Celsius' Auction Will See Participation From Coinbase, Gemini

• Celsius’ upcoming auction has attracted crypto exchanges Coinbase and Gemini as new bidders. 
• The consortia of investors are set to bid on the bankrupt crypto lender’s assets this week. 
• Coinbase has declined to comment on its participation in the bidding process. 

The upcoming auction of Celsius Network will see multiple crypto heavyweights participate in the bidding process. Three consortiums of investors featuring crypto exchanges Coinbase and Gemini have signed up to bid on the bankrupt crypto lender’s assets later this week.

Celsius’ New Bidders May Choose Not To Liquidate Its Assets

According to a report by Bloomberg, the two new consortiums have joined NovaWulf Digital Management to bid on Celsius. Fahrenheit LLC is the first consortium, which includes Michael Arrington’s Arrington Capital, Coinbase, Algorand’s former CEO Steven Kokinos, and investment banker Ravi Kaza. The second consortium, Blockchain Recovery Investment Committee, is backed by ETF manager Van Eck, Global X Digital, and the Winklevoss-owned Gemini Trust.

Kirkland & Ellis, the law firm representing the bankrupt crypto lender, stated in a recent court filing that the live auction would commence on April 25 at 2 pm in its New York office. Michael Arrington took to Twitter recently to share his vision for Celsius, should his consortium win with the highest bid in the auction slated for April 25, 2023. The TechCrunch founder stated that he intends to get the defunct crypto lender back up and running. Rather than liquidating its assets, Arrington’s group would explore Bitcoin mining, institutional lending, and a venture capital portfolio, among other things. 

Our bid (is) not structured as a simple asset purchase. We are proposing that the assets be placed into a new company and is run with the sole goal of growing those assets to make stakeholders whole.”

Experts believe that Fahrenheit has a better chance of emerging as the winner in the auction, given its backing by veteran crypto entities. Celsius’ solicitation of other bids emerged last month when it informed the bankruptcy judge about its intention to seek a better offer for its assets, despite having one in hand from NovaWulf. At the time, the crypto lender claimed it would offer NovaWulf up to $20 million in break-up fees if it decides to proceed with another bid. 

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