Bitcoin fell to its lowest level since December 2020 after Celsius Network, one of the crypto-largest economy’s lenders, announced suspension of withdrawals on Sunday.
The announcement comes as the value of multiple crypto-currencies continues to fall following the collapse of Terraform Labs’ Luna and its sister token UST last month.
Bitcoin fell another 12% as a result of the decision, trading just above the $24,000 mark.
Celsius blamed “extreme market conditions”, and moved to suspend all withdrawals, Swap, and transfers between accounts.
In a company memo to users, it said “We are taking this necessary action for the benefit of our entire community in order to stabilise liquidity and operations while we take steps to preserve and protect assets.
“There is a lot of work ahead as we consider various options, this process will take time, and there may be delays.”
Celsius, which raised $750 million in a Series B fundraising round in November and was valued at $3.25 billion, allows its 1.7 million members to deposit bitcoin, Ethereum, and tether and earn weekly interest payments.
