U.S. court gives Celsius permission to proceed with lawsuit against Tether

A U.S. bankruptcy court has given Celsius the green light to go ahead with its lawsuit against Tether, which amounts to $4.3 billion as per a filing on June 30. The lawsuit is centred around allegations that during a crypto crash in 2022, which saw firms like Celsius and others go bankrupt, Tether ordered a fire sale of all of Celsius’ cryptocurrency, specifically, its collateral. 

“The Plaintiffs allege that Tether began a ‘fire sale’ of Celsius’ collateral, selling Celsius’ BTC in a series of tranches over a period of several hours. At the close of this ‘fire sale,’ the entirety of Celsius’ collateral, which amounted to 39,542.42 BTC, had been applied by Tether to Celsius’ outstanding debt to Tether (the ‘Application Transfer’). Throughout the sale process, the Amended Complaint alleges that Tether directed all communications to Celsius employees in the United States,” read the filing. 

The collateral was 39,542.42 BTC, which at today’s prices would be valued at $4.3 billion. In August 2024, when Celsius filed the lawsuit, Tether responded through an official message on its website, saying Celsius was trying to shift blame elsewhere for mismanagement of its assets. 

“As we’ve said many times, Tether will never fall prey to shameless litigation money grabs. We will vigorously defend ourselves against the unwarranted allegations made against us, and we expect to prevail in this litigation,” stated Tether.