In a court filing, CEO Alex Mashinsky said Celsius was owed $439M by a “private lending platform”, which sources say is specialist finance company EquitiesFirst
The claimed receivable arrives alongside Chapter 11 disclosures identifying Pharos as Celsius’ largest creditor, owed $81M. That makes the status and collectability of a much larger amount allegedly due from EquitiesFirst central to understanding the estate’s balance sheet.
First-order effects
Celsius’ restructuring estate has a stated $439M claim to pursue against the private lending platform sources identify as EquitiesFirst, while EquitiesFirst is newly connected to a major Celsius asset in public reporting.
Celsius creditors must assess the value of that alleged receivable alongside the company’s disclosed obligations, including the $81M owed to Pharos.
Second-order effects
The gap between Celsius’ claimed $439M receivable and its largest disclosed creditor claim raises the importance of counterparty collectability in any creditor-recovery analysis.
The disclosure reinforces scrutiny of how crypto lenders represented assets and exposures after Celsius’ own compliance function flagged weak oversight and financial-information concerns.
Third-order effects
Celsius’ case points to distressed crypto lending becoming a process of reconciling interlocking private claims rather than simply valuing crypto holdings, with recovery hinging on counterparties’ ability to pay.
If similar failures expose large, lightly understood bilateral exposures, lenders’ counterparty disclosure and internal controls become a more consequential basis for creditor confidence.
The trend: The crypto-lending unwind is shifting attention from headline asset values to the transparency and collectability of private balance-sheet exposures.
SCOOP: The mystery debtor that owes Celsius $439m is EquitiesFirst, an Indianapolis-based specialist lender Best known for lending against stock, EquitiesFirst failed to return crypto Celsius had pledged for a loan in 2021, acc to court filing https://www.ft.com/...
We may be hearing more about EquitiesFirst. Earlier this week, EquitiesFirst made an appearance as a creditor in the US bankruptcy proceedings for Three Arrows Capital... and then quickly withdrew https://twitter.com/...
We have always prioritized client's interest through transparency. To date, EquitiesFirst has returned over US$343,600,000 to Celsius Network since Sept last year based on contractual agreements. Both parties are in ongoing negotiations working toward mutually beneficial goals.
Celsius referenced a debt owed by a “private lending platform” in a court filing yday. Two sources confirmed it was EquitiesFirst. EquitiesFirst said it is in “ongoing conversation with our client and both parties have agreed to extend our obligations” https://twitter.com/...
Oh this is hilarious: EquitiesFirst specializes in asset backed lending. So, e.g., Musk has billions in Tesla stock but he doesn't want to sell, both because it would tank the market and cost him taxes. So he borrows against it instead... https://www.ft.com/...
“A lawyer for EquitiesFirst on Tuesday joined a separate US crypto bankruptcy case, that of failed hedge fund Three Arrows Capital. The filing said EquitiesFirst was a creditor. Hours later, the lawyer filed to withdraw.” https://www.ft.com/...
Terrific scoop. Also a fun one for those who remember Quindell, which had some controversial dealings with EquitiesFirst https://www.ft.com/... https://twitter.com/...
According to internal documents, Celsius execs sold over $40 million $CEL back to the company in 2020-21. That's in addition to the ~$40 mil Mashinsky dumped directly onto the market! @Bitfinexed @SilvermanJacob @concodanomics @BennettTomlin https://www.ft.com/... https://twitter…
Quite the read by @kadhim and Joshua Oliver via @FT ↙️ Inside #Celsius: How one of #crypto's biggest lenders ground to a halt https://www.ft.com/... “Former employees & internal documents suggest a reckless pursuit of high returns.”