Celsius owes EquitiesFirst $439 million, FT reports

The crypto-lending platform Celsius Network owes the private financial firm EquitiesFirst $439 million. The Financial Times reports, citing knowledgeable sources.

Last Thursday, Celsius and some of its subsidiaries filed for bankruptcy in a New York court. According to documents, as of July 13 the platform’s liabilities exceed its balance-sheet assets by nearly $1.2 billion.

The filing also mentions a “private lending platform” that Celsius used to finance its operations from September 2019 to February 2021. The loans were secured by cryptocurrency.

In July 2021, Celsius attempted to repay one of its loans and retrieve the collateral, but “the creditor was unable to return the assets to the company in a timely manner,” according to the documents. As a result, an unsecured debt of $509 million remained outstanding on the platform.

Since September 2021, the platform has gradually reduced its debt. Current payments exceed $5 million per month. At the time of filing, Celsius’s debt stood at $439 million — $361 million in fiat and 3765 BTC.

FT sources said that the “private lending platform” is EquitiesFirst of Indianapolis. Founded in 2002 by Alexander Christie, it specialises in providing loans secured by company shares.

“We are in ongoing negotiations with our client; both sides have agreed to extend our obligations,” said an EquitiesFirst spokesperson to journalists.

In an April interview Hubbis, the managing director of EquitiesFirst in Singapore, Johnny Heng, noted that in 2016 the company also began issuing loans secured by cryptocurrency.

Earlier in July 2022, DeFi contractor Celsius KeyFi Inc. filed a lawsuit against the lending platform, accusing it of failing to fulfil contractual obligations.

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