Troubled crypto lender Celsius Network has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. In a statement, the firm said the filing follows “the difficult but necessary decision by Celsius last month to pause withdrawals, swaps, and transfers on its platform to stabilize its business and protect its customers.”

Ukrainian authorities have seized over 50 million hryvnias ($1.6 million), 830 kilograms of silver, six plots of land, and three apartments from alleged money launderers accused of funneling Russian funds using crypto.

Hacks against decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols have increased nearly eightfold compared to last year's first quarter, with over $1.22 billion being stolen or rugged from protocols in the first quarter of the year. Year-to-date exploits have already topped $1.8 billion.

Top stories in the Crypto Roundup today:

• Celsius Network Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy
• Ukraine Seizes $3 Million from Crypto Traders Accused of Funneling Russian Funds
• DeFi Exploits Surpass $1.8 Billion Year-to-Date
• Ethereum’s Falling Transaction Fees

Celsius Network Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy

Troubled crypto lender Celsius Network has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. In a statement, the firm said the filing follows “the difficult but necessary decision by Celsius last month to pause withdrawals, swaps, and transfers on its platform to stabilize its business and protect its customers.”

According to the statement, if withdrawals weren’t halted then their acceleration would have continued to increase, allowing “certain customers—those who were first to act—to be paid in full while leaving others behind to wait for Celsius to harvest value from illiquid or longer-term asset deployment activities before they receive a recovery.”

Celsius co-founder and CEO, Alex Mashinsky, said the move is the “right decision” for the company and its community, adding he is confident that looking back at Celsius’ history “ we will see this as a defining moment.”

Celsius suspended withdrawals on June 12, cut jobs, and hired restructuring experts to advise on its financial situation. The firm says it has $167 million in cash on hand, enough to “support certain operations during the restructuring process.”

Ukraine Seizes $3 Million from Crypto Traders Accused of Funneling Russian Funds

Ukrainian authorities have seized over 50 million hryvnias ($1.6 million), 830 kilograms of silver, six plots of land, and three apartments from alleged money launderers accused of funneling Russian funds using crypto.

According to the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s office, the cryptocurrency brokers were converting cash and non-cash assets into cryptocurrencies for Russian citizens and in the breakaway regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

In total, the seized property is worth over $3.3 million. The prosecutors did not mention whether any digital assets or wallets were seized.

After Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24, international sanctions meant to destabilize the country’s economy were levied. Several national security officials have suggested Russia could turn to crypto to circumvent these sanctions.

DeFi Exploits Surpass $1.8 Billion Year-to-Date

Hacks against decentralized finance (DeFi) protocols have increased nearly eightfold compared to last year's first quarter, with over $1.22 billion being stolen or rugged from protocols in the first quarter of the year. Year-to-date exploits have already topped $1.8 billion.

According to DeFi bug bounty platform Immunefi, more than 77% of the first quarter’s $1.22 billion figure stems from the Ronin Network’s $625 million hack and Wormhole’s $326 million exploit.

Immunefi’s CEO Mitchell Amador has said that DeFi security has been “getting better and better” with audits becoming a “stronger standard” and every DeFi project getting audits.

In the year's second quarter, DeFi exploits seemingly slowed significantly, with the $100 million theft of Harmony’s cross-chain bridge and algorithmic stablecoin protocol Beanstalk’s $180 million losses being the outliers.

Estimates suggest global losses associated with payment fraud are around $32.4 billion.

Ethereum’s Falling Transaction Fees

The Ethereum network’s average transaction fee has fallen to $6.93, the lowest seen since July 2021. Transaction fees surged in the summer of 2021 as the popularity of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and DeFi protocols kept rising.

The decrease in transaction fees coincides with the current bear market, as interest in NFTs and DeFi falls.

Read more about Ethereum’s on-chain activity, and about Bitcoin, Solana, XRP, and Cardano on CryptoCompare’s latest Asset Report.

State of the Crypto by Top Tier Exchange Volume

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