Celsius Halts Withdrawals on Platform, Triggers Market-Wide Sell-Off

Prominent cryptocurrency lending and staking platform Celsius (CEL) triggered a crash in the crypto market on Monday after network downtime.

The company announced earlier today that it was halting all withdrawals, swaps, and transfers on its platform due to what it described as “extreme market conditions.” Celsius tweeted via its official Twitter handle:

“Due to extreme market conditions, today we are announcing that Celsius is pausing all withdrawals, swaps, and transfers between accounts. We are taking this action today to put Celsius in a better position to honor, over time, its withdrawal obligations.”

However, the firm later confirmed that users would continue to accrue rewards on all their activities during the downtime.

Despite having halted withdrawals and other outflow channels to keep liquidity under control, some suggestions on social media suggest the network might be battling a liquidity crisis.

Rumor has it that Celsius was selling stETH (Staked Ethereum) to restore liquidity for withdrawals, a move that could, in itself, trigger liquidations.

To make matters worse, the platform reportedly unstaked about $250 million worth of Wrapped Bitcoin (WBTC) from Aave and transferred it to FTX.

The emerging developments triggered a market-wide liquidation, with the total crypto market valuation shedding over 12% in the last 24 hours.

Key Celsius Levels to Watch — June 13

CEL tumbled by over 82% over the past 24 hours, falling from the $0.500 top to the $0.090 low yesterday. The lending protocol crypto has now tapped its lowest point on record.

Notably, trading conditions are still not in overheated conditions, posing the possibility of a gap close to the $0.090 in the coming hours. However, Celsius could see heavy accumulation at this level as traders pick it up at a discount. With the broader market sentiment steeped in bearish territory, a meaningful bullish rebound appears out of reach in the meantime.

Meanwhile, my resistance levels are at $0.250, $0.350, and $0.500, and my support levels are at $0.150, $0.100, and $0.090.

Total Market Capitalization: $969.9 billion

Celsius Market Capitalization: $47 billion

Market Rank: #359