Crypto lending company Celsius pauses withdrawals and transfers, citing market conditions

Crypto lender Celsius said Sunday that it will pause withdrawals on its platform, citing market conditions as the price of Ether and other cryptocurrencies plummeted.

The company, which told sources The Block earlier in the week that it had only a few more weeks of financial resources to support customer withdrawals, took to Twitter to announce the suspension of withdrawals, transfers and exchanges, noting:

“Tweet embed It pauses all withdrawals, swaps and transfers between accounts. Working for the benefit of our community is our top priority. Our operations continue and we will continue to share information with the community.”

Led by Alex Mashinsky, the company reportedly had about $12 billion in customer assets as of May across 1.7 million users, such as mentioned by Financial Times.

In a note to customers, Celsius added:

“Due to severe market conditions, we are announcing today that Celsius is temporarily halting all withdrawals… We are taking this action today to put Celsius in a better position to meet its withdrawal commitments over time.”

The price of the original Celsius token fell sharply in the news, dropping by 45% to $0.21 per coin.

The development is the latest sign of market pressure in the crypto sector. The price of Ether dropped below $1,400 a coin on Sunday evening.

Last week, The Block reported that BlockFi, another lender, was raising a $1 billion round — well below the $5 billion valuation it was raising in 2021.