Fintech files: Will Celsius customers hit HODL?
Customers of the beleagured crypto-lender Celsius have had withdrawals frozen for more than two weeks – now some involved in rescue talks want users to keep the faith.
Two sources revealed to Financial News on June 27 that a new plan – which involves using the Celsius app’s “HODL” function to vote customers on whether they still believe in the company – was on the table at the last minute of the roll of the dice. prevent bankruptcy.
The end goal? Open withdrawals again, but with a monthly limit on how much customers can withdraw, in an attempt to protect against a race on Celsius’ assets. Customers will be asked to turn HODL mode on or off to signal approval or rejection for a potential rescue plan, they said.
The sources added that lawyers and restructuring advisers pressured bosses, including CEO Alex Mashinsky, to choose a standard bankruptcy notice.
A leap too far?
It is not yet clear whether customers will follow the HODL plan. Early indications from Celsius’ discussion of Reddit indicate a mixture of hope and frustration.
One user, golden_bear_2016, wrote: “Seriously, if they ask us to jump off a bridge, should we all do it? They owe money, now they have to pay back. End the story, do not ask us to press this button or that button. “
Meanwhile, a poll of nearly 1,000 users shouted, “Do you want to turn on HODL mode?” 158 people voted “yes”, and 304 people voted “waiting for an official announcement, so yes”.
At the time of writing, another 357 people said no, and 166 said they were unsure. The poll was open to all Reddit users, not just Celsius customers.
Comments on UNtheir own coverage was similarly cautious. However, a user named DF signaled support: “I prefer to get my money back over time rather than not at all – count me in!”
Mashinsky: “I’m at home in New York”
Separately, Mashinsky contacted employees directly about a claim circulating on social media that he had recently tried to flee the country.
The claim comes from Mike Alfred, co-founder of the cryptanalysis firm Digital Assets Data, who twitret about it on Sunday. Celsius rejected the claim in a statement to news channels shortly after.
Mashinsky did not explicitly deny Celsius’ employees, but wrote in a note that was shared with Financial news: «There have been rumors on social media and speculative stories in the news, but as always we will share factual news and updates with you directly when appropriate.
“Our management team continues to work around the clock, and I am personally at home in New York and working as hard as ever for our community.”
Bankman-Peace rescue operations and Robinhood noise
Cryptomillionaire Sam Bankman-Fried is about to become something of a lender of last resort to the besieged industry – and he may end up owning large parts of it.
Last week, Bankman-Peace’s crypto exchange, FTX, was reportedly in talks to buy a stake in cryptocurrency lender BlockFi, after giving it a $ 250 million loan.
Reports that he is also in the market to buy the digital trading platform Robinhood have been stopped – for the time being.
Bankman-Fried sent an e-mail to fellow Dow Jones Group title MarketWatch on June 27, saying there were no “active M&A discussions” with the firm. However, he said he was “excited about Robinhood’s business prospects and possible ways we can work with them”.
Cristiano, the crypto king?
Cryptocompanies love the exposure that sports sponsorship deals can provide. But few athletes have the same global reach as Cristiano Ronaldo, who has 459 million followers on Instagram.
Now, in the hot new collaboration of many people’s dreams (and many others’ nightmares), the Portuguese football star has teamed up with Binance and its celebrity boss Changpeng “CZ” Zhao to launch a collection of non-fungible tokens.
Binance said they want to introduce Ronaldo’s fans to the crypto world. The NFTs will contain designs made in collaboration with the football player.
Reminder: as late as July 15 CZ boasted that it “was not easy to say no to Super Bowl ads, stadium naming rights, big sponsorship deals a few months ago”.
And for Ronaldo’s part, Fintech files hope he will draw inspiration from infamous statue by him unveiled at Madeira Airport in 2017.
Crypto winter last
The Austrian crypto-trading platform Bitpanda has become the latest in the industry to remove hundreds of jobs, admitting that it made a “mistake” in hiring too fast. The Fintech unicorn is cutting the number of employees from more than 1,000 to 730 people, according to Altfi.
This is because analysts at Goldman Sachs said that cuts in positions at Coinbase, which recently cut 1,100 roles, may have to go deeper.
In a note, researchers downgraded the shares of the controversial cryptocurrency exchange to a “sell” rating, saying that the exchange “must make significant reductions in the cost base”.
Elsewhere …
Revolut has gone toe-to-toe with Klarna and other lending giants after unveiling its first buy-now-pay-later offer. The Challenger Bank launched its Pay Later product in Ireland on 24 June. A European rollout will follow. In the United Kingdom, the Ministry of Finance has given control over what it sees as priority areas for regulation in the BNPL sector.
Blockchain analytics firm Kaiko has raised $ 53 million in its latest Series B fundraising round, Bloomberg reported. In an interview, CEO Ambre Soubiran called the last two months of declining cryptocurrency “a marathon”, amid intense scrutiny from investors.
To contact the author of this story with feedback or news, email Alex Daniel
