Celsius sues BitMEX for $495 million just 11 days before exchange shutdown

Celsius Network’s bankruptcy estate has sued BitMEX over a 2020 liquidation cascade it says cost more than 6,360 Bitcoin.The complaint, filed Sept. 12 in the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, accuses entities behind the crypto derivatives exchange of fraud, market manipulation and wrongful liquidations during Bitcoin’s historic March 2020 selloff.Celsius is seeking to recover losses tied to 6,360 BTC, worth roughly $495 million around the time of the filing.Blockchain Recovery Investment Consortium, or BRIC, brought the case on behalf of Celsius entities as the bankrupt lender’s litigation administrator and complex asset recovery manager.The defendants include Seychelles-based HDR Global Trading Ltd., Hong Kong-based ABS Global Trading Ltd. and Shine Effort Inc. Ltd., along with Bermuda entities 100x Holdings Ltd. and HDR Global Services Ltd. They collectively operated under the BitMEX name.The filing comes as BitMEX prepares to shut down its exchange on Sept. 23, giving Celsius a new recovery target just days before one of crypto’s longest-running derivatives venues stops trading. BitMEX announced the closure in July after what it described as a strategic ...