Celsius Unlocks 400,000 stETH, Pays Off Debt To Aave

Celsius, the crypto lending firm which has recently been the subject of regulatory oversight for its operational failures due to insufficient liquidity, has confirmed that it has paid up 400,000 stETH (Lido Staked ETH) to Aave, another DeFi lending protocol.

In addition, Celsius has also confirmed that they still have an outstanding balance of 10,000.94 wBTC to DeFi protocol Compound. This equates to roughly $199 million based on current pricing.

Celsius has also disclosed that it has managed to unlock and shut down its MakerDAO vault which was worth roughly $456 million, with 21,962 wBTC in position recovered. The firm has been steadily easing off its positions from the DeFi space, in what has been considered as initiatives towards dealing with its ongoing liquidity crisis.

According to on-chain data, an associated wallet with Celsius Network has repaid most of its debt to Aave by sending some $63.5 million in USDC to the lending protocol, hence unlocking the 400,000 of stETH, which is now worth roughly $418 million.

For its debt to Compound, Celsius Network unlocked 350,020 UNI ($2 million) and 529,94 COMP ($25,600), redeeming 300,000 xSUSHI for 395,060.92 SUSHI ($458,200) from SushiSwap, a decentralized exchange. According to data from DeBank, Celsius still has another $27 million in LINK, stETH and SNX remaining locked on Aave’s DeFi vault. To unlock these, Celsius would be required to shell out between $8.5 million to $50 million for each to be unlocked. It has not been ascertained whether Celsius’ other private wallets have more DeFi debt, but the case remains open for public scrutiny.

Celsius’ liquidity crisis began during what it has called “extreme market conditions,” with Bitcoin sliding off well below the $20,000 level and affecting the entire crypto industry to an extent that the industry, as a whole, has lost over $1 trillion in market capitalization in the span of a month or so. The firm has been the subject of controversy after it paused customer withdrawals in June, explaining that the move was necessary to leverage time and place itself into a “better position to honor, over time, its withdrawal obligations.”

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