Crypto lending platform Celsius laid off some 150 employees as it battles a financial crisis that saw the platform halt customer withdrawals last month, Calcalist reported over the weekend.
Recall that Nairametrics reported that the Celsius platform announced last month that it was pausing withdrawals, citing “extreme market conditions.” The company also announced it would pause its swap and transfer products, according to a blog post. There is still no clear timeline for resuming withdrawals.
According to data from LinkedIn, the firm has about 650 staff members listed, including executives, meaning 23% of the company was affected.
What you should know
- The layoffs come amid uncertainty for the company as it faces possible insolvency. In June it paused withdrawals and has since hired restructuring specialists. The company said it is exploring options to “preserve and protect assets” following its mid-June turmoil.
- We also got word that Goldman Sachs is leading a $2 billion raise from investors to purchase Celsius’ distressed assets. Crypto exchange FTX, however, is said to have passed on a deal to purchase the lender after examining its finances.
- Celsius joins a growing of crypto firms letting go of staff amid bearish market conditions. Coinbase laid off over 1,100 employees in June, with exchanges ByBit, Huobi, Banxa, and several others letting go of staff in the past month.
Prices of Celsius’ CEL token, its native token, is up over 18% for the day as news broke on this development. The token has a market capitalization of $214 million and has seen a spike of 32% in its volume of transactions as it currently stands at $26.6 million according to data from CoinMarketCap.