U.S. Prosecutors Subpoenaed Celsius Days After Blocking Withdrawals
U.S. prosecutors have subpoenaed the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network, days after it froze customer withdrawals in June, as part of a series of federal investigations into the company. filed a letter.
Subpoena issued June 15, lender revealed in Manhattan bankruptcy Court submission last week. Celsius stopped withdrawals three days before him, locking in the savings of hundreds of thousands of customers.
The subpoena was issued by a federal grand jury in Manhattan, according to court filings.federal grand jury Department of Justice When the public prosecutor conducts a criminal investigation, you may be prosecuted.
The subpoena is Celsius What was once a major crypto lender is facing a crisis this year as it collapses during a sharp selloff of crypto assets.
Celsius received crypto assets, rented them out, and promised clients spectacular returns generated by deploying the tokens on the digital asset market. At its peak, it held $25 billion in customer crypto assets.business filing for bankruptcy We had $5.5 billion in debt in July, but only $4.3 billion in assets.
Details of what the subpoena requested were not disclosed in the October 5 filing. The subpoena was included in the list of “Regulatory Inquiries or Actions.”[s]’ as a broader disclosure of the company’s financial condition.
Mr Celsius said: You did not comment on the specific details of your inquiry. ”
Attorney for former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky. got off There was no comment because no subpoena was issued to him last month.The United States Attorney’s Office in Manhattan declined to comment.
The bankrupt cryptocurrency lender is working on inquiries from several other federal agencies. Court filings showThey include the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. The three agencies are conducting civil investigations rather than criminal investigations.
The CFTC investigation is described as relating to “fraud and other illegal activities related to digital asset trading” and, separately, “certain trading activity related to TerraUSD (UST)/Luna”.
UST and Luna are a pair of interrelated tokens that collapsed in May, sparking a subsequent wave of bankruptcies across the cryptocurrency industry. Celsius said he avoided significant losses trading UST and Luna by exiting the trade when the token collapsed.
No DoJ, CFTC, or FTC investigations have ever been reported. The Financial Times revealed in July that the SEC had requested records from Celsius regarding certain transactions by top executives, Bloomberg said in January that the company was conducting an extensive investigation into his SEC cryptocurrency lenders. was reported to have been involved in
kadhim@ft.com
https://www.ft.com/content/bbff319f-0ac6-4110-9f2c-ed528d36c680 U.S. Prosecutors Subpoenaed Celsius Days After Blocking Withdrawals