The ruling also permits Celsius to pursue breach of contract claims over the early liquidation of collateral, despite a 10-hour waiting period outlined in the firm’s amended loan agreement.
Specifically, the court:
At the center of the case is more than 57,000 BTC, which Celsius claims were either improperly seized, liquidated prematurely, or transferred in excess of agreed terms. The firm argued that if these assets had been retained, their current value would exceed $4 billion.
Considering this, the court filing divided the Bitcoin transactions Celsius is seeking to recover into three categories, including:
Celsius claimed these transactions unfairly improved Tether’s position as a creditor, allowing it to recover nearly the full value of its $812 million loan while other creditors were left behind.
While the judge allowed core claims to proceed, the court dismissed other portions of the complaint. These include claims against specific Tether entities due to a lack of personal jurisdiction and allegations that depend on applying US bankruptcy law outside the country.
The court also ruled that Celsius failed to prove Tether breached duties under British Virgin Islands law, particularly regarding good faith and fair dealing.
Nonetheless, this ruling gives Celsius a green light to pursue what could become one of the crypto industry’s most consequential asset recovery cases.
