Sources: Goldman Sachs is looking to raise $2B from investors to buy up distressed assets from troubled crypto lender Celsius in the event of a bankruptcy
The Wall Street firm is seeking $2 billion in commitments from investors to buy distressed assets at steep discounts if the crypto lender goes bankrupt.
Context & Ripple Effects
The reported fundraising would position Goldman Sachs before Celsius’s potential restructuring rather than after assets reach a court-supervised sale. Subsequent coverage showed Celsius seeking operating liquidity from repayment proceeds on dollar-denominated loans, underscoring why a dedicated buyer pool mattered.
The prospective bid arrives in a market where other capital was also watching Celsius: FTX was later reported to be considering a bid for the lender’s assets. Goldman subsequently said it planned to buy or invest in crypto companies after the FTX collapse reduced valuations and investor appetite.
First-order effects
- Goldman Sachs would assemble investor capital specifically for discounted Celsius assets, giving the firm a potential acquisition vehicle if Celsius enters bankruptcy.
- Celsius would gain a credible prospective buyer for assets, although the reported commitments do not themselves provide the lender with operating cash.
Second-order effects
- Potential bidders, including FTX as later reported, would face a better-capitalized institutional competitor for Celsius assets, making price and deal certainty central to any auction.
- Investors committing to Goldman would gain exposure to distressed crypto assets through a bank-led vehicle instead of directly underwriting Celsius.
Third-order effects
- If bank-led funds repeatedly acquire assets from failed crypto lenders, restructuring value may concentrate with institutional buyers able to raise capital before bankruptcy processes begin.
- The pattern would deepen the post-FTX shift toward buying depressed crypto-company assets, separating ownership of viable assets from the lenders that originated them.
The trend: Crypto lender failures are creating a distressed-asset market in which large financial institutions seek pooled capital and bankruptcy-sale access.