In yet another indication of the growing unrest in the crypto community, Babel Finance, the second major digital-asset lender this week to halt withdrawals, informed clients that it was experiencing exceptional liquidity difficulties due to recent market falls.
The Asia-based lender and asset manager explained the reason behind the temporary action on its website. According to the company, the crypto market has seen lots of changes, and several institutions in the industry have suffered high-risk occurrences. The team has experienced some pressure and is working on it.
The announcement came shortly after Celsius Network, another cryptocurrency lending platform, halted transfers, swaps, and withdrawals to prevent the virtual equivalent of a bank run. A significant crypto hedge fund, Three Arrows Capital, tweeted this week that the company was having financial difficulties, adding to the impression of growing unease. The value of all cryptocurrencies has just dropped below $1 trillion, a sharp decline from its highs of $3 trillion late last year.
With roughly 500 clients and an emphasis on Bitcoin, Ether, and stablecoins, Babel is one of the major cryptocurrency lenders and frequently acts as a link between Asia and the West. Babel attained a $2 billion valuation in May during a funding round that included 10T Holdings and Jeneration Capital as investors. The company’s outstanding loan balance was above $3 billion at the end of 2021.
Although many Ethereum and Bitcoin miners were among Babel’s primary clients, the company’s attention has turned to more institutions following China’s industry ban.
As market drops ripple through a sector still reeling from the collapse of the TerraUSD stablecoin and Luna last month, both companies have come under pressure. Early this year, Three Arrows, a well-known hedge fund with a wide variety of other cryptoassets, took part in the sale of Luna tokens. Three Arrows is also one of the DeFi companies whose use of leverage is hurting them a lot right now, as market drops could force them to be liquidated.
Three Arrows sparked concerns about being in trouble earlier this week when Zhu Su (the co-founder) tweeted that the company was planning to engage with key parties and was dedicated to sorting things out. According to co-founder Kyle Davies, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Three Arrows is considering options like asset sales and a rescue by another company.
If you would like to read more news articles like this, visit DeFi Planet and follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
“Take control of your crypto portfolio with MARKETS PRO, DeFi Planet’s suite of analytics tools.”
