U.S. prosecutors and several federal regulators are seeking information from the bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network Ltd.
The inquiries, which were disclosed in court filings this month, provide a glimpse into the legal headaches that Celsius faces as it seeks to restructure. The company froze customer withdrawals in June in a bid to evade a panic run by users, then filed for bankruptcy in July.
Celsius has been one of the more high-profile casualties of a steep selloff in digital assets that was fueled in part by May's collapse of the Terra blockchain. Since declaring insolvency, Celsius has faced criticism from users over its marketing and management and is exploring a sale of some or all of its assets.
The firm, which rocketed in popularity for paying people interest on virtual token deposits, received a federal grand jury subpoena on June 15, according to
The subpoena came from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The company also received inquiries from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, Securities and Exchange Commission and Federal Trade Commission, according to a separate filing from the lawyers.
One CFTC inquiry focused on trading activities related to TerraUSD and its sister token, Luna. Another one, according to
Celsius said in a statement that it's "cooperating with all regulatory inquiries, and regulators are key stakeholders in our reorganization." The company declined to comment on the specifics of any inquiries.
The SEC, CFTC and FTC did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The SDNY declined to comment.
The Financial Times reported on the inquiries earlier on Friday.
— With assistance from Greg Farrell.
