Share this article

Ripple Labs Weighs Buying Crypto Lender Celsius’ Assets: Report

The blockchain payment company is the latest to consider purchasing the assets of the bankrupt lender.

Ripple Labs maintains XRP. (Ripple Labs)
Ripple Labs maintains XRP. (Ripple Labs)

San Francisco-based crypto company Ripple Labs has expressed interest in purchasing insolvent crypto lender Celsius Network’s assets, a Ripple spokesperson told Reuters Wednesday.

The spokesperson also noted Ripple "is actively looking for M&A opportunities to strategically scale the company” as it continues “to grow exponentially" through the market downturn. The spokesperson declined to comment on whether Ripple is looking to purchase Celsius Network outright, however.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters

Ripple Labs, which owns the Ripple payments network and maintains the XRP ledger, is the latest company to weigh an acquisition of what was once one of the crypto industry’s largest lenders with $25 billion in assets. Lending rival Nexo made a similar overture in June, and crypto exchange FTX was also in the running for a time.

Celsius filed for bankruptcy protection in July and froze customer withdrawals in June.

Ripple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Ripple is being sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on allegations that Ripple's sale of XRP violated federal securities law.

Elizabeth Napolitano

Elizabeth Napolitano was a data journalist at CoinDesk, where she reported on topics such as decentralized finance, centralized cryptocurrency exchanges, altcoins, and Web3. She has covered technology and business for NBC News and CBS News. In 2022, she received an ACP national award for breaking news reporting.

Elizabeth Napolitano