Celsius Drags Tether To Court In $3.5 Billion Legal Showdown

Defunct crypto lender Celsius has filed a lawsuit towards Tether, accusing the stablecoin issuer of asset misappropriation. This transfer comes amidst the latest makes an attempt by the cryptocurrency firm, who declared chapter in 2022, to claw again billions of {dollars} in funds for collectors.

Why Celsius Is Requesting Over $3.5 Billion From Tether

Bankrupt Celsius has filed numerous lawsuits towards numerous cryptocurrency corporations in latest weeks, and the world’s largest stablecoin firm Tether is the newest title on the record. Different corporations at present embroiled in numerous authorized battles with the now-defunct crypto lender embrace Badger DAO, Bancor, and Compound.

On Friday, August 9, Celsius submitted its largest lawsuit towards Tether, in search of billions of {dollars} in Bitcoin returns, damages, and authorized charges. In line with the newest court docket submitting, the corporate needs a refund of 39,542 BTC it used as collateral for loans it took from Tether. 

When the value of Bitcoin started to say no in early 2022, Tether allegedly requested extra collateral from Celsius to cowl the loans. The newest court docket doc additionally revealed the crypto lender had taken out a further $300 million in USDT loans from Tether a couple of months earlier than — and inside 90 days of — submitting for chapter in July. 

Celsius claimed to have obliged the request for extra collateral, sending extra BTC as collateral on a number of events between Could and June 2022. Following this fee, Tether made a second collateral demand however determined to liquidate Celsius’s collateral earlier than the mandated ten-hour ready interval.

In its lawsuit, Celsius argues that Tether liquidated the collateral at a value level that unfairly benefited the stablecoin issuer with out permitting the lender to supply the extra collateral. The court docket submitting learn:

If Celsius had been given the chance to fulfill the collateral demand—which it had the contractual proper to do—it may have been capable of keep away from the disposition of its Bitcoin at close to the underside of the cryptocurrency market. As a substitute, that disposition was carried out for the advantage of only one creditor: Tether

In line with the submitting, Celsius is asking the court docket to order Tether to relinquish the 15,658.21 Bitcoin, 2,228.01 Bitcoin, and 39,542.42 Bitcoin preferentially transferred by the crypto lender to the stablecoin issuer. These transfers sum as much as 57,428.64 BTC, which, on the present Bitcoin value of $61,110, is equal to roughly $3.5 billion.

Tether Labels Lawsuit A ‘Shakedown’

In a brand new weblog put up, Tether vehemently denied committing any wrongdoing towards Celsius, calling its latest lawsuit “baseless.” In line with the stablecoin firm, Celsius is failing to acknowledge the clear validity of the settlement made years earlier than its chapter.

Tether mentioned within the weblog put up:

We look ahead to responding in court docket to this contrived, meritless shakedown that can profit no one apart from the attorneys, bankers and consultants concerned in bringing this case.  

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino reiterated the corporate’s stance in a put up on the X platform, stating their willingness to set an instance of shameless cash grabs in court docket.

In 2022, Tether made accessible USDt to a few of its clients – together with Celsius. Tether’s preparations with clients are quite simple: Tether offers USDt to chose clients who present an overcollateralization in Bitcoin.

If the value of bitcoin (the collateral) falls… https://t.co/UuEs1ig8zr

— Paolo Ardoino 🤖🍐 (@paoloardoino) August 10, 2024

Lastly, Ardoino wasted no time mentioning Tether’s $12 billion consolidated fairness and reassured USDT holders that, within the “most distant state of affairs” the place the lawsuit escalates, they won’t be impacted.

The value of Bitcoin on the every day timeframe | Supply: BTCUSDT chart on TradingView

Featured picture from PYMNTS, chart from TradingView