Canadian Watchdog Eyes Celsius, Spurred by Pension Fund Deal: Report

Quebec’s largest pension fund plowed $150 million into a Celsius equity deal last October, but the crypto lender went bankrupt nine months later

article-image

Source: Shutterstock

share

key takeaways

  • Quebec’s largest pension fund manager invested $150 million in a Celsius equity deal last year
  • Celsius was not registered with securities regulators in Canadian provinces

Canadian regulators have been reportedly spurred to investigate bankrupt crypto lender Celsius due to last year’s equity deal with Quebec’s largest pension fund manager.

Quebec’s Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) is one local agency officially looking into the lender since mid-June, the Financial Post reported on Tuesday, citing sources with knowledge of the probe.

Celsius suspended withdrawals on its platform on June 12, citing liquidity issues arising from the crypto market downturn. The firm filed for bankruptcy in New York one month later. A court document showed the firm has $5.5 billion in liabilities and a $170 million cash balance.

Most relevant to Quebec was that local pension fund manager Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) had plowed $150 million into Celsius last October, part of a $400 million fundraising round for the lender. The firm is Canada’s second-largest pension fund, having boasted more than $325 billion in assets under management at the end of 2021.

CDPQ’s willingness to join Celsius’ equity raise showed appetite to swallow any regulatory hiccups that might arise for the crypto startup. Celsius was not registered with securities regulators in Canadian provinces, according to the Financial Post.

CDPQ’s chief technology officer Alexandre Synnett at the time told the Financial Times that the pension fund’s Celsius stake didn’t mean a direct allocation to cryptoassets. CDPQ had bought Celsius equity with no apparent direct exposure to digital assets. The firm last month acknowledged that its Celsius investment hadn’t paid off.

In any case, Quebec’s finance watchdog is now coordinating with the US Securities Exchange Commission, which is also working with state investigations, reported Financial Post. Texas, Alabama, Kentucky, Washington and New Jersey are already looking into Celsius’ dealings on priority.

CDPQ has previously acknowledged Celsius’ difficulties, noting the strong volume of withdrawals by customers. “Celsius is taking proactive action to uphold its obligations to its customers and has honoured its obligation to its customers to date,” the pension manager told Blockworks in a June 14 email. “Our team is closely monitoring the situation.”

The AMF is reportedly focused on probing whether anyone in Quebec has been affected by Celsius’ insolvency and if they have assets tied up in the network.

The securities regulator of Ontario — where it’s known that users have been impacted — is also looking into the matter, Financial Post said, citing sources.

The Ontario Securities Commission declined to comment on the matter. “As a matter of general policy, the OSC is unable to confirm or comment on the existence, status or nature of any complaint, review or investigation,” a spokesperson said in an email to Blockworks. The AMF also declined to comment.

This story was updated on August 10 at 11:15 am ET.


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

Research Report Templates.png

Research

The convergence of DePIN and energy generation aims to address modern grid challenges by incentivizing distributed generation.

article-image

Togo activist Farida Nabourema is fighting back with Bitcoin

article-image

Roshan Robert told Blockworks that OKX brought him on back in September to plan out its US expansion

article-image

Could we stop using BTC to amplify our short-term risks — and start using it to hedge our long-term ones?

article-image

Sol Strategies will be the tokenized stock platform’s first listing

article-image

Craig Fuller, CEO and founder of FreightWaves, breaks down how tariffs are and will impact shipping and inventories

article-image

This limited-edition run of sparkling water is more for existing traders than crypto newcomers, but mainstream distribution is part of the plan.