Crypto Loan Firms Worryingly Return as Spring Blossoms

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With crypto spring blossoming as Bitcoin hits new yearly highs, confidence in the market is blooming too. Embracing the warmth, crypto loan firms have resurfaced, for better or worse.

More than half a year after their demise, crypto loan giants Voyager and Celsius have embarked on a valiant mission to make amends with their victims. Well, at least in theory.

On 23 June, Voyager opened customer withdrawals for one month. On-chain data shows that Voyager held $413 million on 22 June and outflows of $134 million since that date have reduced it to $307.5 million.

Copy trading platform Bitget is also soaking up crypto spring by expanding into the crypto loan sector with a new product creatively called Crypto Loans. The product allows users to stake one digital asset as collateral and obtain a loan in another. Sounds familiar? Voyager and Celsius were among the biggest crypto loan players in 2022 with business models that ultimately collapsed on themselves.

Additionally, whilst Voyager creditors anxiously await their payments, lawyers for the firm are raking in the big bucks. Legal firm McDermott Will & Emery has earned $5.17 million in legal fees from the committee representing the firm. Total legal fees for the Voyager credit committee sit at $16.5 million.

Celsius has been ordered by a U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to convert its altcoins into Bitcoin and Ethereum. Celsius tweeted that it will "sell all creditors' altcoins" from 1 July but according to Blockworks, there are yet to be any outflows from the crypto lending company.

Confidence in the crypto market is inspiring but over-confidence fundamentally led to the industry's downfall last year.

Elsewhere:

  • Jinan, the capital of China's Shandong Province, is making a push for the adoption of the country's central bank digital currency (CBDC), the digital yuan. Digital yuan payments have been introduced on all its bus routes, following a successful pilot phase on two bus lines. Passengers who pay with the digital yuan are rewarded with up to two discounted rides per day and a maximum of six discounted rides per month. Jinan's initiative is part of China's broader push to promote the adoption of the digital yuan.
  • Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss has made a "final offer" in debt-restructuring negotiations with bankrupt digital asset firm Genesis. The offer includes $1.465 billion in forbearance payments and fresh loans denominated in USD, Bitcoin, and Ethereum. Winklevoss previously accused Genesis parent DCG owner Barry Silbert of fraud. If the offer is not accepted, Gemini will file a lawsuit against DCG and Silbert. Winklevoss also plans to demand the immediate payment of $630 million owed to creditors and Earn users.
  • Telegram's blockchain network The Open Network (TON), has introduced an on-chain encrypted messaging feature that allows TON users to send private messages securely. Developed by the TON Foundation, TON aims to offer scalability, high transaction throughput, and decentralization within the Web3 ecosystem. Messages sent on TON were previously public but the new feature allows for end-to-end encryption. "Even in the event of an 'Apocalypse' and the failure of conventional messenger servers, you will retain the ability to send messages via the decentralized TON blockchain," the company said.
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