The troubled crypto platform Celsius cointinues to pay off its debts to decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocols, having recently repaid Aave 20 million USDC.
Reportedly, Celsius has retained attorneys from Kirkland & Ellis LLP, the same company that aided Voyager Digital with its bankruptcy filing last week, to advise on its restructuring options.
According to a story published by the Wall Street Journal on July 10, the firm has replaced Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP with a new law firm to advise on options, including a bankruptcy file.
Kirkland & Ellis LLP, founded in 1909, touts itself as an international legal company serving clients in private equity, mergers and acquisitions, and other corporate transactions.
The law firm has also been appointed as general bankruptcy counsel for Voyager Digital's bankruptcy proceedings, which were filed with the Southern District Court of New York on July 5, days after the company halted trading, withdrawals, and deposits due to liquidity concerns.
Celsius has continued to pay down its obligations to decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocols, having just repaid Aave 20 million USD Coin (USDC) despite continuous concerns that it may take a similar path.
The most recent loan payback was discovered by the blockchain analytics company Peckshield on Sunday, July 10, when it published a screenshot of a 20 million USDC transfer from a Celsius wallet to Aave Protocol V2.
The Defi tracking website Zapper reveals that Celsius owes Aave roughly $130 million in USDC, $82,500 in Ren (REN), and the Compound protocol $85.2 million in Dai (DAI), for a total debt of $215 million.
Last week, the lending platform repaid its remaining $41.2 million loan to the Maker protocol, freeing up over $500 million in Wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) collateral.
Paying down debt has been viewed as a plus by Celsius' depositors, who have been unable to access their crypto cash since withdrawals were banned on June 13 and fear losing their funds if the company fails.
The week prior, crypto attorney Joni Pirovich told Cointelegraph that the repayment of Celsius's loan position would eventually benefit its clients, as it would free up funds that could be utilized to fulfill customer withdrawal requests.
Even if Celsius files for bankruptcy, reimbursing its loan position and withdrawing collateral could improve the situation for its consumers, according to Pirovich.
