On Thursday, the Celsius Network said it was exploring options including deals and restructuring its liabilities.
During the month, Celsius froze transfers and withdrawals, citing extreme market conditions, leaving its 1.7 million customers unable to redeem their assets.
The Wall Street Journal reported last week that the company hired restructuring consultants from advisory firm Alvarez Marsal to advise on a possible bankruptcy filing.
The market for digital assets has been roiled by extreme volatility as investors dump risky assets due to fears that aggressive interest rate hikes to tame stubborn inflation could plunge the economy into a recession.
The European Union has agreed on new rules for regulating cryptocurrencies, as the rout in bitcoins puts pressure on authorities to rein in the sector, according to EU lawmakers on Thursday. Since the collapse of TerraUSD in May, Cryptocurrencies have lost more than $400 billion, a major stable coin pegged to the US dollar. The price of the digital currency dropped by another 6% to $18,866. It was down 70% from its peak last November as it dropped to 77 late on Thursday.
Similar to a bank, Celsius gathered deposits from retail customers and put them in the equivalent of the wholesale market, including DeFi, sites that use the technology to offer services outside the traditional financial sector.
The retail customers of Celsius were promised huge returns, sometimes as much as 19% annually. Individual investors have started pouring assets into Celsius and platforms like it because of the lure of big profits.