Celsius sues BitMEX for $495 million just 11 days before exchange shutdown
Celsius Network’s chapter property has sued BitMEX over a 2020 liquidation cascade it says value greater than 6,360 Bitcoin.
The grievance, filed Sept. 12 within the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, accuses entities behind the crypto derivatives exchange of fraud, market manipulation and wrongful liquidations throughout Bitcoin’s historic March 2020 selloff.
Celsius is in search of to get well losses tied to six,360 BTC, price roughly $495 million across the time of the submitting.
Blockchain Recovery Investment Consortium, or BRIC, introduced the case on behalf of Celsius entities because the bankrupt lender’s litigation administrator and sophisticated asset restoration supervisor.
The defendants embrace Seychelles-based HDR Global Trading Ltd., Hong Kong-based ABS Global Trading Ltd. and Shine Effort Inc. Ltd., together with Bermuda entities 100x Holdings Ltd. and HDR Global Services Ltd. They collectively operated underneath the BitMEX identify.
The submitting comes as BitMEX prepares to close down its exchange on Sept. 23, giving Celsius a brand new restoration goal just days before one in every of crypto’s longest-running derivatives venues stops buying and selling. BitMEX introduced the closure in July after what it described as a strategic evaluation of its enterprise and the broader business.
Notably, this marks the second major lawsuit against BitMEX because it introduced its intention to wind down operations.
Complaint targets BitMEX’s liquidation engine
The case activates how BitMEX dealt with leveraged positions as Bitcoin plunged throughout the March 12, 2020 market panic.
Celsius alleges BitMEX’s conduct throughout the crash resulted in wrongful liquidations and the seizure of digital belongings belonging to Celsius and investment-fund group JST.
The grievance describes the losses as stemming from the exchange’s fraudulent misconduct and market manipulation. The submitting acknowledged:
“While BitMEX made a number of representations that it might keep an orderly market for its derivatives contracts, BitMEX knew these representations had been false. Instead of sustaining an orderly market, BitMEX deliberately designed its platform and liquidation procedures to trigger liquidations of collateral and defraud its personal clients.”
Bitcoin fell sharply that day because the rising coronavirus pandemic triggered a broad rush out of danger belongings.
The selloff pushed the cryptocurrency from about $7,200 to a 10-month low close to $5,678 inside roughly quarter-hour at one stage, whereas about $702 million of positions had been liquidated on BitMEX throughout the preliminary crash. Nearly all of these liquidations had been lengthy positions.
The episode grew to become one of many defining stress occasions for crypto derivatives markets. BitMEX was then a dominant venue for extremely leveraged Bitcoin buying and selling, which means falling costs might routinely drive the exchange’s liquidation system to shut positions that not met margin necessities.
Those compelled gross sales might add recent promote strain to an already falling market, creating the potential for successive rounds of liquidations as costs declined.
Celsius’ lawsuit seeks to show that market occasion right into a recoverable chapter declare greater than six years later. The property should present that its losses flowed from actionable misconduct by BitMEX somewhat than from the intense volatility and contract mechanics that merchants accepted when opening leveraged positions.
That distinction is more likely to change into central if the defendants problem the claims. The grievance’s allegations stay unproven, and the court docket has but to find out whether or not BitMEX or its associated entities are liable for the Bitcoin Celsius says it misplaced.
A restoration goal Celsius recognized years in the past is lastly in court docket
The lawsuit turns a possible declare Celsius first recognized in 2023 into an energetic restoration effort at a crucial second for BitMEX.
A September 2023 chapter submitting listed HDR Global Trading Ltd., which operates as BitMEX, amongst potential litigation targets for claims involving negligence, fraud and market manipulation.
Those claims had been later transferred into Celsius’ broader post-bankruptcy recovery process after BRIC was appointed in 2024 to pursue litigation and different advanced belongings on behalf of collectors.
BRIC has already generated proceeds from that mandate. In October 2025, Celsius reached a $299.5 million settlement with Tether following litigation brought by the estate.
The BitMEX grievance provides one other doubtlessly giant declare to that marketing campaign, nevertheless it comes because the exchange winds down operations.
BitMEX stopped accepting new accounts after asserting its closure and commenced limiting clients’ means to extend positions in late August. It has since been settling and delisting contracts forward of the Sept. 23 shutdown, together with the early settlement of a number of BTC and ETH perpetual swaps and futures on Sept. 16.
The firm has mentioned the closure was not prompted by monetary misery, a hack or rapid regulatory strain. It has additionally mentioned buyer belongings exceed liabilities and that customers will retain entry after buying and selling ends to withdraw remaining balances.
That timetable has shifted consideration towards whether or not Celsius will search further measures whereas the wind-down continues to be underway.
Simon Dixon, a distinguished Celsius creditor and longtime commentator on the chapter, said the timing suggests the litigation administrator could also be contemplating greater than a damages award that might take years to acquire.
He mentioned submitting before an organization completes a wind-down can assist protect claims in opposition to belongings, entities and counterparties before company constructions or holdings change. Dixon careworn, nonetheless, that there isn’t a proof Celsius has obtained an injunction blocking the closure or proscribing asset transfers.
He mentioned he would now watch for any effort by BRIC to hunt an injunction, protect belongings or in any other case restrict transfers whereas the exchange shuts down. Any such transfer would require separate authorized motion or court docket approval.
For now, the grievance leaves BitMEX’s closure schedule intact. The entities named within the lawsuit stay defendants after buying and selling stops, which means the case can proceed even after the exchange ceases operations.
Their response will assist decide whether or not the dispute proceeds to discovery into BitMEX’s 2020 buying and selling and liquidation methods or faces an early problem on jurisdiction, limitation durations, or the authorized sufficiency of Celsius’ claims.
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