Celsius Sues BitMEX for Alleged Fraud and Market Manipulation
Celsius, the bankrupt cryptocurrency lender, has filed a lawsuit against BitMEX and five of its linked companies, alleging fraud, market manipulation, and wrongful liquidations during the March 2020 market crash.
The complaint, filed on September 12 in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, claims that BitMEX wrongfully seized 1,325.84 BTC in collateral from Celsius on March 12, 2020, and 5,034.33 BTC from investment fund JST the following day.
Celsius alleges that BitMEX controlled the prices used to trigger liquidations, the engine that executed them, and the insurance fund that received proceeds from some liquidated positions.
The lawsuit seeks the recovery of nearly $490 million in Bitcoin, which is equivalent to at least 6,360.16 BTC at the time of writing.