Celsius Network, which has 1.7 million customers, said “extreme market conditions” have forced it to temporarily suspend all withdrawals, crypto swaps and transfers between accounts.
“We are taking this necessary action for the benefit of our entire community to stabilize liquidity and operations as we take steps to preserve and protect assets,” the company said in a blog post.
The UK-registered company has about $ 3.7 billion in assets, according to its website. He pays interest on cryptocurrency deposits and lends them to repay.
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, halted withdrawals from its bitcoin network for several hours on Monday.
The company said it made the decision because some transactions were “stuck” and lagging behind.
“We are still working on processing the upcoming bitcoin (BTC) withdrawals from the network and this is expected to be completed in the next few hours,” the company said in a statement.
The cryptocurrency market has suffered a blow in recent months after its pandemic boom collapsed. As the world’s major central banks raised interest rates to curb spiraling inflation, retailers rushed to abandon riskier investments, including their volatile cryptocurrencies. Bitcoin, the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency, has lost 15 percent in the past 24 hours, pushing it about 66 percent below its highest level last November, when it traded at about $ 69,000, according to Coinbase. Bitcoin fell below $ 24,000 on Monday, sending the cryptocurrency to its lowest level since December 2020.
Ether, the second most valuable digital coin, fell 17% and has now lost about 75% of its value since November.
The so-called “stable coins” – cryptocurrencies that are tied to the value of more traditional assets – have also been hit. Tether, a popular stable coin, broke its attachment to the US dollar in May, breaking the view that it could serve as a hedge against volatility.
TerraUSD, a riskier algorithmic stable coin that uses complex code to peg its value to the US dollar, collapsed the same month, destroying the savings of thousands of investors. The coin was valued at just over $ 18 billion in early May before crashing, according to CoinMarketCap.
Celsius Network did not say when it would allow customers to withdraw their deposits again, but it would “take time”.
Governments, meanwhile, are closely monitoring the effects of the crypto crash and could take steps to protect investors.
“There are many risks associated with cryptocurrencies,” US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the Senate last month. She said her department should publish a report on the issue.
– Julia Horowitz contributed to the report.
Add Comment