Small-time crypto traders who invested with Celsius Network have been going toe-to-toe with legal and financial heavyweights — and notching some unlikely victories — as the company works to wrap up its bankruptcy case, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Much like the online users who banded together to defeat hedge funds’ short bets on AMC Entertainment, retail investors with crypto trapped on the Celsius platform are punching above their weight in the bankruptcy. Among the unlikely combatants: a superyacht stewardess in California, a fundraiser for a progressive nonprofit in Maryland, a college student in Florida, and a crypto influencer in New York who creates digital designs for customized mugs and T-shirts. While most bankruptcies unfold away from public view, hundreds of customers of Celsius have dissected every development online, in real-time and granular detail. Largely acting without lawyers, the crypto owners have caught a mistake by the company’s bankruptcy advisers, publicized confidential company information obtained from employees and faced down big institutional investors also scavenging for its limited assets.
