Goldman Sachs Likely to Raise $2 Billion To Acquire Celsius Assets, But Here’s the Catch

Crypto lender Celsius Networks has been in a very bad phase currently with major liquidations taking place on the platform. As per sources, Goldman Sachs is planning to raise $2 billion from investors to buy the troubled assets of Celsius Networks.

The sources said that the banking giant is likely to capitalize on buying Celsius’ assets at heavy discounts. Citing “extreme market conditions” Celsius Networks announced that it would stop withdrawals on its platforms. As per the May report, the crypto lender had more than $8 billion lent out to clients and $12 billion in assets under management.

However, with markets collapsing, the crypto lender has been facing major liquidity issues at its end. As per reports, Goldman Sachs is currently weighing interest from Web 3 crypto funds, reported CoinDesk. It is also talking with funds specializing in dealing with distressed assets. The troubled assets of Celsius Networks would mostly be cryptocurrencies sold on the cheap.

Arthur Hayes Explains the Catch Here

Arthur Hayes, co-founder of derivatives trading platform 100x, believes that it would be too early to believe Goldman is putting their funds into this matter. He added:

Please don’t believe @GoldmanSachs is putting their own money at risk unless they explicitly say so. GS is doing what advisory banks do, assemble a bunch of investors, and help them structure the purchase of distressed assets for a phat fee.

He added that the community should only rejoice once the vehicle purchases the assets and resumes withdrawals. Such a measure would actually restore confidence for a crypto bull run. He further added: “Any and all “bailouts” should be viewed PR stunts, until actual money is deployed, and actual depositors can withdraw some or all of their funds from insolvent CENTRALISED crypto lenders”.

Amid the ongoing crisis, Celsius Networks has hired restructuring attorneys from the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. Investment banking giant Citigroup is also reportedly advising on this matter. As per sources, both Citigroup (C) and Akin Gump have advised Celsius to file for bankruptcy.