Two prominent cryptocurrency exchanges, Coinbase and Gemini, are part of two consortiums bidding for bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network’s assets at an auction scheduled for Tuesday, April 25, 2023, according to a report from Fortune and court filings.
The auction will take place at the New York offices of Kirkland and Ellis, the law firm handling Celsius’ bankruptcy from 2 pm EPT.
Coinbase and Gemini Join Bidding for Celsius’ Assets
One of the consortiums is Fahrenheit, backed by blockchain-based venture capital firm Arrington Capital, Michael Arrington, and US Data Mining Group. The group also includes Proof Group Capital Management, former Algorand CEO Steven Kokinos, and investment banker Ravi Kaza. Arrington confirmed Coinbase’s participation in a now-deleted tweet, while the other consortium, Blockchain Recovery Investment Committee, is backed by Gemini Trust, co-owned by the Winklevoss twins, fund manager Van Eck, Bitcoin mining firm Global X Digital, and Plutus Lending.
The two consortiums will bid along with asset manager NovaWulf, the stalking horse bidder, who sets the bar for other bidders ahead of an auction.
New Bidders More Likely to Win Auction
According to sources, one of the two consortiums is expected to win the auction as they are supported by prominent crypto entities that can extract more value by operating rather than liquidating Celsius’ assets, unlike NovaWulf. Celsius’ assets include holdings in various venture capital-backed startups, a loan book, and crypto mining machines that could generate immediate returns for their new owner.
Under NovaWulf’s proposed plan, Celsius general Earn creditors who deposited less than $5,000 on the platform will receive approximately 70% of their funds in liquid crypto assets. Users with Earn claims over $5,000 will receive liquid crypto assets and tokenized equity on the new Celsius platform wholly owned by the creditors.
