Celsius Alleges Prime Trust Owes $17M In New Lawsuit 

As it continues to work through its bankruptcy proceedings, Celsius is attempting to regain $17 million in assets it claims it is owed

article-image

Source: Shutterstock

share
  • Bankrupt crypto lender Celsius says Prime Trust returned some, but not all of its assets
  • Prime Trust ended its professional relationship with Celsius in June 2021

As Celsius’ bankruptcy proceedings inch forward, the crypto lender has filed a new lawsuit that aims to regain possession of $17 million of cryptoassets the beleaguered company claims it owns. 

In the complaint, filed in a bankruptcy court for the Southern District of New York Tuesday, Celsius alleged crypto service provider Prime Trust failed to transfer crypto assets now worth $17 million. Prime Trust, among other services, provides digital asset custodial solutions to institutions. 

After working together for one year, Prime Trust ended its relationship with Celsius in June 2021, the complaint says. Prime Trust allegedly transferred around $119 million in cryptocurrency to Celsius, but has “failed and refused to transfer” the remaining funds, according to the complaint. 

Prime Trust opted to remove Celsius from its platform “for a variety of business factors,” the enterprise provider said in a statement in June 2021. 

“We won’t comment beyond that other than to wish Celsius well in its endeavors,” the company added. 

Representatives from Prime Trust and Celsius did not immediately respond to requests for comment. 

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

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.

recent research

Flashnote Template (41).png

Research

We believe that few tokens at the application layer are diverging more from fundamentals than ZORA. Its fully-diluted P/S sits at 90x, pricing significant growth despite a consistent decline in weekly revenues since late July. We foresee an 80% decrease in protocol net margins due to a recent update to the fee structure that reduces trading fees from 3% to 1%, while boosting creators’ portion of the fee split. ZORA’s supply overhang also represents a near-term headwind, with 45% of ZORA’s supply (4.5B tokens or $350M at current prices) earmarked for the team & investors beginning to unlock on October 23, 2025 (36-month linear vesting schedule).

article-image

Insiders have the best information — markets should be willing to pay for it

article-image

The CFTC-regulated exchange is opening doors to crypto builders and traders through grants, partnerships, and new deposit options

by Blockworks /
article-image

DFS tells banking organizations to integrate blockchain monitoring tools to curb money laundering and sanctions risks

by Blockworks /
article-image

New short and long-term priorities include L1 gas boosts, ZK-EVMs, privacy reads, and a lean, quantum-resistant Ethereum

by Blockworks /
article-image

The new stBTC token redistributes Bitcoin gas fees to users, creating liquid yield without inflation or lockups

by Blockworks /
article-image

The reserve will collect protocol revenues to back W token, alongside new yield and unlock schedule

by Blockworks /