Some former clients of Celsius Network are considering liquidating Ionic Digital Inc., a bitcoin mining company co-owned with other Celsius creditors.
Joseph Sarachek, a lawyer representing Celsius creditors, told a New York bankruptcy judge on Tuesday that "numerous shareholders" had contacted his office in recent weeks asking whether to force liquidation of Ionic's assets. Another Celsius creditor said at a court hearing that other shareholders were trying to replace Ionic's board of directors.
Gregory Pesce, an Ionic lawyer, said at a hearing on Tuesday that management was not aware of any shareholder or shareholder group "with the necessary voting power to force any form of sale" or board changes. He also said the company was not involved in any mergers and acquisitions, but the board and its advisers would evaluate any legitimate shareholder proposals. In addition, Ionic is cash flow positive and has about $200 million in cash and cryptocurrency.
It is reported that Ionic originally planned to go public on the Nasdaq stock exchange in the middle of this year, but this plan has not yet been realized due to the withdrawal of auditing firm RSM US in May and the departure of former CEO Matt Prusak earlier this month after his contract expired.
Pesce said Ionic still plans to go public "sometime in 2025." It may take several weeks to hire a new audit firm. The previous audit firm RSM US terminated its cooperation not because of disagreements with the company on accounting principles, but because it decided not to serve cryptocurrency customers. (Bloomberg)
Previously, Ionic Digital acquired all of Celsius' mining assets as part of Celsius' exit from Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings at the beginning of this year.
Celsius' bankruptcy administrator said in its first repayment status report that more than $2.53 billion has been paid to approximately 251,000 creditors, covering approximately two-thirds of all eligible creditors of cryptocurrency lenders, accounting for approximately 93% of the eligible value. Another 121,000 eligible creditors received an average distribution of approximately $1,500, but have not yet successfully received the distribution.