Prominent blockchain payments firm Ripple Labs Inc, has turned heads after it expressed interest in buying assets of debt-ridden crypto lender Celsius. In an interview with Reuters, a Ripple representative stated,
“We are interested in learning about Celsius and its assets, and whether any could be relevant to our business,” while declining to comment regarding a possible acquisition.
In June this year, Celsius paused withdrawals citing “extreme” market conditions and filed for bankruptcy in New York last month, with a $1.19 billion deficit on its balance sheet.
Ripple on the other hand, has continued to sail through the crypto market turmoil and “is actively looking for M&A opportunities to strategically scale the company,” the spokesperson said.
For the record, the blockchain firm is not among Celsius’ major creditors, the latter’s bankruptcy filings showed. As for the latest development, both Ripple and Celsius did not provide any comment at the time of writing this article.
The San Francisco firm is currently in the limelight for its high-profile lawsuit with the US regulatory giant SEC.
Ripple’s Crucial Victory Against The Sec
The firm was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2020 over the token XRP. The agency accused Ripple and its current and former chief executives Brad Garlinghouse and Chris Larsen of illegally selling $1.3 billion XRPs in unregistered securities offerings, which Ripple’s founders created in 2012.
Ripple and the executives have denied the allegations and argued that XRP should be treated as a digital currency rather than an investment contract like a stock. The case has since then dragged on.
As of now, the blockchain firm and individual defendants, have submitted their response against the SEC’s objections to the court’s recent rulings regarding the disclosure of emails related to the Ethereum speech of former top exec William Hinman.
The defendants have requested the judge to deny the SEC’s objections. So far, Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn has issued three orders that required the agency to produce the documents in question.
The court also squashed the SEC’s claims of attorney-client privilege [ACP] in July saying that providing legal advice wasn’t the predominant purpose of the communications.