Celsius drops 25% amid Goldman Sachs plan to acquire network assets

Celsius token (CEL) is down by more than 25% today.

LAGOS (CoinChapter.com) — Celsius Network’s native token CEL dropped by more than 25% to $0.795997 on Monday.

CEL/USD daily price chart. Source: TradingView

The plunge surfaced after Celsius halted withdrawals on its network.

Notably, today’s bearish trend has successfully erased CEL gains registered in the last seven days. As a result, the lending crypto has been trading in a relatively tight range between nine cents and seven cents.

In addition, Celsius’s market cap also dropped by more than 10% and currently stands at around $300 million. CEL currently has a 24-hour trading volume of $23 million with a circulating supply of 420 million CEL coins.

It is worth noting that despite the decline, CEL’s month-to-date valuation is still up by around 35%. However, the token is still down 90% from its record high, reached in June of last year.

Goldman Sachs To Raise $2B To Acquire Celsius Network Assets

Meanwhile, the Celsius price collapse comes at the heel of the announcement that Goldman Sachs is looking to acquire the network.

According to reports, the multinational investment bank is looking to raise $2 billion to acquire the crypto lending platform assets.

Notably, the proposed deal would allow investors to buy up Celsius’ assets at a big discount. The investment banking giant is aiming that in the event of a bankruptcy filing, it would sweep up Celsius assets.

Recall that the crypto lending platform had earlier onboarded advisers from a management consulting firm in preparation to declare bankruptcy. Notably, Celsius hired several restructuring consultants from the firm Alvarez & Marsal to advise the platform on potentially filing for bankruptcy.

Goldman Sachs is reportedly targeting Web3 crypto funds, funds specializing in distressed assets, and traditional financial institutions with ample cash to carry out the deal.

The development has also promoted some enthusiasts to call on crypto billionaires to acquire the embattled platform. For example, a Twitter user urged Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and FTX CEO Samuel Bankman-Fried to buy the platform.