The insolvent cryptocurrency lender Celsius said on February 15 that it would inform eligible users of how to begin withdrawing assets from certain custody accounts.
According to the release, Celsius placed the list of qualified users in its distribution plan and will send emails and in-app notifications for the next phases. To present, Celsius has not specified a time when withdrawals will resume. Only customers with U.S. addresses will have their withdrawals resumed; users from other countries have to wait for further court instructions.
The lender is required by the court order to return two types of assets: “Pure” custody account assets, or digital assets that were never included in its Earn or Borrow program, and “Transferred” custody assets, which refer to assets that were removed from the Earn or Borrow program in 90 days prior to Celsius’s bankruptcy filing in July.
Users may withdraw an unlimited quantity of pure custody assets. However, only customers with transferred custody assets worth less than $7,575 will be permitted to withdraw, while users with assets worth more than that amount will continue to be ineligible.
Currently, the court has given Celsius permission to limit qualified consumers’ withdrawals to 94% of their assets. Later, the court will decide whether, when, and how the final 6% can be withdrawn. Additionally, the court has not determined when users of Earn will be able to get their money back.
Restrictions to Celsius employees
According to the court decision, current and past employees of Celsius and their affiliates are not eligible for withdrawals. Additionally, customers who had loans that were still in progress as of December 20, 2022, and qualified users whose assets are below the withdrawal transaction fees, would not be permitted to withdraw assets. Users who have transferred custodial assets totaling more than $7,575 will also be delayed.
Eligible Celsius users must provide their updated know-your-customer (KYC) information, even if they have already confirmed it, in order to lower the risk of fraud and account takeovers. Users must also enter a withdrawal address, which they can access only after 24 hours.
In compliance with the Travel Rule, Celsius also asks users for more details about each withdrawal address. Information about beneficiaries and originators must be gathered and shared with other financial institutions in accordance with the Travel Rule.
Therefore, users must authenticate if the withdrawal wallet belongs to them or to someone else, identify the whitelisted wallet addresses, and offer information about the recipient crypto service provider.
The company said it might take more than 24 hours to process withdrawal requests because Celsius anticipates considerable traffic once it reopens withdrawals.
