Celsius Seeks $495m from BitMEX over 2020 Liquidations
Celsius's bankruptcy proceedings have taken another turn as it seeks to recover 6,360 BTC from BitMEX. The entity managing Celsius's assets filed a motion in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on September 12. The lawsuit claims that Celsius suffered significant losses due to forced liquidations on BitMEX during the COVID-19-induced crash in March 2020.
The bankruptcy court documents show that Celsius lost 1,325.84 BTC in a single liquidation on March 12, 2020. The following day, it also incurred a loss of 5,034.33 BTC. Both losses were part of the claims taken over from the investment fund JST.
The complaint alleges that BitMEX controlled the system determining the conditions under which customers are liquidated and the growing insurance fund resulting from these transactions. Celsius asserts that the liquidation procedures were designed to force the sale of customers' collateral, contradicting its previous marketing claims of using low-risk strategies.