Ripple Labs Looking To Snap Up Bankrupt Celsius' Assets

Ripple Labs is looking to purchase the assets of bankrupt crypto lending firm Celsius, a company official has revealed.

But Reuters reported Wednesday that Ripple Labs' spokesperson did not reveal if the firm is interested in acquiring Celsius entirely.

"We are interested in learning about Celsius and its assets, and whether any could be relevant to our business," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson also added that Ripple has been growing at an increased pace in the bearish market and "is actively looking for M&A opportunities to strategically scale the company."

Celsius halted withdrawals in June due to "extreme market conditions" and it seems that the firm has yet to approve customers to withdraw their funds. The firm filed for bankruptcy last month and aimed to undergo a restructuring process.

As per the report, Ripple Labs had filed for representation in the proceedings of Celsius in the bankruptcy court earlier this week. However, the firm is not present in the $1.19 billion creditors list of the crypto lending firm.

Ripple, a San Francisco-based firm, hit a valuation of $15 billion after a share buyback in January. It is also engaged in a lawsuit with the SEC regarding unauthorized sale of securities as the financial regulators claimed that XRP was a security.

"Despite these crazy headwinds with the SEC and frankly losing some customers because of the SEC lawsuit, we grew very quickly," CEO Bradley Garlinghouse told Protocol in January. "Ripple's business has materially grown. We have a strong balance sheet. Even after doing this repurchase, we have over a billion dollars in cash. We're starting 2022 in a great position of strength."

According to Ripple's Q2 markets report released in July, the firm is seeing strong growth with a surge in demand for the XRP token and its On-Demand Liquidity (ODL) service.

There was an 800% surge in ODL volume while the firm sold more than $400 million worth of XRP in the second quarter.