Investors Fear Their Bitcoins Stored On The Celsius Network Are Lost

While Wall Street seems to have escaped most of the crypto and Bitcoin crash of 2022, some regular investors weren’t so lucky. Most prominently displayed recently are the stories of ordinary Americans who had put their life savings on Celsius Network.

As the platform shut down, they fear their money is gone forever.

Celsius crash

By May of this year, crypto lender Celsius had some $12 billion under management and had lent out $8 billion of that money to clients. Problem was that as soon as the crypto crash of June began, Celsius saw it’s value drop like a stone and wasn’t able to honor agreements. At a certain point, Celsius froze all transactions and withdrawals.

Some of it’s American clients, regular folks like you and me, were worried about losing their homes after being liquidated on millions of dollars of loans backed by the company’s CEL token, which had fallen off a cliff.

Now, the New York Times has taken a closer look, and found several Celsius customers who came forward with their horror stories.

Martin Robert from Nevada has two Bitcoins stuck on the Celsius network. He tried to cash out when Celsius crashed but explained that:

I couldn’t take my coins out fast enough. We’re being held hostage.

He is still convinced that cryptocurrencies are part of the future, but is now asking his local politicians to start some form of regulation if he ever wants to get his money back.

A similar story could be heard from Jacob Willette, a 40-year-old from Arizona who so desperately believed in the high returns promised by Celsius that he put his entire life savings in the account. As Bitcoin hit $69,000 last November, Mr Willette’s account on the Celsius network showed stored value of $120,000. When Celsius froze the more than $8 billion in deposits, Mr Wilette lost it all, unsure of when he’ll get it all back.

“I trusted these people,” Mr. Willette said. “I just don’t see how what they did is not illegal.”