Goldman Sachs, a leading investment firm, to acquire Celsius Assets

The Wall Street firm is looking for $2 billion in investor commitments to purchase distressed assets at heavy discounts if the crypto lender defaults.

According to two people with knowledge of the matter, Goldman Sachs is seeking to acquire $2 billion from investors to purchase distressed assets from struggling crypto lender Celsius.

The sources said in the event of a bankruptcy filing, the planned deal would enable investors to purchase Celsius’ assets at possibly steep discounts.

A person aware with the matter says that Goldman Sachs seems to be evaluating interest and seeking commitments from Web3 crypto funds, funds that specialize in distressed assets, and traditional financial institutions with plenty of cash on hand. The members in the fundraising drive would then likely manage the assets, which would most likely be cryptocurrencies that had to be sold for pennies on the dollar.

The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday afternoon that Celsius had hired the restructuring advisory firm Alvarez & Marsal.

On June 12, Celsius suddenly revealed that it would suspend allowing withdrawals from its platform, stating “extreme market conditions.” As of May this year, Celsius had more than $8 billion given to clients and $12 billion in assets under management. These circumstances were made worse by the announcement, briefly driving the price of bitcoin below $20,000.

The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that Celsius has also hired restructuring attorneys from the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld in addition to Alvarez & Marsal.

Celsius has reportedly recruited global investment bank Citigroup to assist on potential solutions, including an evaluation of an offer from competitor crypto lender Nexo, as per The Block.

According to people with knowledge of the matter, Celsius has received bankruptcy filing recommendations from both Citigroup and Akin Gump.

Last year, Celsius raised $750 million from investors, including Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), Canada’s second-largest pension fund, valuing the company at $3.25 billion.