Key Highlights:

• Celsius has returned approximately $2.53 billion to 251,000 creditors, covering about 84% of its $3 billion debt.
• Over 121,000 creditors have yet to claim their funds, with 64,000 of them owed less than $100, leading to a lack of incentive to claim.

Yello Paradisers! Can you afford to wait as Celsius’s bankruptcy saga leaves thousands of creditors in limbo, with many facing a desperate fight to recover their funds?

Two-Thirds Paid, But Who’s Still Waiting?

In a saga that reads like a crypto soap opera, Celsius, the bankrupt cryptocurrency lender, has managed to distribute a hefty $2.5 billion to 251,000 of its creditors. This development marks a significant step in the long and winding road of Celsius’ bankruptcy proceedings. In fact, they’ve managed to return about 84% of the $3 billion they owe. Not too shabby for a company that once put the “crypt” in cryptocurrency.

The Untold Story Behind the Unclaimed Funds

But before you start cheering too loudly, there’s still a lingering problem. Over 121,000 creditors have yet to claim their share. Now, you might think this is a case of sheer laziness, but it turns out that many of these unclaimed amounts are as tiny as $100, or even less. In fact, nearly 64,000 of these holdouts have less than $100 sitting in the digital ether. While some folks might leap at the chance to reclaim a forgotten $5 note from their jeans, it seems these creditors aren’t as excited about the prospect of navigating the crypto claim process for such modest sums.

In an attempt to move things along, the bankruptcy administrator is playing the role of a persistent but polite debt collector. They’re planning to try redistributing these funds via Coinbase every two weeks, like a digital alarm clock that won’t quit. And for those who prefer their crypto in cold, hard PayPal credits, those claim codes are always available, patiently waiting to be redeemed.

This all unfolds against the backdrop of other high-profile crypto bankruptcies, like the Mt. Gox exchange, where creditors are finally seeing a sliver of their funds after nearly a decade of waiting. If nothing else, it’s a reminder that in the wild west of crypto, patience isn’t just a virtue, it’s a necessity.

So, while Celsius has managed to repay a significant chunk of its debt, the saga is far from over. As for the former CEO, Alex Mashinsky, he’s currently out on a $40 million bond, awaiting trial on a slew of financial fraud charges. For those following the drama, stay tuned, this is one crypto series that’s far from its season finale.