Niche credit traders have a pitch for crypto holders locked out of their accounts at Voyager Digital Ltd. and Celsius Network LLC: Sell the rights to your coins at something like a 75% discount and let Wall Street worry about the rest, Bloomberg News reported. When crypto lenders Voyager and Celsius went bankrupt last month, they turned their customers into creditors. Those users cannot touch their coins and don’t know when they will get repaid, how much they might recoup or what form payouts could take. Now, an oft-overlooked corner of the credit market is offering an escape hatch. Bankruptcy claims traders — firms that deal in the payables of insolvent enterprises — are already circling the busted crypto platforms, offering quick cash payouts to customers who don’t want to or can’t afford to wait. The crypto bankruptcies are unusual because of who the platforms’ creditors are — overwhelmingly small, individual account holders — and the sheer number of them. Celsius had about 300,000 users with account balances of at least $100 as of July, while Voyager counts more than 3.5 million active users, according to court papers.
