Celsius CEO plans to restructure company to focus on crypto custody: Report

Alex Mashinsky reportedly made the announcement during a Sept. 8 meeting where Celsius discussed possible scenarios for his future after filed for bankruptcy in July.

Crypto lending platform Celsius, currently in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings, reportedly intends to rebuild around crypto custodial services.

According to a report in the New York Times on Tuesday, Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky and chief innovation officer and chief compliance officer Oren Blonstein aimed to relaunch the company using a project named Kelvin : Store users' crypto and charge fees on certain transactions. Mashinsky reportedly made the announcement during a Sept. 8 employee meeting, where the company discussed possible scenarios for its future after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July.

A legal entity representing Celsius's creditors, called the Committee of Unsecured Creditors, reportedly asked the company to continue offering services such as lending, staking and custody. Maskinsky compared the platform's possible comeback to those of Apple and Delta Airlines: the companies neared bankruptcy in 1997 and filed for Chapter 11 in 2005, respectively.

As part of its current business model, Celsius said it does not charge any fees for transactions, withdrawals, origination or early termination. The report quotes a person with knowledge of the matter as saying the committee had raised concerns about Mashinsky's involvement with Celsius and Kelvin's proposed project.

"If the foundation of our business is custody, and our customers choose to do things like invest somewhere or trade one asset for another, or take out a loan against an asset as collateral, we should have the ability to charge a commission...