BitMEX faces Celsius lawsuit ahead of exchange closure
Celsius’s bankruptcy estate sued five BitMEX-linked entities on Sept. 12 in New York bankruptcy court, accusing them of fraud, market manipulation, and wrongful liquidations during the March 2020 crash. The estate says BitMEX improperly liquidated 1,325.84 BTC from Celsius on March 12 and 5,034.33 BTC from fund JST on March 13; JST assigned its claims to the estate. The suit seeks recovery of Bitcoin worth nearly $490 million, plus actual, statutory, punitive, and potentially treble damages, profits from the liquidations, and legal fees. The complaint alleges BitMEX controlled liquidation prices, the liquidation engine, and the insurance fund, and that some sell orders were executed far below market prices. It also claims BitMEX’s March 13 service disruption halted forced selling and Bitcoin then recovered, suggesting the liquidations worsened the crash. BitMEX has not publicly responded to this complaint.
