Celsius, the renowned crypto lending platform, has reportedly transferred a staggering $59 million worth of altcoins to an exchange. This significant move has sparked widespread speculation and intrigue, with many wondering if this could be a prelude to a massive conversion into Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
Celsius Continues Its Selling Activity
Celsius Network, a bankrupt crypto lending platform, has made a significant move in the crypto market. Early on Monday, the company transferred a total of $59.4 million in various cryptocurrencies to FalconX, a well-known institutional crypto exchange. This action, which was given the green light by a U.S. bankruptcy court late last month, is speculated to be a strategic move to exchange these altcoins for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).
Blockchain analytics company Arkham Intelligence has provided data showing that a wallet controlled by Celsius was responsible for sending $13.6 million in Polygon’s MATIC, $10.7 million in Chainlink’s LINK, and $7.3 million in AAVE to a FalconX deposit address.
According to a report by Kaiko, a leading crypto analytics firm, this large-scale transfer could potentially exert significant selling pressure on the prices of the involved tokens. The reason behind this is a phenomenon known as liquidity deterioration, which occurs when a large volume of a particular asset is sold, reducing its availability and potentially driving down its price due to oversupply in the market.
A Volatility In Altcoin Market Rises
Celsius has received court permission to transform its altcoin assets into the more liquid forms of Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), as part of its recovery strategy. Reports indicate that the company has transferred a portion of its holdings to Wintermute, a market maker, and Paxos, a stablecoin issuer.
Since Celsius filed for bankruptcy approximately a year ago, the majority of its altcoin holdings have been on a steady decline. Despite a surge in Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Litecoin (LTC) in June, triggered by the launch of the institutional exchange EDX, the rest of Celsius’ portfolio has experienced a downturn ranging from 80% to 5% over the past year.
Earlier on Monday, Celsius made another series of transactions, transferring an additional $8.5 million in Chainlink’s LINK, $7.8 million in Synthetix’s SNX, and $3 million in Binance’s BNB token. The company also moved over a million dollars in ZRX, 1INCH, and Tether’s gold-pegged stablecoin, XAUT.Celsius to convert its collection of smaller tokens, valued at approximately $170 million, into Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.
Adding to the company’s challenges, its former CEO, Alex Mashinsky, found himself in legal hot water. On Thursday, he was formally arraigned on fraud charges by the Department of Justice (DOJ).
