According to local media outlet LaPresse, the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), an institutional investor tasked with managing retirement assets in the predominantly French-speaking Canadian province of Quebec, wrote off almost all of its C$200 million ($154.7 million) investment. million) in the now bankrupt cryptocurrency lender, Celsius Network.
The move came just ten months after CDPQ and growth capital firm WestCap made a joint $400 million investment in Celsius.. At that moment, Celsius had more than 1,000 employees, $25 billion in total assets under management, and $850 million in accrued interest paid to depositors.
Nevertheless, As an unregulated and centralized entity, depositors’ assets are not protected against loss, nor is the company subject to any restrictions on the use of leverage. During the start of this year’s bear market, coupled with the sudden and violent price drop of Bitcoin and other digital assets left a $2.85 billion gap in Celsius’s net assets.. As a result, it suspended withdrawals to the accounts of nearly 1.7 million customers in mid-June.
It appears that the loss in Celsius represents only a negligible fraction of CDPQ’s portfolio. As of June 30, CDPQ managed total assets of 391.6 billion Canadian dollars, which represents a decrease of 7.9% in the last six months. The entity is currently evaluating its legal options against Celsius, although it has not shared any details. According to court documents, Celsius is scheduled to run out of money by mid-October.
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