Celsius Earn account holders may only receive a tiny portion of their funds back.
A judge in New York found that the company has assets in interest-bearing accounts.
As of July 10, 2022, Celsius had over 600,000 accounts in its Earn program.
The ruling is a setback for Celsius users, who are now at the bottom of the repayment line. This will affect around 600,000 customers with assets worth $4.2 billion. Bankruptcy Judge Martin Glenn used the Celsius terms and conditions to establish that funds in Earn Accounts were Celsius property.
Prior to the bankruptcy filing, Celsius' primary offering was known as the Earn Program. Earned Accounts in the Earn Program gave customers interest and allowed them to make loans, but regulatory investigations revealed that Earned Accounts were unregistered securities offerings.
As a result of the investigation, Celsius's Earn Program was replaced by the Custody Account Program and the Withholding Account Program. This move became troublesome for both Celsius and its users, as the ownership of Earn accounts raised concerns in the bankruptcy filing.
Meanwhile, in December 2022, a federal judge ordered crypto lender Celsius to refund its customers $44 million in cryptocurrency. The ruling only refers to cryptocurrency deposited in custodial accounts. But the main issue of contention was the funds deposited in the Celsius Earn program, which remained untouched.
As per the lawsuit, Celsius has over 600,000 accounts in its Earn program as of July 10, 2022, with a combined value of around $4.2 billion. The stablecoin portion of that worth was approximately $23 million. Nonetheless, the judge ruled that all of that is now Celsius's property.
The ruling noted that any cryptocurrency property, including stablecoins, deposited into Earn Accounts becomes Celsius' property due to the clear terms and conditions of Celsius.
The ruling stands in direct contrast to many Celsius customers' claim that the money withdrawn from their accounts belonged to them. Because it attempted to sell approximately $18 million in stablecoins from Earn accounts to help its community. The platform engaged in a legal battle with clients last month over ownership of the deposited funds. This enables Celsius to promote these properties.
Furthermore, it appears unlikely that any prospects will be able to appeal the court's decision and recover their funds back. Since “there will not be sufficient assets available to compensate all account holders in full,” as per the filing.
What do you think, will Celsius repay the funds of Earn Account holders or will they suffer more challenges in the future? Please share your valuable thoughts in the comment section below.
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