The Celsius network, which has 1.7 million customers, said “extreme market conditions” had forced it to temporarily halt all withdrawals, cryptocurrency exchanges and transfers between accounts.
“We are taking this necessary action for the benefit of our entire community to stabilize liquidity and operations as we take steps to preserve and protect assets,” the company said in a blog post.
The UK-listed company has about $ 3.7 billion in assets, according to its website. He pays interest on the cryptocurrency deposits and lends them to get a return.
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, suspended withdrawals from its bitcoin network for a few hours on Monday.
The company said it made the decision because some transactions had “stalled” and were causing a delay.
“We are still working to process pending withdrawals from the Bitcoin (BTC) network, and it is estimated that it will be completed in the next few hours,” the company said in a statement.
The cryptocurrency market has suffered a hammer blow in recent months after its pandemic boom ended up shattering. As the world’s major central banks have raised interest rates to control rising inflation, traders have rushed to abandon riskier investments, including their volatile cryptocurrency assets. Bitcoin, the world’s most valuable cryptocurrency, has lost 15% in the last 24 hours, about 66% below its all-time high in November last year, when it traded at around $ 69,000, according to Coinbase data. Bitcoin fell below $ 24,000 on Monday, sending crypto to its lowest level since December 2020.
Ether, the second most valuable digital currency, fell 17% and has now lost about 75% of its value since November.
The so-called “stablecoins”, cryptocurrencies that are tied to the value of more traditional assets, have also been successful. Tether, a popular stable currency, broke its link with the US dollar in May, breaking the vision that it could serve as a hedge against volatility.
TerraUSD, a riskier algorithmic stable currency that used complex code to link its value to the US dollar, collapsed the same month, eliminating the savings of thousands of investors. The currency was valued at just over $ 18 billion in early May before falling, according to CoinMarketCap data.
Celsius Network did not say when it would allow customers to withdraw their deposits, only “it would take time.”
Meanwhile, governments are closely monitoring the consequences of cryptocurrency cracking and could act to protect investors.
“There are a lot of risks associated with cryptocurrencies,” U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told the Senate last month. He said his department was due to publish a report on the matter.
– Julia Horowitz contributed to the report.