Celsius Sues BitMEX Over $481 Million in Lost Bitcoin
Celsius Network's bankruptcy estate has filed a lawsuit against BitMEX, accusing the exchange of deliberately causing liquidations that resulted in the loss of 6,360.1666 Bitcoin (BTC). The lawsuit, which was filed on September 12, alleges that BitMEX intentionally designed its platform and liquidation procedures to cause losses for customers.
The alleged liquidations occurred during the March 2020 crash, when Celsius's Bitcoin futures position was closed by BitMEX. According to the lawsuit, BitMEX took 1,325.8385 BTC from Celsius, despite receiving an additional 350 BTC of margin just minutes before the closure. The second liquidation hit JST Alpha 1, a Cayman Islands fund invested in by Celsius, and resulted in another loss of 5,034.3281 BTC.
The lawsuit claims that BitMEX's actions were fraudulent and caused significant losses for Celsius. It names five BitMEX companies as defendants and seeks to recover the lost Bitcoin. The coins are worth approximately $481 million at current prices.