Stablecoin issuer Tether has agreed to pay $299.5 million to the bankrupt estate of Celsius Network, resolving claims related to the cryptocurrency lending firm's collapse in 2022, potentially opening a new chapter in the debate over stablecoin liability.
The Blockchain Recovery Investment Consortium (BRIC)—a joint venture between asset management firm VanEck and Atlas Grove Partners' affiliate GXD Labs—announced the settlement agreement on Tuesday. This recovery ends years of disputes surrounding the transfer and liquidation of Bitcoin (BTC) collateral that occurred before Celsius's high-profile bankruptcy in July 2022.
BRIC was established in early 2023 to help maximize recoveries for creditors of bankrupt digital asset platforms. After the company exited bankruptcy protection, it was appointed in January 2024 by the Celsius debtors and the unsecured creditors committee as the asset recovery and litigation manager.
Celsius had previously sued Tether, accusing the stablecoin issuer of improperly liquidating Bitcoin collateral that secured loans denominated in USDt. According to the complaint, Tether sold the collateral when Bitcoin's price was close to the value of Celsius's debt, effectively wiping out Celsius's positions and leading to its bankruptcy.
The newly announced $299.5 million settlement represents only a small portion of the approximately $4 billion in claims Celsius sought in court after filing a counterclaim in August 2024. In July 2025, the bankruptcy court approved the continuation of broader litigation against Tether, although it remains unclear how this latest recovery will impact those proceedings.
This settlement may indicate that stablecoin issuers face increasing legal risks when acting as counterparties in a distressed cryptocurrency market—a development that could reshape how regulators and courts view the liabilities of entities like Tether in future bankruptcy cases.
So far, issuers like Tether have largely maintained that their role is purely transactional, facilitating the issuance and redemption of tokens, rather than being responsible for how those tokens are used on exchanges, lending platforms, or decentralized finance platforms.
The bankruptcy of Celsius Network is part of a series of cascading cryptocurrency failures in 2022 that plunged the industry into a prolonged bear market and ultimately set the stage for the collapse of FTX later that year.
The consequences are particularly severe for former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky, who agreed in June not to claim any assets from the company's bankruptcy estate and was later sentenced to 12 years in prison for two felonies. According to Cointelegraph, Mashinsky was incarcerated in September.
Celsius is far from an isolated case. Major cryptocurrency lending platforms BlockFi and Voyager Digital filed for bankruptcy protection in 2022, followed by Genesis Global Capital filing for bankruptcy protection the following year.
According to analysis from the Chicago Federal Reserve Bank, as confidence in the industry evaporated, customers withdrew nearly $13 billion from crypto asset platforms between May and November 2022.
"High-yield products were a key magnet for some platforms to attract customers," noted the Chicago Fed, with interest rates exceeding 17% in some cases—levels that attracted investors during the bull market but proved unsustainable once prices collapsed.
Related: Cybersecurity team Security Alliance launches TLS proof tool for phishing detection
Original article: “Tether Settles Celsius Claims for $299M, Raising Concerns Over Stablecoin Liability”
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