Crypto · updated 1h ago · 3 min read
Celsius Bankruptcy Estate Sues BitMEX-Linked Entities for 6,360.17 Bitcoin From March 2020 Liquidations
Celsius estate seeks 6,360 BTC, about $495 million, from BitMEX entities. Lawsuit accuses BitMEX of fraud, market manipulation, and wrongful liquidations in March 2020.
Whether shutdown timing matters for case persistence.
7 of 8 outlets skipped it: bitMEX allegedly faced a DDoS disruption during the cascade.
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Same story, two versions
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FXDailyReport.Com
“This new case will now likely continue even after BitMEX stops its trading operations.”Read the original ↗
Crypto News
“The complaint remains unproven and was filed shortly before BitMEX ends trading on Sep. 23.”Read the original ↗
FXDailyReport emphasises the case likely continues after shutdown, while Crypto News highlights the complaint being filed just before trading ends.
Celsius sues BitMEX
Celsius Network’s bankruptcy estate has sued BitMEX-linked entities seeking the return of 6,360.17 Bitcoin tied to forced liquidations during the March 2020 COVID market crash, with the filing made on September 12 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
“seeking the return of 6,360.17 Bitcoin, worth about $495 million”
The complaint, brought by Blockchain Recovery Investment Consortium as litigation administrator, names HDR Global Trading, ABS Global Trading, Shine Effort, 100x Holdings and HDR Global Services as defendants.
Celsius says it lost 1,325.84 BTC when BitMEX liquidated one of its trades on March 12, 2020, and it also pursues claims assigned by investment fund JST alleging another 5,034.33 BTC loss the following day.
The estate frames the dispute around how BitMEX’s liquidation system operated during the crash, alleging that “BitMEX intentionally designed its platform and liquidation procedures to cause liquidations of collateral and defraud its own customers,” while noting the allegations have not been proven and the court has not determined improper conduct.
The lawsuit arrives as BitMEX prepares to end exchange operations on September 23, giving Celsius another potential recovery target just as the derivatives venue winds down.
Claims, denials, timing
Celsius and JST allege that BitMEX did more than close their positions to cover trading losses, claiming the exchange took control of Bitcoin collateral that should have been returned.
In the complaint, Celsius targets BitMEX’s control over both the mechanism determining when leveraged positions would be closed and the insurance fund that could benefit when liquidations generated excess proceeds.
The estate’s allegations are contested in the record, with the sources stating that “The complaint remains unproven” and that “The allegations have not been tested in court.”
BitMEX’s shutdown schedule is central to the dispute’s urgency, with the filing coming “just 11 days before BitMEX is scheduled to permanently halt trading on September 23.”
One account also quotes the complaint’s framing of BitMEX’s intent, saying “BitMEX knew these representations were false,” while another source says the allegations have not been proven and liability has yet to be determined.
What’s at stake
The Celsius estate’s demand is valued at roughly $495 million, based on the disputed 6,360.17 BTC, and the sources describe the case as a potential recovery channel for creditors of the failed lender.
“The complaint remains unproven and was filed shortly before BitMEX ends trading on Sep. 23.”
The litigation administrator is pursuing the Bitcoin itself rather than limiting the demand to its dollar value in March 2020, and the complaint includes claims such as fraudulent transfer, conversion, breach of contract, breach of the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing, and unjust enrichment.
The dispute also intersects with Celsius’s own bankruptcy disclosures, where a July 2022 bankruptcy filing said Celsius had used “several highly speculative derivative and asset deployment mechanisms,” complicating how the parties may argue over what risks were knowingly accepted.
BitMEX’s position in the record is that customer assets exceed its liabilities and that withdrawals will remain available after trading ends, even as the exchange prepares to stop accepting new accounts and limit customers’ ability to increase positions.
For Celsius creditors, the sources frame the practical stakes as whether any judgment can be converted into meaningful recovery from the BitMEX entities as the exchange winds down, with the case described as the second major lawsuit filed against BitMEX since its shutdown announcement.