Sources: Goldman Sachs is looking to raise $2B from investors to buy up distressed assets from crypto lender Celsius Network in the event of a bankruptcy filing
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 report marks an early attempt by Goldman Sachs to organize capital around Celsius assets before a formal restructuring. Subsequent coverage shows Celsius entered bankruptcy and later sought to monetize Bitmain coupons and mining credits, underscoring the pressure to turn illiquid holdings into operating cash.
Celsius’s process was also attracting prospective bidders: FTX was reported to be considering a bid for its assets while raising new capital. Goldman later said it planned to buy or invest in crypto companies after FTX’s collapse depressed valuations, extending the same distressed-investment posture.
First-order effects
- Goldman Sachs can line up investor commitments before a Celsius filing, positioning the firm to bid for assets at bankruptcy-driven discounts rather than commit solely from its own balance sheet.
- Celsius gains the prospect of another well-capitalized buyer for assets if it enters bankruptcy, alongside its efforts to generate cash from loan repayments and other holdings.
Second-order effects
- A Goldman-backed pool would raise competitive pressure on FTX and other prospective Celsius bidders, making asset pricing and deal terms central to the restructuring process.
- Investors supplying the $2 billion would gain exposure to Celsius claims or assets through Goldman’s distressed-investment vehicle instead of directly navigating the lender’s bankruptcy.
Third-order effects
- The sequence points to crypto restructurings becoming an entry point for established financial firms: insolvency transfers assets from failed lending platforms to specialized capital pools.
- If repeated across crypto failures, the post-FTX push to buy or invest at lower valuations would deepen the sector’s dependence on conventional finance during downturns, reinforcing its bankruptcy-era asset sales as a price-discovery mechanism.
The trend: Crypto lender failures are drawing traditional financial institutions toward structured distressed-asset investing as valuations reset and bankruptcy processes release assets for sale.