes before it was set to air.
“We are pausing our Twitter spaces and the AMA to focus on navigating these unprecedented challenges and striving to fulfill our responsibilities to our community,” Celsius wrote in a blog post Monday. He warned people to be vigilant about social media accounts that are allegedly linked to the company.
“We want our community to know that our goal continues to be to stabilize our liquidity and operations. This process will take time. “
Bitcoin fell 37% this month and more than 57% this year. It recently fell well below the psychologically important $ 20,000 level, hovering around $ 18,000 on weekends before rebounding to just under $ 20,000 on Monday. This price level is symbolic, as it was approximately the peak of the 2017 cycle before the bottom fell.
Meanwhile, the ether, which is the second most popular cryptocurrency, fell below its symbolically significant level of $ 1,000 this weekend. On Monday, the ether rose to about $ 1,100.
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