Celsius Hires New Restructuring Lawyers Amid Debt Repayments

Celsius repaid its debt to DAI stablecoin issuer Maker last week and is trying to make good on its debts to others

article-image

Blockworks exclusive art by axel rangel

share

key takeaways

  • Celsius has tapped a new law firm to help steer the firm’s restructuring as it stares down a lawsuit
  • The move comes as the lender is attempting to repay its debt to DeFi protocols Aave and Compound totaling $213 million

Troubled crypto lender Celsius has reportedly tapped a new law firm to advise its restructuring efforts as it continues to resolve its outstanding debts.

According to a report by the Wall Street Journal on Sunday, the ailing company has replaced its former lawyers at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP with new ones from Kirkland & Ellis LLP.

Kirkland & Ellis LLP is the same law firm representing Voyager — another troubled lender — helping it to navigate its Chapter 11 bankruptcy, filed last week.

Celsius, which had managed up to $11.8 billion in assets for around 1.7 million users as of May, halted withdrawals last month, citing “extreme market conditions” as the reason for its move.

A former crypto money manager has also sued Celsius over allegations the firm misappropriated user funds to cover its shortfalls in its lending business. That manager is said to have cost Celsius $61.2 million in liquidations, according to data from Arkham Intelligence.

The lender has since made several attempts to honor its debt obligations to decentralized finance lending and borrowing protocols Aave and Compound in recent days, potentially in a bid to free up $950 million in locked collateral, CoinDesk reported. The move resembles its repayment to DAI stablecoin issuer and DeFi platform Maker last week.

Celsius repaid its final outstanding debt to Maker on Thursday, paying back 41.2 million in DAI that unlocked 21,962 in WBTC (wrapped bitcoin), worth approximately $440 million at the time.

According to a crypto wallet identified as Celsius’ by blockchain intelligence firm Nansen, Celsius has a total of $213 million outstanding debt to both platforms, down from $258 million on Friday. Out of $213 million, Celsius owes 63% to Aave and 35% to Compound, data from DeFi data dashboard Zapper shows.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

recent research

Featured.png

Research

Helium stands at a pivotal moment in its evolution as a decentralized wireless network, balancing rapid growth, economic restructuring, and global expansion. With accelerated growth in domestic DAUs and Hotspots supporting its network, Helium is leveraging strategic partnerships and innovative proposals to scale internationally. The recent implementation of HIP 138, “Return to HNT,” has unified its token economy under HNT, simplifying participation and strengthening liquidity, while HIP 139’s phase-out of CBRS refocuses efforts on scalable Wi-Fi offload. Meanwhile, governance shifts under HIP 141 raise questions about centralization as Nova Labs consolidates control over the roadmap.

article-image

In 2011, WikiLeaks faced a financial blockade imposed by the US government. It was Bitcoin’s first major test.

article-image

Kado’s founder Emery Andrew spoke to Blockworks about the acquisition and what’s next for the team

article-image

LayerZero’s Bryan Pellegrino chatted with Blockworks about the firm’s next steps and its 10-year runway

article-image

Colosseum co-founder Matty Taylor is seeing “high-performance [Solana] founders showing a lot of interest in private trading technology”

article-image

Executives weigh the growth potential they see in the public stock and private credit/equities arenas

article-image

Players can stake ME, trade tokens and link wallets to climb the leaderboard