Crypto lender Celsius says it is exploring options

The retail crypto lending platform Celsius Network said on Thursday that it was looking at several possibilities, including partnerships and reorganizing its debt.

Due to "extreme" market circumstances, Celsius earlier this month frozen withdrawals and transfers, preventing its 1.7 million clients from redeeming their assets.

According to persons familiar with the situation, the Hoboken, New Jersey-based business recruited restructuring specialists from the advising firm Alvarez & Marsal to provide advice on a potential bankruptcy filing last week.

The market for digital assets has seen tremendous volatility in recent months as investors sell riskier investments out of concern that draconian interest rate increases to combat persistent inflation may cause the country to enter a recession.

According to EU parliamentarians, the European Union has approved ground-breaking regulations for the industry as the price collapse of bitcoin increases pressure on policymakers to control the market.

Since the collapse of TerraUSD, a significant stablecoin linked to the U.S. dollar, in May, cryptocurrencies have lost more than $400 billion. Late on Thursday, Bitcoin dropped another 6% to $18,866.77, down nearly 70% from its high in November of last year.

Similar to a bank, Celsius collected crypto deposits from regular clients and invested them in "decentralized finance," or DeFi, sites that utilize blockchain technology to provide services like loans and insurance outside of the conventional financial sector.

Celsius guaranteed enormous returns to retail consumers, sometimes as high as 19 percent yearly. Individual investors have poured money into Celsius and similar platforms because of the promise of large gains.