In a post on November 28, bankrupt crypto lending firm Celsius announced that it will distribute an additional $127 million to creditors soon.
The post stated that the distribution is being made available from the “Litigation Recovery Account” and will be paid to creditors of classes 2, 5, 7, 8, and 9.
Retail borrower depositors and users of the “Earn” program, as well as creditors with withhold, unsecured loan, or general unsecured claims, are among the classes that the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York will be considering in its November 27 Notice of Commencement.
It does not encompass users lacking illiquid recovery rights or having convenience claims.
The notice indicates that creditors will receive crypto payments via the same method as the initial distribution: PayPal, Venmo, or Coinbase.
They will receive a cash payment if they do not have a verified account with these services. Some corporate creditors will also be eligible to receive the payment; however, creditors with convenience claims will be excluded.
Some crypto users on X expressed dissatisfaction with the payment, stating that it is too little and too late despite the apparent positive news of a second payment. “You individuals have stolen 0.7 BTC and several other tokens from me!” “Return it to me!” exclaimed Bitcoin investor Puffel. “I misplaced my eight bitcoins here…” “Today, I could be a millionaire… thieves…” JCH, a Bitcoin investor, indicated in a subsequent post that he had received “peanuts.”
In March, certain Celsius corporate creditors asserted that their payments were experiencing a 30% reduction due to the debtors’ estate’s exclusive dependence on Coinbase to manage distributions.
In July 2022, Celsius declared bankruptcy. In July 2023, Alex Mashinsky, the company’s former CEO, was apprehended and charged with fraud for allegedly misleading depositors regarding the platform’s risks. January 2025 is the anticipated commencement date of his prosecution.