Celsius Moves Impressive Amount of ETH to Centralized Exchanges in Preparation for Repayment
The Celsius platform, a crypto lending platform, transferred a total of 459,561 ETH to wallets on Coinbase Prime, Paxos, and FalconX in 13 transactions on January 25.
These massive movements of Ether to centralized exchanges come as creditors expect Celsius to begin repaying in crypto starting in mid-February.
According to an updated FAQ on Celsius’ asset distribution, some corporate accounts will receive cryptocurrencies via Coinbase, while distributions to non-corporate creditors will be made through PayPal or Coinbase.
Context and Implications of Celsius’ Recent Transactions
Celsius has been seen moving large amounts of Ether to centralized exchanges, indicating preparations for potential repayments to creditors. On January 26, significant Ethereum transactions were recorded from Celsius’ network wallet to deposit wallets for Paxos and Coinbase Prime. The largest transaction involved a transfer of 443,961 ETH, worth $984 million, to another wallet in preparation for the movements, made without even a prior test transaction.
According to Spotonchain, the majority of the 297,454 ETH sent to Coinbase has been distributed to 12 new wallets, likely as part of an over-the-counter agreement.
Analysis of Asset Movements and Implications
In total, Celsius has moved 757,626 ETH to FalconX, Coinbase, OKX, and Paxos since November 13, 2023, while still holding 62,469 ETH valued at $138.8 million at current prices. These transactions could indicate Celsius’ strategy to ensure sufficient liquidity for asset distributions to creditors.
Meanwhile, Celsius has announced its intention to unstake its existing ETH holdings to “offset certain costs incurred throughout the restructuring process” and “free up ETH to ensure timely distributions to creditors.” According to Nansen, Celsius no longer has any ETH pending withdrawal from staking.
A Celsius user named “TheHawk” reported successfully withdrawing all their ETH from Celsius, stating that the funds were in a custody account rather than an Earn account.
Despite these significant developments, the price of ETH remained stable at $2,200 after the announcement of these transactions.
