A company spokesman said that Ripple Labs Inc, a company that is embroiled in a high-profile battle with the U.S. securities regulator, is interested in buying assets of the bankruptCryptocurrency company, Celsius Network.
We are interested in learning about Celsius and its assets, and whether any could be relevant to our business, the spokesperson said, declining to say if Ripple was interested in acquiring Celsius outright.
The spokesperson said that the company is looking for M&A opportunities to scale the company as a result of the market turmoil.
In June, Celsius froze withdrawals citing extreme market conditions, and filed for bankruptcy in New York last month, listing a $1.19 billion deficit on its balance sheet.
The lawyers for Ripple submitted filings to the bankruptcy court last week, seeking to be represented in the proceedings. The filing was approved by the court earlier this week. The bankruptcy filings show that the bankruptcy filings of Celsius are not among the major creditors. Ripple provided a response to Reuters' questions regarding the court filings.
A lawyer who was authorized to represent Ripple didn't want to say anything. Celsius did not respond to a request for comment.
Privately owned Ripple has not done any major deals before. The company said it was valued at around $15 billion after a private stock buyback in January, although industry valuations have fallen significantly during a crash in cryptocurrencies over the past few months, which helped topple Celsius and other criptocurrencies firms.
The company put out a report in July that showed the total sales of Ripple's XRP, net of purchases, were $408.9 million in the second quarter, compared to $273.27 million in the first quarter.
In 2020, the company was sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission over XRP. The agency alleges that Ripple and its current and former chief executives have been involved in a $1.3 billion unregistered securities offering by selling XRP, which was created in 2012 by Ripple's founders.
Ripple and the executives deny the allegations, and the company has argued that XRP has traded and been used as a digital currency.