Crypto Biz: Was Celsius just a Ponzi after all?

Bankrupt crypto lender has been accused by customers of being a Ponzi scheme. Meanwhile, Binance's $500 million investment in Elon Musk's Twitter has been confirmed.

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Crypto lender Celsius was one of the biggest victims of the bear market. After halting withdrawals for months due to “extreme market conditions,” the troubled lender officially filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 13. Now, the federal judge overseeing the bankruptcy proceedings has ordered the examiner to determine if the company was operating as a Ponzi scheme. Disgruntled Celsius customers have argued that the company's business operations meet the legal definition of a Ponzi. After all, it didn't take long for Celsius' business model to crumble under the volatility. This is a case that we should all follow very closely.

In this week's Crypto Biz, we revisit the Celsius debacle once again. We also explore Binance's investment in Elon Musk's Twitter deal and MicroStrategy's renewed commitment to Bitcoin.

Judge orders investigation to determine if Celsius was a Ponzi scheme

In finance, a Ponzi scheme is a fraudulent investment practice in which returns are generated and paid out to existing investors using money from subsequent investors. Ponzi claims have now been leveled at Celsius by its former clients, who claim the company used the assets of new users to pay returns and facilitate withdrawals for existing users. These allegations are being taken seriously by Federal Judge Martin Glenn, who ordered the reviewer of the case and the Celsius credit committee...