Celsius Network, a troubled cryptocurrency lender, is altering its ETH staking technique, adding to the already lengthy wait time for new validators to be activated on the Ethereum network.
Over the course of two days, the firm has been diligently moving ETH into staking contracts after redeeming some $813 million of staked ETH from liquid staking leader Lido Finance. Since June 1, Celsius has deposited some $745 million of ETH, data by Arkham Intelligence shows.
The transactions have added 44 days to the already lengthy waitlist to add new validators to the Ethereum network, and Celsius may be to blame for over a week of that delay. Crypto investment product manager 21Shares analyst Tom Wan highlighted
The transactions mark the most recent step in the lender’s strategy to reorganize its stored staked ETH since April, when Ethereum’s Shanghai upgrade made it possible to withdraw from staking contracts.
At that time, Celsius held some 460,000 of ETH – now worth $870 million – staked with liquid staking platform Lido Finance and some 160,000 tokens – about $300 million at current prices – deployed in its own staking pool.
The transactions have taken place as the company restructures after declaring bankruptcy in July due to financial problems brought on by falling bitcoin prices and a surge in customer withdrawals.
The winning bidder Fahrenheit, an investment company supported by Arrington Capital, won the lender’s assets from the bankruptcy court’s auction last week. This includes the firm’s institutional loan portfolio, staked cryptocurrency, and crypto mining units.