Bankrupt Celsius Network’s assets of interest to Ripple Labs
A Ripple spokesperson said it is interested in ‘learning about Celsius and its assets’
San Francisco-based currency exchange and remittance network Ripple was reportedly interested in buying out Celsius Network’s assets as the firm undergoes bankruptcy, according to Reuters.
A company spokesperson said that Ripple was interested in “learning about Celsius and its assets”, to determine whether it could be relevant to Ripple’s business model.
According to Reuters, the spokesperson declined to say if Ripple was interested in acquiring Celsius outright, but that the firm was “actively looking for M&A opportunities to strategically scale the company” as it continued to grow despite the recent market downturn.
Market volatility
Ripple Labs, which owns the Ripple payments network, has been on the receiving end of the market downturn and volatility in prices that left several crypto firms having to reassess their positions as well as their staff. The market lost a significant chunk of its value – with cryptocurrencies, such as Bitcoin, dropping by more than 60%, pushing firms to prepare for a crypto winter.
In June, Celsius announced it would freeze its assets as well as pause any customer withdrawals as a result of extreme market conditions. It filed for bankruptcy a month later, stating that the total value of its assets had fallen significantly from $22.1bn to $4.3bn, as it held $167m in cash while owing around $4.7bn to users.
Following the news of the potential acquisition, Celsius’ native utility token CEL rose by more than 20% on Wednesday, according to data from CoinMarketCap. Whether Ripple Labs will proceed with its interest in Celsius remains to be seen.
