According to a spokesperson for Ripple Labs Inc in San Francisco, a blockchain payments company that is based in the US is interested in purchasing assets from bankrupt crypto lender Celsius Network.
The spokesperson stated that Ripple is interested in learning more about Celsius and its assets and whether they could be relevant for our business. She declined to comment on Ripple’s interest in purchasing Celsius.
Ripple continues to grow despite the turmoil in the crypto market and the spokesperson stated that Ripple is actively seeking M&A opportunities to scale the company.
Celsius, a New Jersey-based company, stopped withdrawals in June due to “extreme” market conditions. It filed for bankruptcy in New York last Month and listed a $1.19 Billion deficit on its balance sheets.
Lawyers for Ripple filed bankruptcy court filings last week seeking representation in the proceedings. The filing was approved by the court earlier in the week. According to Celsius’ bankruptcy filings, Ripple is not one of Celsius’ major creditors. Ripple made the comment in response Reuters’ questions regarding court filings.
Ripple was not represented by a lawyer who was approved. Celsius did not respond immediately to a request for comment.
The year has been difficult for cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency, fell nearly 70% from its November record of $69,000. The May collapse of popular tokens terraUSD (and luna) caused market turmoil and led to large losses for many industry leaders.
According to bankruptcy filings Celsius’ assets include digital assets in custody accounts, loans, a Bitcoin mining business, the company’s own CEL token, bank cash, and any cryptocurrencies Celsius may have on hand.
Ripple, a private company, has never done major deals. The company stated that it was valued at approximately $15 billion after a January private stock buyback. However, industry valuations have declined significantly in the wake of the cryptocurrency price crash that has thrown Celsius and other cryptocurrency companies off their feet.
According to a July report, Ripple’s total sales for its cryptocurrency XRP (net of purchases) were $408.9 millions in the second quarter compared with $273.27million in the first quarter.
In 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission sued Ripple over XRP. Ripple, its former and current chief executives are accused of conducting a $1.3 Billion unregistered securities offer by selling XRP. Ripple was founded in 2012.
Ripple executives and Ripple have denied these allegations. The company has argued that XRP was traded and used as a digital currency.
