Crypto Lending Service Celsius Pauses Withdrawals, Citing 'Extreme Market Conditions'

Crypto lending service Celsius announced early Monday it would pause withdrawals, citing "extreme market conditions."

The company announced it would also pause its swap and transfer products, according to a blog post. It did not provide a timeline for resuming withdrawals.

"We are working with a singular focus: to protect and preserve assets to meet our obligations to customers. Our ultimate objective is stabilizing liquidity and restoring withdrawals, Swap, and transfers between accounts as quickly as possible. There is a lot of work ahead as we consider various options, this process will take time, and there may be delays," the blog post said.

The announcement comes on top of Celsius telling nonaccredited investors that they could no longer transfer funds.

The company also recently replaced its chief financial officer, after former Chief Financial Officer Yaron Shalem was arrested by Israeli police in 2021.

The price of Celsius's CEL token fell over 50% after the news came out.

The company has also faced regulatory issues, with law enforcement entities issuing cease-and-desist orders against it.

Crypto reporter Colin Wu, who goes by @WuBlockchain on Twitter, posted Monday that Celsius has transferred about 104,000 ETH to FTX in the past three days.

Read more: What Crypto Lender Celsius Isn’t Telling Its Depositors

UPDATE (June 13, 2022, 04:29 UTC): Adds Wu Blockhain's comment in final paragraph.