Celsius Latest: Quebec Pension Fund Loses $150 Million in Celsius Investment
Celsius Network’s failure has negatively impacted the massive Canadian investment management firm Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (CDPQ). The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Charles Émond, accepted full responsibility for the expected loss of $150 million from the company’s capital injection into the cryptocurrency lending platform.
CDPQ CEO Rues Celsius Misadventure
At a presentation of CDPQ’s half-year results, Émond stated that the company was currently evaluating its legal options in an effort to receive compensation from Celsius Network. Émond voiced his belief that CDPQ invested money in a relatively undeveloped market.
“For us, it’s clear when we look at all of this, even if the last chapter has not been written, that we went in too soon into a sector that was in transition, with a business that had to manage extremely quick growth,” the CEO said.
When the $300 billion Quebec-based pension fund announced its plans to invest in Celsius Network almost a year ago, Émond referred to the investment as a sign of CDPQ’s conviction in blockchain technology.
According to the half-year report, CDPQ has suffered losses totaling over $20 billion over the last six months. The company blamed the losses on the downward price action in equities, the bond market, and the cryptocurrency markets. The fund, overall, sustained a loss of approximately 8% of its total assets.
Celsius Receives Proposals for Cash Injection
In another development, a lawyer for the insolvent cryptocurrency lender has stated that the company has received multiple offers of fresh cash to assist in funding its restructuring process.
Speaking on behalf of Celsius at Tuesday’s bankruptcy hearing, Joshua Sussberg of Kirkland and Ellis said the crypto firm assessed different financing packages it had received. While he didn’t provide details of the current offers, Sussberg told the court that Celsius was expecting even more financing proposals in the coming days.
To avoid going out of business entirely and having to liquidate its assets, Celsius needs to raise additional capital as soon as possible. According to court documents, the company anticipates having approximately $66.4 million in liquidity during August and expects this balance to turn negative in October.
Plans for Another CEL Short Squeeze Gather Momentum
Meanwhile, social media has been abuzz with calls from disgruntled Celsius users to carry out yet another short squeeze even though the company is facing difficulties.
The move is meant to fight off unscrupulous traders taking short positions against Celsius Network’s native token, CEL.
The news broke earlier today when Celsius’s Twitter community inundated the social media platform with thousands of tweets containing the hashtag #CelShortSqueeze. Members of the community advertised their long CEL positions while encouraging others to do the same.
“Celsians” Looking to Repeat Earlier Trick
This is not the first time the Celsius community has attempted to implement a short squeeze on CEL. Earlier in June, community members calling themselves “Celsians” reportedly devised an unofficial plan to force CEL short-sellers to liquidate their positions by increasing the token’s price.
Short-selling is a strategy that allows speculators to benefit from the decline of a crypto token. It involves borrowing tokens, selling them immediately, and then buying them at a lower price later.
On the other hand, a short squeeze happens when other investors start to buy large amounts of a digital asset that has been shorted. This causes the price to go up instead of down, making short sellers lose money.
