Celsius listed three firms interested in purchasing the lender on April 30. This includes NovaWulf, Fahrenheit LLC, and the Blockchain Investment Recovery Committee. Apollo Global Management is apparently now part of a deal by crypto investment firm NovaWulf to purchase the insolvent cryptocurrency lender Celsius Network.
Apollo Global Management is a distressed-investment specialist with more than $500 billion in assets under management. It is one of the world’s largest private equity businesses. Both NovaWulf and Apollo have declined to comment on the matter.
The exchange stated in February 2023 that it had chosen Novawulf Digital Management to assist in the resolution of its high-profile bankruptcy case. Celsius’ Debtors proposed the sale and reorganisation proposal, which received unanimous approval from Celsius’ official unsecured creditors’ committee (UCC). The objective was to establish a new firm that will be handled by NovaWulf.
With the rebranding, Celcius will mine bitcoin (BTC), stake ether (ETH), and issue blockchain-based security tokens reflecting ownership interests in itself. The winner of the Celsius auction has yet to be declared. The sale was recently suspended with no new date scheduled. Though the last day for applying has been announced as the 11th of May.
“The auction is now adjourned until further notice while discussions of the bids continue. As these discussions continue, the deadline to submit our Disclosure Statement has been extended until May 11, 2023.”
If the NovaWulf proposal is chosen as the winner, investors will receive a tiered management fee. They will also receive an incentive fee based on the reformed Celsius’ net asset value (NAV).
NovaWulf teamed with the Provenance Blockchain in February of this year to support the issue and exchange of equity tokens in the new Celsius. Celsius and NovaWulf agreed to sponsor a suggested plan of reorganisation in partnership. With Figure Technologies as the company’s blockchain technology solution provider. The latter is a broker-dealer licenced with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and developed on Provenance Blockchain.
Per Provenance Blockchain CEO Morgan McKenney, Apollo is a “flagship” that is “leading the industry into the future.” “Apollo is huge in credit; they know everything about credit,” McKenney told the news outlet.
In particular, the move by one of the world’s major asset managers occurred at a time when traditional corporations were withdrawing from the cryptocurrency industry. This comes in the aftermath of a market meltdown. A string of bankruptcies, and numerous legal and regulatory difficulties have plagued the crypto industry. The consequences of these challenges are still evident today, although Apollo appears to be sticking to its crypto mission.
