Celsius Estate Sues BitMEX for $490M Over 2020 Bitcoin Liquidations

Celsius estate sues BitMEX — The Celsius bankruptcy estate has sued crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX, alleging the wrongful liquidation and seizure of 6,360 Bitcoin, worth nearly $490 million, during the March 2020 market crash.

The complaint, filed on September 12 in a New York bankruptcy court, names five BitMEX-linked companies as defendants. It alleges fraud, market manipulation, and that BitMEX controlled the prices triggering liquidations, the engine executing them, and the insurance fund receiving proceeds. The estate claims some sell orders were placed more than 24% below the next-best ask price on the platform.

The lawsuit seeks recovery of the 6,360 BTC or its current value, plus statutory and punitive damages. It was filed just 11 days before BitMEX is scheduled to stop exchange services on September 23. The Celsius estate alleges BitMEX’s liquidation engine intensified the March 2020 sell-off, citing a price recovery when the platform experienced service disruptions.

BitMEX previously called a separate July lawsuit over forced liquidations an “opportunistic claim with no basis.” The exchange did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Celsius case.