Celsius Gets Cash Infusion From Prime Trust as Scammers Target Customers

As if a lengthy bankruptcy wasn't enough, court filings suggest that scammers impersonating lawyers involved in Celsius's Chapter 11 proceedings have added a new twist to the story.

The attempted scams are the latest stumbling block for Celsius, which suspended withdrawals and related consumer activity in July due to “extreme market conditions.”

“Our ultimate goal is to stabilize liquidity and restore withdrawals, [swaps], and transfers between accounts as soon as possible,” the business noted at the time in a blog post. “We have a lot of work ahead of us as we weigh numerous choices; this process will take time, and there may be delays.”

Celsius's attorneys said in court filings earlier this week that a number of anonymous would-be malicious actors have been contacting its creditors while posing as Kirkland & Ellis attorneys. The attempts, which were mostly conducted via email, appear to have been made to persuade consumers whose accounts had been suspended for months to pass over personal information in order to get access to their accounts.

The emails contained links to shared spreadsheets in which recipients were instructed to disclose personal information. The attempted schemes were first revealed by the industry website Law360. It's unclear whether any of those efforts were effective, at least in the hackers' view.

Prime Trust settlement moves ahead — with a twist

But it's not all bad news for Celsius. A planned settlement with Prime Trust — the crypto custodian that promised to return $17 million of the bankrupt company's assets — is moving forward.

According to court papers acquired by Blockworks, that was just the beginning. According to an updated settlement plan, Prime Trust additionally owes Celsius 7.4 bitcoins, 1,145.5 CEL tokens, 248.5 ether, and about $364,000 in USDC stablecoin.

The assets that should be inbound if all parties and the bankruptcy court agree to the settlement would not fill the role Celsius is in – hundreds of millions of dollars deep. But every penny counts in recouping monies for customers-turned-creditors, whom Celsius has long stated are its top concern.

Celsius's representative did not respond to a request for comment, while Prime Trust's spokesperson declined to comment, citing the ongoing dispute.

In the interim, visitors to Celsius' website are greeted with a pop-up warning them of the impending bankruptcy — and emphasizing the obvious: It's no longer business as usual — as well as a link to another site created particularly to spread information on the proceedings.

Celsius still has “available opportunities in every area” and is “expanding rapidly,” according to the bankrupt digital asset lenders' careers page.

As a reminder, WikiBit is ready to help you search the qualifications and reputation of projects in a bid to protect you from hidden dangers in this risky industry!