Tether Pays $299.5M to Settle Celsius Bankruptcy Dispute

Tether has reached a $299.5M settlement agreement with the Celsius Network bankruptcy estate, ending a year-long legal fight over allegedly improper bitcoin liquidations ahead of the lender’s 2022 collapse.

What’s the Scoop?

• Major Settlement Secured: In August 2024, the Celsius estate alleges that Tether prematurely liquidated 39,542 BTC in breach of an agreed waiting period, resulting in billions in claimed damages. This $299.5M payment closes the matter, but amounts to just 7% of Celsius’s $4.3B claim.
• BRIC’s Role: The Blockchain Recovery Investment Consortium, formed in early 2023 by VanEck and GXD Labs, led the litigation and negotiations. Acting as Celsius’s Complex Asset Recovery Manager and Litigation Administrator, BRIC was tasked with recovering assets and managing claims for creditors after Celsius exited bankruptcy in November 2023.
• Legal Resolution: In July 2025, Judge Martin Glenn of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York allowed Celsius to proceed with most of its claims, paving the way for this settlement. Tether, while maintaining it did nothing wrong, said in a statement that it was “pleased to have reached a resolution of all issues related to the Celsius bankruptcy.”
• Recovery Progress: The BRIC continues to manage Celsius’s remaining illiquid and litigation assets, coordinating wind-down operations for the benefit of creditors. The consortium’s leadership team includes GXD Labs’ David Proman and R. Christian Wyatt, alongside VanEck’s Pranav Kanade and Matthew Babinsky.
• Industry Context: Celsius’s bankruptcy remains one of crypto’s most complex. The company collapsed in July 2022 amid a $1.2B balance-sheet deficit. Former CEO Alex Mashinsky was sentenced to 12 years in prison in May 2025 after pleading guilty to commodities fraud and market manipulation tied to the CEL token.