Celsius Auction: Fahrenheit Takes the Lead

Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius is nearing the conclusion of an auction to sell off its assets in the upcoming days.

The lead bidder in this auction is currently Fahrenheit Consortium, comprising backers such as Arrington Capital, US Bitcoin Corp and investment firm Proof Group Capital Management, according to a Manhattan bankruptcy court hearing on May 17.

Celsius began the auction process on April 22 with the intention of accepting NovaWulf’s bid. But the emergence of competing offers from Fahrenheit and the Blockchain Recovery Investment Committee (BRIC) prolonged the process.

In the event that Fahrenheit or NovaWulf bids fail to obtain regulatory approvals, BRIC’s bid will act as a contingency plan, focusing solely on preserving the mining business, Reuters reported.

The assets Celsius is auctioning include its mining operations, direct staking, illiquid crypto and alternative holdings and its existing retail and institutional loan portfolio, per a filing.

Newsletter

Subscribe to The Breakdown

Simon Dixon, a Celsius creditor closely following the bankruptcy hearings, said on Twitter that each bidder took the lead at least once during the auction.

He further said that evaluating the bids is challenging because it involves considering the future vision of each bidder, which is harder to measure compared to a simple cash comparison.

Dixon mentioned that the value being discussed is in the range of hundreds of millions of dollars, which is higher than NovaWulf’s initial bid of between $45 million to $55 million.

NovaWulf has submitted a new bid, which is currently under evaluation, according to Dixon. Blockworks has reached out for comment.

Michael Arrington, founder of Arrington Capital, revealed last month that Fahrenheit had successfully qualified as a bidder in the Celsius bankruptcy proceedings. Arrington emphasized that the consortium’s bid was not structured as a simple asset purchase.

“We are proposing that the assets be placed into a new company and run with the sole goal of growing those assets to make stakeholders whole,” he said on Twitter.

Celsius filed for bankruptcy in July last year following the suspension of withdrawals, citing “extreme market conditions.” The company had expressed its intention to devise a strategy to revive its platform.

Previous filings indicate that the company had liabilities of $5.5 billion and assets worth $4.3 billion, resulting in a shortfall of at least $1.2 billion.

Although the exact date of the final auction has not been determined yet, it is expected to conclude soon.

Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters: